Re-thinking my life!

Student Lounge College Life
1

<p>UG! </p>

<p>I always thought I knew what I wanted to do 100%. As of junior year in HS, I wanted to be a lawyer--a corporate lawyer to be more specific. I enjoy arguing, picking through for little details, finding loopholes, proving one side, finding ways around problems, and resolution. I still really think I would like to be a lawyer. But after reading through some of the posts on the law school board about how much of a crazy time commitment being a lawyer is, I'm only about 70% sure that I still want law.</p>

<p>I'm currently a sophomore, majoring in Economics and minoring in English and Art. I'm taking all classes that I love (LOVE), and doing very very well. The top law schools are still within my reasonable reach. Basically, I want to make a lot of money. That is my primary goal. I want to be happy doing what I'm doing to make that money, so I care about what I will be doing for a living. My truest passion is horses, so what I love doing takes a lot of money to do well. While I love horses to tears, I know myself, and I know that I'm not good enough at it to do it for a living. </p>

<p>Now, academically, I love econ. Every single class of it that I've taken, I have reallllllly loved and enjoyed every minute of. My nerdy confession is that I find econ tests to be fun, and it's totally possible that I would take one just for fun if one were put before me. So I briefly considered trying to be an economist, but upon hearing that it would require upper level calc, and knowing my own strengths (calc 1 I can do well--beyond that I don't want to tempt fate, as my gpa is still crazy important to me because I'm still leaning towards law school) and weaknesses I'm not going to take more calc. So that rules out grad work in economics. My other two loves, creative writing and photography, do not pay well, so while I plan on doing them a little bit on the side my whole life, I do not want to make a primary career out of them. I also have a strong interest in finance and investing, which made me consider business school, but I do not have a super strong could-sell-ice-to-an-eskimo type personality, which makes me think I wouldn't be a strong contender for an mba program. And then I also love real estate, and think I could do a fabulous job flipping houses, but I would want to wait until I have a little more cash to throw around before I start sinking money into projects that <em>could</em> fail.</p>

<p>I'm a very capable person, and I really think I could do anything I set my mind to, but I'm a little bit lost as to what exactly I want to do (if I don't do law). Money really is my top priority, as horses are what keep me sane (part of the reason I'm doubting law--I need to have some "me time" to ride), but I still want to enjoy what I will be doing 9-5. I've taken those aptitude tests at my school's career development center, but I've always had it in the back of my mind that I'm interested in law, and so I don't think my results (which all pointed me towards law) were pure.</p>

<p>Any ideas on what I should do??? Opinions??</p>

2

<p>Not seek advice on an internet message board.</p>

<p>Ask people who know you, and you trust. My only offering is that corporate lawyers have the extremely low job satisfaction. I used to want to be one, but now I'm in the undecided boat, also.</p>

3

<p>
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But after reading through some of the posts on the law school board about how much of a crazy time commitment being a lawyer is, I'm only about 70% sure that I still want law.

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</p>

<p>You don't have to be a lawyer when you have a law degree, and there are other interesting things one can do as a person with a law degree, things that can also pay the bills pretty well.</p>

4

<p>maybe you could find something that combines both law and economics. Definitely doable, some law firms have whole financial departments to analyze mergers in cases and stuff like that. I don't know too much about it (as you can tell by my wonderfully detailed description), but things like that exist, in case you didn't know...</p>

5

<p>What about real estate sales focused on horse properties? Or -- think about what you can do for an organization that is peripheral to the horse business -- such as a feed manufacturer. </p>

<p>How much money you need to support a horse is directly related to your location. You need scads more money in Westchester County NY than you do in, say, McHenry County IL.</p>

6

<p>when i was reading your post, i instantly thought business school. you dont have to be a good salesman at wharton 50% of graduates go into investment banking or consulting. if you love economics that may be a very attractive option for you. and it does pay well. if you graduate from one of the top b schools starting salaries average $100k</p>

7

<p>well if you want instant gratification, as in six figures by your mid 20's, you will have to put in that time commitment. whats so wrong with that? you work hard, you make money. most rich people do that unless they inherit it.</p>

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<p>equine, you're in college so take advantage of the resources available at school. Start by visiting the career center and looking at some of the books about law careers. They may have books such as "My First Year As a Lawyer" or you can get them inexpensively online. Take a look also at sites such as <a href="http://decisionbooks.com/store.shtml%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://decisionbooks.com/store.shtml&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p>

<p>An invaluable resource for college students is the opportunity to get first-hand knowlege of career fields. Most colleges have lists of alums that are happy to talk to current students about their careers. Another idea is to get a job, really any type of job, in a law firm. By seeing first-hand what the job is like and talking to lawyers you can see if law is right for you.</p>

<p>Another thing you should explore, as I think has already been pointed out, is a way to combine law with your love of horses. I suggest spending some time with a counselor at the career center brainstorming on you you could combine the two.</p>