Early Decision: Law, Life and Liberty
This week marks one week since I submitted my first law school application—an early decision, a binding commitment to my dream school. UC Davis isn’t just another name on a list; it’s the place I imagine spending my weekdays, meeting new people, and building a second family. A place where I want to thrive and get all my thousands of dollars worth of education.
I’ve spent every free moment working toward this point—refining my personal statement for over a year and a half, building my résumé until it felt right, and rereading every section of my application four times before I finally felt comfortable enough to “add it to the cart” and check out.
Even as I hit submit, it still felt incomplete, as if my application wasn’t good enough. My mind flooded with doubt, my hands grew clammy, and my legs wouldn’t stop bouncing. I start talking to myself in this weird, fast third person way and my eyes get watery. In moments like that, I have to shake it off—literally—like Sharpay Evans before hitting the stage: “Arbrbrbrbrbrbrbrrr… BAH! BAH!” Then I’m ready to rock and roll. The doubts fade, and my focus sharpens.
When I finally submitted it, I just sat there in silence—in shock, in amazement, in pride. To know that I’m the first person in my family to submit a law school application fills me with an indescribable sense of purpose. I am a product of an immigrant single mother with three kids and a father who served in the United States Marine Corps for over 25 years. My background deeply inspires me to write the next story not just for myself but for them and for the next. It reminds me that every late night, every rewrite, and every moment of doubt was leading me here to become the person who dares to take the first step. My mom always says, “Everything happens for a reason”, for every choice, every misturn, every thing, happens.
That was the first step of many on my journey to law school. I still have eleven more applications to complete—all across California—but this one was my first. And like the saying goes, you never forget your first time. It’s true. Not only was I the first to apply, it also was the first page I turned in a year and a half. As you recall, I have been studying, trucking along on my LSAT journey, working two part time jobs and somehow continuing my lifestyle. To finally see the results come together is refreshing and sparked my love for law school all over again.
At heart, I am a studious person, I love school and learning. Do I love doing it? Hmm sometimes. Am I excited to be a student again? Hmm I think so. Will this next chapter of mine be tedious yet rewarding? I really hope so. And honestly, that’s all I can do until I get there. When I do I have to seize every opportunity because this is what I prayed for, this exact moment. Now the time has come for me to wait to hear back about their decision. The worst part is I have to keep grinding to work on other applications just as hard and in depth while nervously checking my emails for any updates.
