Law School - 1, Criminal Law - 0

Completing an internship, during undergrad, was the best choice for me when it came to making my dream to go to law school concrete. 

Why? 

Well its simple: Why invest hundreds of thousands of dollars into pursuing a degree for a job that I'll hate? The first part was done – have an interest in legal studies. But that interest could only go so far within a classroom setting. I was seeking something a bit more because, like I said before, I was a bit stuck on whether or not this was the right path for me. 

Side note: one roadblock I experienced was that a lot of attorneys/firms that have internships available are seeking 1L+ students. I originally seeked an internship with a local NHL team but they were only taking on current Law students. But the positive side to this is that I can keep them in mind for a potential summer externship while in law school. As far as undergraduate internships go, I highly suggest ones in criminal law. I got a lot of firsthand experience both in and beyond the courtroom. BUTTTTTTT I MUST MAKE NOTE OF THE FACT THAT IT IS NOT REQUIRED OR EVEN RECOMMENDED FOR UNDERGRAD STUDENTS TO DO AN INTERNSHIP BEFORE LAW SCHOOL. I took that initiative on my own because I had a brief panic moment as to whether or not I was truly going to pursue law school and the legal profession. 

My internship was with a local Public Defender, We'll call him John Doe or JD for short, and it's safe to say that I ABSOLUTELY LOVED EVERY SECOND OF IT. But it wasn’t until after I completed it that I realized criminal law is not the right concentration for me. Why? Well it may sound so silly and trivial to some but to me its just the person I am. I have no issue defending the accused or the convicted, everyone deserves proper representation and justice. When I began the internship I was extremely nervous about this because for so long I was set on criminal law, but the prosecution - like my girl Alexandra Cabot.

I had the misconception that all Public Defenders and Defense attorneys were just getting clients out of being held accountable for their actions. JD showed me that my views were completely wrong. He showed me the truth in the idea that everyone has rights, deserves justice, equal representation and so much more. My issue with criminal law, on both ends of the spectrum, stood with children. I am someone who wants to have a family one day and I know part of having a children is that children make mistakes. The major thing is that they learn from their mistakes, grow and mature. I couldn’t be the person to defend or prosecute a child for crimes. I know that it would burn me out quickly and I want this profession to be something that will excite me, motivate me and allow me to be passionate at all points for the 25+ years. 

Long story short - while I am thankful for such a great learning experience, I am even more grateful for having discovered early on that while certain concentrations within the legal profession are not a right fit for me; law is.