Hi! This post is for anyone who is curious about why I am pursuing law school. It is also for anyone (undergrad, postgrad, and the like) who may be considering going to law school, too. Though my journey is my own, the underlying reason why I am choosing to pursue a law degree is not much different than many others.

After getting past the required intro courses in Sociology, I had the freedom to begin taking electives outside of my major. Don’t get me wrong, I was very interested in my coursework, But I was finally able to dive into my interests in various disciplines, from my new sociological lens. I took courses in Anthropology, Public Policy, Economics, and Global Studies, to name a few. I gained a new perspective on several societal issues and I saw just how much the different areas of study intersected.

Like so many others, I went into my senior year not really having much of an idea what I wanted to do after graduating from college. Despite my interest in the materials, I felt very limited in what my career options would be postgrad. To be frank, a B.A. in Sociology cannot get you very far in today’s job market. Many Sociology majors typically seek at least an MA and many go on to pursue a PhD. However, that still felt very limiting to me. I became frantic because I had no idea what I wanted to do next.

As a Sociology major, I wrote several papers, and did hours of research on numerous social issues. I was aware of overt discriminatory practices against various social groups by gender, race, sexuality, disability, SES but I learned about the depths of how unfair situations can be. This led me to become more active in the ways I wanted to support disadvantaged groups. I also began learning about covert tactics such as redlining, zoning laws, and hiring practices, that can and often do, impact individuals quality of life. I became interested in social issues like having limited access to resources (education, jobs, food, healthcare, etc.). Because my new interests expanded to various disciplines, my desire to combat injustices grew as well. My curiosity shifted from “how can X people get away with Y things?” to “What can I do to impact Y practices?”

About midway through my senior year, I considered my interests turned into passions as well as my numerous life experiences. I felt that I could only advocate so much for human rights, with issues as complex and discrete as they are. After taking a few law related courses, I felt that knowledge of the law can get you very far. At that point, I had decided that I wanted to go to law school.

Question: If you are considering or are in law school, does your story resemble mine?