The Practice of Law Will Allow Me to Mobilize Individuals and Communities
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Rowing is God’s sport. The crisp early morning air, mist-shrouded hills, shells gliding silently on the glassy surface, oars slicing in unison. For casual observers, time slows and they become immersed in art. An ardent rower, I experience this beauty, but I also know that strength, courage and endurance command the shell, as in life.
Silence. White knuckles and callused palms suffocate the oar. In anticipation, my breathing, even my pumping heart stops. Then the horn sounds. Adrenaline rips through my torso. I pull, and keep pulling, sinews stretched to breaking, every muscle screaming to quit. Concentrating only on the starting dock, I surge forward relentlessly. That dock is my beacon.
I left home at sixteen. My single mother’s drinking had become intolerable. Regina, my twin, was pregnant; her drug-addict boyfriend moved in. The starting horn had sounded.
High school races by when you have to study, make a living, do chores, play guitar in a band, and still maintain a social life. But the independence gave me strength. There were some ironies. I had no curfew, but there wasn’t much to do in Artesia, New Mexico. As my own guardian, I could sign sick slips and grade reports, and attend PTA events. I earned two varsity letters, the maximum AP credits, and enough wages to escape debt.
Disregarding warnings that “fifty cents and a humanities degree could only buy a cup of coffee,” I selected political science and economics, impelled by a seemingly instinctive curiosity to study the two edifices of our society. Taking to reading like breathing, I devoured Marx, Mill, Keynes, and Smith, oblivious to my r…
…ities, and setting mechanisms for coordinating these efforts nationwide, so that populations can pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
I want to fight poverty and social inequity on a large scale. My plans include obtaining a law degree with a concentration in public interest law, gaining broad policy experience as a legislative advisor and eventually leading my own anti-poverty agency. But I dream of running for elected office, and winning-politics has the power to mobilize individuals, communities and nations.
But who am I to dream such things? Why will I succeed? Because I am passionate? Maybe. Because I live my life like I row? Possibly. The real reason is that there will always be a part of me, Regina cleaved from the same flesh, for whom poverty is a daily struggle. Regina is my beacon. I see her in the eyes of every person I try to help.
