Part IV: Law school bound!

Part IV: Law School Bound!

I have decided.

Drum roll please…

I will be attending the UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS SCHOOL OF LAW this fall!!!

I am SO excited!!!

I sent out my seat deposit yesterday. Oh, it’s real. A little surreal. I will be paying for this, it is my deal. My parents have given me a great educational background – Brentwood Academy, Furman University – now it’s my turn. I am so grateful for my parents instilling in me a desire to learn and pursue knowledge and discover a career that would suit my gifts and interests. I enjoying writing and reading and have excelled in writing, and will surely read and write like I’ve never read or wrote before the next three years of my life!


I don’t know what kind of law I would want to practice or where this will take me. But I am confidently going through this door God has opened for me. Despite all my struggle with the LSAT, someone out there deemed me a solid candidate for their solid law program. They saw I was more than a score.

I feel a mix of peace, anxiety, and excitement, which I think is normal. Sure, there are many unknowns about the future may hold, but I have this overwhelming feeling that God is taking care of me.

“I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future,” Jeremiah 29:11.

"Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it," Isaiah 30:20-21

"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well," Matthew 6:33.

He’s taking care of me, providing for me. I am trusting Him to lead me & learning to lean on Him because "the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold," Psalm 84:11. I am very grateful and humbled by this blessing, this open door, He has bestowed upon and provided for me.

I look forward on embarking on this new journey of my life with Him, wherever it may lead. He has taught me to dream big, that the possibilities of the future are vast and there is nothing hindering me from pursuing this dream. I believe in dreams.

For many months, almost a year now, I have dreamed of going to law school and those dreams have become my life. Memphis Law will be where life will take me for the next three years.

Why Memphis Law? It’s in state, it is affordable, it has a high bar passage rate and post-graduation employment rate, it’s got a great reputation, great faculty, and is 3 hours from home.

Here’s some info on the school that I found on PrincetonReview.com:

An affordable, practical-minded, and utterly personable law school program, the University of Memphis is the ideal training ground for future attorneys in the mid-South. Through course work and extracurricular activities, this friendly public school distinguishes itself through its “emphasis on training you to be a lawyer and not just a student of the law.” Throughout the curriculum, professors place a “strong emphasis on oral argument abilities,” and required course work includes instruction in many of the practical skills you’ll need in the real world. For example, “Course work required for the legal methods class is incredibly helpful in learning good writing, oral communication, and other lawyering skills.” Students further appreciate the inclusion of Tennessee law into the curriculum—a facet that is particularly useful to those planning to practice in the state.

Offering an intimate academic atmosphere at a friendly price, “U of M Law is one of the best values available.” Unlike programs at larger public schools, Memphis students don’t have to clamor for attention from their brilliant professors; with an enrollment of about 150 students per class, “The school is small enough that personal attention is readily available, and professors are always willing to talk.” With little exception, students say the school’s accomplished faculty is its greatest strength. A 1L agrees: “I have never before been taught by so many excellent professors at one time.” Outside the classroom, students can augment course work through participation in one of three legal clinics, the General Litigation Clinic, Elder Law Clinic, and the Child and Family Litigation Clinic, through which they can represent elderly and indigent clients in the Memphis area. For those who want practice in the courtroom, the school operates a competitive moot court program. In a very lawyerly fashion, a current student attests: “Our moot court people kick ass.”

If there is one thing University of Memphis students unanimously criticize, it’s the school’s ramshackle facilities. From the shabby library to the hot and under-equipped computer lab, students say the facilities certainly don’t reflect the quality of the U of M law experience. At times, the building even has adverse effects on academics. A case in point: “In some of the classrooms, the professors have to use microphones because you cannot hear anything but the air conditioner.” The good news for prospective students is that the school recently bought a historic building in downtown Memphis, which will serve as the law school’s new home in 2009. Optimistic students are sure that their educational experience will “dramatically improve once we move to the new building.” In fact, they reassure us, “Once the school moves downtown into the Customs House, this school is likely to become one of the premier public law schools in the South.”

The school’s excellent bar-passage rate is among its major selling points. At 95 percent for first-time test-takers, it’s “unusually high for a small state school.” Another appealing facet of a U of M degree is the school’s “very high job-placement rate” and its strong “ties with the Memphis community.” Deeply entwined in the local legal market, “For a person looking to practice in Memphis, or anywhere else in Tennessee, the school’s reputation is outstanding.” Of course, there are always a handful of students who are looking for jobs in other regions; given the school’s regional strength, its not surprising that these students complain Career Services isn’t “much help outside of the Memphis area.”

This urban law school attracts all types of students, the range of which includes “college athletes, war veterans, people in their second careers, mothers re-entering the workforce.” While they are all scrambling to score the best grades, there is surprisingly little friction between students at U of M. One student explains, “The environment, despite the building, is very positive and upbeat. You don’t get the feeling that the guy or girl next to you is looking to stab you in the back.” Because the school comprises “a much smaller community than most of us are used to after undergraduate at large schools” and the curriculum requires an incredible time commitment, Memphis students get to know each other well. A student elaborates: “We spend an unbelievable amount of time around each other, so it is to be expected that people will date, people will bicker, people will complain, and people will make up.”

University of Memphis is a commuter school, so most “Students attend class and then go their separate ways.” However, for those who’d like to participate in campus culture, there are plenty of opportunities and a “fairly small group who consistently attend the law school’s social functions.” A current student shares, “All in all, we have a lot of fun when we aren’t studying, and we are able to find a common bond with pretty much everyone with which we go to school.

On campus summer employment recruitment for first year JD students: Yes

On campus summer employment recruitment for second year JD students: Yes

# of Employers that Recruit on Campus Each Year: 45

Employers who most frequently hire graduates: Major area and regional law firms, Tennessee Attorney General, Public Defenders office, TN Supreme Court & Court of Appeals, major area corporate legal depts., City & County Government.

Pass Rate for First-Time Bar Exam: 94.1%

Average Starting Salary: $59,000.00

% of graduates who are employed within nine months of graduation: 95%

One of the only gripes was the facility, but the new facility is beautiful and in the heart of downtown.


My uncle just talked to me and congratulated me. He thinks it is a great decision.

This is an excerpt from the email he sent me before I decided. I will treasure this. I am so grateful for his advice and support.

Law school - or any doctoral program you may look at - is going to be bloody expensive regardless of what's going on in the economy, unfortunately. The weird part is that your counselor is correct: it IS literally an investment in your future. An investment is a good way to look at this... are you willing to take out the debt and invest it in education, making a bet that you will work incredibly hard, succeed in school and when you graduate, then pay off the "investment" with your brand new paycheck? It's no different than investing in a piece of land: the investment only makes sense if you have plans to do something great with it and believe it will appreciate into something more valuable than the initial investment. So, is a JD worth the price? That depends on you. It is depressing to start out in debt, but having a high price tag provides a "gut check": Is the _______ (insert dream here) a PASSION that you believe in, know that you can succeed in, and can't see doing anything else?

Your parents made an "investment" in your future with Brentwood Academy and your Furman degree... now it's time for you to "put some skin in the game!" :-) The difference between their investment and yours is that their "return on investment" isn't money, job, success, or power -- it's your happiness. Their investment has placed you in a GREAT position in life... now it's up to you from here. You've got the world at your fingertips! It's scary, but you'll figure it out. I have faith in you!

Now my prayers have been gratitude for this opportunity and that God would provide me a roommate and financial aid (scholarships or approval for loans) to fund this educational opportunity.