After Anita was accepted to the University of Michigan Law School in fall of 1995, she was invited to submit an application for the prestigous Darrow Scholarship. Here is how the school describes it:
Of all the merit scholarships awarded by the University of Michigan Law School, the Darrow is the apogee. The award of a Darrow Scholarship reflects not merely the recipient’s outstanding scholastic achievements, because those abound in our student body, but our sense that the recipient will one day go on to a remarkable career. Darrows vary in amount, but can be as large as full tuition for three years at the Law School, plus a stipend.
Our comprehensive review of your application materials has led us to conclude that you are a fine candidate for a Darrow. If you would like to be considered, please compose an essay on the following: In 500 words or less, please tell us why you are interested in a law school education.
Here is Anita’s essay.
My father always told me that I could do whatever I set my mind to. He also said knowledge is an asset that no one could ever take away from me. Believe half of the things you see and nothing you hear, he said. These seeds of wisdom have taken root, grown and bonded with the goals which have led to my pursuit of a legal career.
Ever since I was young, the study of law has interested me. The law is a powerful thing; it defines the parameters within which we must live our lives. The law dictates where you can build your lemonade stand, how tall the stand can be, and when your stand becomes a verifiable nuisance to your neighbor. It defines “reasonableness” and “obscenity”. In some countries, it decides the size of your family. Separate and distinct branches of government have been empowered to create, interpret and enforce our laws. I wanted to be someone who took part in the process which shaped them.
As I grew older, I developed a theory which outlined how I could use a position within the legal system to pursue the ideal of “liberty and justice for all”. My viewpoint centered on the belief that diversity in our legal system was needed in order to allow the scales of justice to set more evenly, in contrast to the imbalance sometimes rendered by the additional weight of race or gender. I believed I could use my unique point of view to influence the development of law and encourage a more equal application of it. However, a lack of confidence in my ability to succeed in the required course of study caused me to hesitate. I thought perhaps I should search for a vocation which would prove less strenuous. My father’s encouragement, an assurance that I could conquer whatever it was for which I truly thirsted, buttressed my quest for the elusive brass ring of a legal education.
As I expanded my mind with University and paralegal studies, I began to appreciate the logical workings of an attorney’s mind. Once again my father’s voice rose up to greet me, with a strong respect and reverence for education.
I knew if I could grasp onto the knowledge which I richly deserved, I would hold a priceless treasure that would withstand the ebbs and flows which life would bring my way.
Now, I am working closely with attorneys in my career as a paralegal. With this connection to the legal profession, I observe the persuasive abilities possessed by many attorneys. I am awed by their ability to dismantle a particular fact pattern, analyze it, and reconstruct the scenario in a manner which would shine in a light most favorable to their client. No absolute truth appears to exist. The only truth is an attorney’s zealous representative of a client, the adversary’s equal and opposite representation, and the American legal system, composed of the jury who decides issues of fact and the judge who decides issues of law. Perhaps these fact finders, along with myself, could take a grain of truth from my father’s words … believe nothing you hear. They must decide what weight to give some facts, while discarding others.
I want to spend the next three years developing the determination, knowledge and eloquence necessary to work among the ranks of the American lawyer.
My dad said I could do it.
Now, I believe him.
Anita didn’t win the scholarship, but they invited her to apply for a minority scholarship (see previous essay on racism), which she did win.
For a while, we had planned to move to AnnArbor and attend the University of Michigan. I was looking into graduate school there since I didn’t think I would be able to find many jobs in the music industry while there. Eventually, though, we determined that there was no job market in Michigan for lawyers, the closest large market being Chicago. Anita had been offered a half tuition scholarship to University of Chicago law school. She reasoned that if she was likely to spend summers interning in Chicago and find her ultimate job in Chicago, why move to Michigan now? Also at the time, U of C was ranked 3rd in the nation for law schools and she felt that degree would give her the broadest range of options in the future.
(Note: People in Georgia didn’t really care about University of Chicago so it didn’t really help when moving down here. However, Anita discovered that following God’s path isn’t really about what school you went to or what opporunities are open to you.)
