Q: What advice would you give to a high school student who wants to become a lawyer?

I love this question! I love answering it even more, because (some of) my advice surprises parents and students. 

First, good for you to think ahead at the big picture of your life! A great way to create the life you will love is to set a goal.

Now that you have a goal, let’s make plans to get you there…

Grades matter. You are in high school right now and have several years ahead of you before you are applying to law school. Focus on your grades. A grade of a B (or even C) will happen, but really try to work on keeping your grade point average up.

Consider taking concurrent enrollment classes. If you plan to go to law school, you have a lot of school in your future. Skip some electives and get in some college courses your junior and senior year at a reduced cost. College and law school will be expensive. Get a jump now and save some money.

Get (& keep) a job. As a high schooler, you are likely looking at job opportunities that are messy, grueling, or just plain tough. You have to start somewhere. You may wonder what a high school job has to do with becoming a lawyer… It is best to humble yourself now that we all have to do entry level jobs at low pay. I hate to break it to you but many new lawyers, myself included, find they are also dealing with messy, grueling, and tough starting out legal jobs that don’t pay much. 

But if you start where you are and work when you can, you will be more prepared for law school and being a lawyer than those who didn’t work in high school. I promise you!

Volunteer. Wait, I want you to volunteer too? YES!?! You are starting your career now and have zero experience. The only way to get experience is to get experience. Volunteering is a way you can get involved in roles you aren’t yet qualified to do as a job. If you want to be a school lawyer, you want to volunteer with schools and around kids. If you want to be a trial lawyer, then see if you can volunteer in the court clerk’s office or a local law firm. Look for any chance to shadow a lawyer. 

Read and write…a lot. Much of being a lawyer is reading and writing. I actually didn’t know that until I was in law school studying about 6-8 hours a day after attending class for 3-5 hours. On an average day, I read 100-150 pages and wrote briefs for 20-30 cases or more. Your entire grade is based upon ONE test, so studying each day and refreshing each week is vital to your success. 

For right now, read everything you can and write a reflection of what you took from it. Journal about your life. Write letters. Learn to listen to what is being said and what is being said between the words.

Prepare for your ACT. It’s more like the LSAT than one might think. Right now, you are thinking about college and deciding whether to take the ACT, SAT, or both… or neither. For my Oklahomies, you’ll be taking the ACT because the legislature is making you. There are likely some awesome, free study guides and practice tests. Do as many as you can while they are readily available and cost-effective.

No, the ACT won’t get you into law school, but it is a test that is similar in form to the LSAT that you will take to get into law school. If you can learn how to take a standardized test, it will be better for you in the long run. I’ll be honest that this wasn’t my strongest part of my application, but I did ok. Learn now how to address your test-taking weaknesses. They will be there in the future when you want to get a good score on the LSAT.

Envision what type of law you want to do. Your law degree is general and does not have a major. So your vision and focus for your law career are solely on you. Find what interests you and chase it like your future happiness depends on it. Because it does!

Sure, like many, I had this vision I’d be a high-flying lawyer sitting up in a glass tower in Chicago, but in reality, I knew I wanted to help kids. I didn’t know that I’d become a school lawyer, but I’m super excited that I did!

Since high school, I have almost always volunteered to help kids. Please know that I am awkward as can be around kids with their fearless chaos and flailing arms, but I just want them to have what they need to become good humans. My college volunteer work focused on psychology and the field of counseling and helping kids. There was a clear theme and focus. 

When I started law school, I remember being suffocated by imposter syndrome and surrounded by a lot of very smart peers with backgrounds in Political Science, Business, and Pre-Law. It was intimidating to be the only, lonely Psychology major in the bunch. But my law school (Yay, Oklahoma City University School of Law!) prided itself on selecting a diverse class from various backgrounds. I remember peers who had prior careers in nursing, engineering, construction management, and banking. Others were fresh out of college always planning to go to law school. Not everyone had a focus for what they wanted to do once they became a lawyer, but I did! It was crystal clear. 

During law school, I volunteered for many organizations and joined student clubs but focused my efforts on Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) and working as a licensed legal intern for Oklahoma Lawyers for Children. I was going to be a lawyer who helped children.

Slow and steady. Your path from high school to law school and into law is a marathon, not a sprint. Make good choices for your current age. What you do now directly impacts your future – good, bad, and otherwise. Your actions and words have consequences – good, bad, and otherwise. 

Enjoy the time of life you are in while you’re in it. Be present in the moment. The future will be here before you in a flash, and it’s best not to be looking too far back as objects in the rearview mirror may appear larger than they are. All you can really directly manage is where you are and how you handle yourself and those around you right now at this moment. Take your time to enjoy being in high school. Dress up silly for Homecoming and fancy for a school dance. Keep romance light-hearted. Find out who you are and not what others tell you to be.

Focus on what you can control; let go of what you can’t. Only you can control you. Nobody actually makes you mad or sad or angry or happy or late… you decide what you will let in your mental space and in your life. There are a lot of factors in your life that are absolutely out of your control, like getting a flat tire or someone yelling at you. 

You are in control of your reaction and what you do next in every single situation. You can decide how you feel about a person or situation and to what extent it shapes you. It takes practice. A lot of practice. But if you focus on what you can control – what you say, who you let be your friend, what and how you study and when, what you eat, how you spend your free time, etc. – you will so far exceed your own expectations for yourself. 

Here are some things you can let go of that are out of your control: the weather, what/how others think about you, your stress about what you said before, etc. You can’t change any of that. Your mental power can be better spent on considering what you can do to help you set and achieve your goals. 

Sharpen your vision of your goals and shoot for the stars!  Remember before when I said you need a job and it might not be the greatest. Well, each time you are in a situation, a job, a volunteer experience, a club, a group of friends, at an event, you are learning what you like and what you don’t like. These experiences are shaping your own personal values. I like this; I don’t like that. The more experiences you learn from about yourself, the better you will be in identifying the type of lawyer you want to be. 

• Do you want to be a lawyer in court? 
• Do you want to be an in-house counsel who tries to stay out of court?
• Do you want to work for the District Attorney’s office as a prosecutor? 
• Do you want to defend those who are facing charges?
• Do you want to work long hours and make big money? 
• Do you want to work long hours and support a cause? (It’s long hours almost no matter what you do as a lawyer…)
• Do you want to get a law degree and not practice but still use your legal knowledge as an entrepreneur? 
• Do you want to work as a clerk for a federal judge?

• Do you want to do legal research and write for a big think tank group?
• Do you want to become a law school professor?

It’s hard to know now. And honestly, your personal and professional values might continue to shift even after you become a lawyer. That is how life and careers work. Just keep working towards your future, and also consider how you becoming a lawyer might impact those you know and who look up to you. 

Good luck and congratulations on exploring law for your future! It’s hard work, but if you stay on course and pivot when you need to, you’ll be just fine.