Going back to school after working a regular nine to five can seem like a daunting task —even more so when you intend to dive head-first into the competitive and rigorous cesspool of legal education. With that in mind, is going back even worth it? If you are five, 10, 20, or even 40 years into your current career, should you just soldier on and leave law school to the twenty-somethings? Absolutely not, “second career” law students bring much-needed experience and color to an otherwise austere classroom.
One of the brightest classmates I had in my Health Law class was a 70-year-old man named Michael. Before making his way to law school, Michael had been a well-respected local pediatrician and had spent the last thirty years personally witnessing the implementation of HIPAA, HITECH and other imperative healthcare laws. While it may be difficult for the average childless twenty-something to understand the complexities of managing your child’s health information back in the 90s, Michael always supplied helpful anecdotes: like when he transitioned his practice from physical to electronic health records to save on office space; or when he had to weigh new mandatory reporting laws in against HIPAA’s call for health privacy. No matter the topic, Michael could always be counted on to liven up the subject.
One day before class, a few of us finally asked Michael what we were all dying to know: why did he come back to school? In our minds, he had a very successful career and wasn’t in need of a new one, why subject yourself to the harshness of law school when he had already accomplished so much? His response? “Because I can…because I want to…because my life isn’t over yet and there is so much left to learn.” We never questioned his reasons again.
On a less dramatic note, there were a variety of students who were able to bring real-life experience into the classroom. There were single mothers whose children were now old enough for them to return to school; bankers looking to move up in the company’s ranks by earning a law degree; paralegals looking to take on a more active role; and even students who (in their own words) “had almost flunked out of college” but wanted to get serious and build their future. Each of these students brought unique experience and perspectives to the table, they were able to consider hypothetical problems in real-world scenarios; able to issue spot in three dimensions where we only saw shapes; able to synthesize history, politics, and law as part of their broader understanding. As the old saying goes, they “had done more growin’ up” than the rest of us.
That being said, while we all may be reading the same textbook and answering the same hypotheticals, that doesn’t mean we have the same problems. Second career law students often have a larger number of responsibilities and external time commitments, making work life balance an even more impossible dream. While your kids will have ballet recitals and work may have tight deadlines, your Contracts reading still needs to get done before tomorrow. (Talk about trial by fire.)
While I can’t promise you things will get easier as you transition from 1L to 3L, that you won’t be up most nights pulling at your hair in frustration and agony, and that you won’t question your decision every minute of every day, I can promise you that trying feels a whole lot better than continuing to live a complacent life — a life full of “if I had the time,” “if I had done things differently,” and an internet browser history full of prospective schools and classes.
Will you have to work for it? Yes. Will it feel awkward being back in a classroom after such a long hiatus? Also yes. Will you be older than the majority of your classmates? It’s likely, but don’t let that stop you —you bring wisdom, value, and experience that will contribute significantly to everyone’s learning. You may be nervous to show up to class, but I promise to save you a seat.
