A Little Pomp and Circumstance

(maybe a little more pomp than circumstance)

I made it! I graduated from law school! Woo Hoo! 

 Here I am in front of the law school. It has got to be one of the ugliest buildings I have ever seen in my entire life. 

 My parents and I. We did not plan for them to match my hood. But we did get comments on color coordinating. 

 Have you seen these headless horseman photos floating around the internet? My mom didn't get the best angle, but I thought it would be funny to try. It makes me laugh either way. I hope it makes you laugh as well.

 Getting hooded. This happened extremely fast. I felt pretty important. Special graduation garb is pretty cool.

My 1L yr study buddy. 

Honestly, I don't feel that relieved to have graduated. Mostly because I thought I'd be smooth sailing at this point with a good job and a pretty good life lined up for myself. Sometimes life throws you curve balls. 

I have much more in the way of loans than I anticipated because I didn't take a high paying job my second summer (I got offered one in Provo [but nowhere else], but I didn't want to live there, so I opted to get a much lower paying fellowship in Chicago and spent every last of the measly pittance it provided before I even made it back to Provo for my 3L yr. I think it was the best choice for me, but I do wish I would have made over 10K that summer...)

I feel panic, uncertainty, and stress. I don't know if I'm making the best decisions because I just don't know what is going to happen in the future. I hope that I'll be able to find a job here in Metro-Detroit. I mean plenty of people do it so I should be able to as well, right? I feel like employers should want to hire a capable, eager, young attorney. (so far they have proven me wrong, but there is still hope)

It made more sense for me to return home with no job than to venture off to a lonely city (DC or Chicago) with no job. I am still applying to jobs in DC because I can waive into the DC Bar, and I am still applying for jobs in Chicago that don't require IL Bar admission (or any bar admission for that matter). 

I really don't know what life is going to bring me, but I have to have faith that I have done everything in my power to have the most prosperous life possible. I may be envious of people who have prestigious jobs (or any job) and wonder why it hasn't happened for me yet. I keep telling myself that the perfect opportunity is sitting right around the corner and it's going to happen for me as well. With a little luck and a lot of faith, I figure I'll end up in a good place. 

[And if not, my parents just paid off their mortgage, so I know I'll have a place to stay for awhile]