Friday, December 07, 2007

Assume a job interview

Why law?

I don't know. I've always been interested in debating, conveying my ideas, and, more importantly, convincing others. Of course my parents wanted me to go into med, or at least something in the medical field, or, at worst, something in science. I tried. I went into sciences in cegep. I've always been drawn to sciences anyway, so I figured, why not at least try? I tried, and didn't like it.

So I decided to go into Law. A lot of my friends were telling me I should go into the legal field, ever since that geography class in sec 5 where we did model UN and I won best debater. I was representing Benin, this tiny country in Africa, and we were against the reform on Human Rights, against the UK.

Of course my parents weren't all that happy when I chose law. They all had scientific backgrounds, so they didn't know anything about this. They both grew up in China, so their mentality was that if you wanted to succeed, you had to go in sciences. They still think that.

Of course they did everything they could to dissuade me. Every once in a while they'd repeat the same story about the kid of one of their friends who was in Physio and had job offers even before she finished her diploma. They wanted me to go into some field where I would be sure to get a job when I come out. Some field where there was a lack of personnel, so I'd be sure to get a job.

But I didn't want that. I didn't want something so easy. Not that it would be easy studying to be a doctor, or anything, but I didn't want a field where the roads were all paved. I didn't want to get a job because people are so desperate for the vacancy to fill. I wanted something to be proud of, and not just of having survived my studies. I wanted something where I could say: I achieved this by myself. I worked hard for this, and this is what I deserve.

No comments: