The most commonly asked question this week after how was my summer is am I excited to be back and if I’m being honest the answer is kinda…
Let me explain:
I’m SO excited to be a 3L and it feels good to be back with my classmates in person and see my friends, absolutely! I’ve worked really hard to be here, we all have and its so nice to get one last year together!
But I miss home and my Miami friends and the opportunities I have when I am home, from events to collabs and of course seeing my family more – I never appreciated Miami as much as when I left and it wasn’t just a four hour drive.
I’ve said it a few times but all I can think is how WILD it is that I’m already a 3L in law school. My classmates and professors are all shocked at how fast time went and even more shocked because with Covid getting in the way our experience hasn’t been ideal yet we made it through!
One of my professors even said they have a crazy level of respect for my class for how much we’ve achieved and prospered throughout the uncertainty in about 75% of our law school experience thus far.
I am so blessed and lucky to have gotten through the last year and a half healthy and honestly better than ever, I know most can’t say the same. But it has also been some of the toughest few months I’ve experienced with many high highs and quite a few really low lows.
With all of the time I had to reflect and grow, I have become such an amazing version of myself and I am so proud of myself and the woman I’ve become. She got me through it all.
And all of the reflection made me really realize what is important to me and what makes me happy and what I want in life and I realized that law school is just a smallllll piece of it. Like really small.
I was telling a professor this morning and another on Wednesday, I am thankful I came to law school, thankful I chose the school that I did and am thankful I have chosen to stay in school, even when no one including myself thought I could or should. I am so thankful because I wouldn’t be the woman I am today without this experience and the people I’ve met here.
But I am ready for the next chapter and it seems like law school is kinda in my way now.
I have realized that at this point in time, traditional, BigLaw is not the path I want and I am so excited to pursue the opportunities I have found and created for myself in social media. I want to ultimately combine the two, law and social media so I truly love what I do. And I’m on the way to that which is SO cool, fun, exciting and I want to jump in head first. So its hard to remember I still have to get through one more year of school before I can really jump in. I’m happy I have my feet in though, so I get to have the best of both worlds!
I shared my class schedule here so you can see how I’ve really maximized my schedule to combine the two things I’m passionate about. This semester I will be doing research on how social media has impacted the legal industry and I can’t wait to get started!
Because its so unconventional, especially in the legal profession, I was so nervous to share that with classmates, professors and faculty but everyone I’ve told this week, from our Dean to classmates I only speak to in passing think it is fascinating and are really excited for me. That cemented that I am meant to be in law school, finish strong, write this paper and get my JD.
And the more I’ve expressed this to people in my school, the more I am learning about others who took a similar path, often later than I did. I’m being praised for knowing myself and putting myself first over the expectations of a law student and that means the world to me, it shows I’m on the best track for me which if you’ve followed along for a while, you might now that I struggled with quite a bit.
I’ve wanted this degree since I can remember, and for a while there I lost my way but I am so grateful I stayed true to me and believed in myself enough to push through and get here.
As an aside, I am a little conflicted on being back in Knoxville and I hope we get to be in person and have all the fun social events that law school entails, and really get to enjoy my last year the way it’s meant to be enjoyed. I will be taking the Florida bar after graduation because it is super important to me to complete my degree and have my license but beyond that the world is my oyster and I’m nervously excited about that too.
But at the end of the day, no matter what, I am eternally grateful and thankful for the opportunity to be in law school, at UTK and in the class of 2022 and the opportunities it has presented me and I am really looking forward to finishing strong and seeing where my passions take me in 2022!
Are you looking forward to this school year, let me know down below! Thanks for reading!
xo Kayla