As you may know, when I’m not blogging, photographing or cooking, I’m lawyering — actually, given the time commitments involved, it is probably more appropriate to say when I’m not lawyering, I’m blogging, photographing or cooking.
I graduated from the UBC Faculty of Law in 2008 amongst 200 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready-to-take-over-the-world-almost-lawyers. While my peers morphed into professionals, I ran away screaming took a pre-career break and traveled around the world for a year with the hubs, who was then the bf. Best. Idea. Ever. By the time I started, I was about 13 months, or 1950 billable hours, behind most of my friends. I wouldn’t change that decision for the world.
Partially due to being in the most excruciatingly technical field the law … wait for it … tax law … and partially because I’ve only been at it for about a year an a half, I feel like I’m not much of an expert on anything.* Sure I can read the income tax act – all 2600 pages of it – without crying.
And sure, every so often I come across a problem that I have maybe, just maybe, dealt with before. But most of the time, I feel like it is my very first day at a brand new job (except that I’m not worried about what I’m wearing**). This is a tough feeling to have every single day for 519 days in a row. This week though, I saw the beginnings of the glimmers of “the light”.
One of my best law school friends was quoted. In a real life big-time Vancouver newspaper. On an issue that has been at the forefront of our national news for days. As an EXPERT.
And, you know what? He sounds smart, and so lawyerly. And, you know what? That’s because he IS smart. And, you know what? He is only 13 months ahead of me. So while I sit here on the opposite side of the country and burst with pride for my friend, I also get the warm fuzzy feeling that maybe, just maybe, there is hope for me yet.
*Except probably mind and management and maybe interest deductibility, and a few procedural issues. But I won’t thrill you with those details here.
**This was not the case on the day my boss told me I “looked like Robin Hood, except brown, not green”; I did worry about what I was wearing that day. For the record, it was cute and looked nothing like this:
