Why I Did NOT Go to Law School

What, like it's hard?

Ever since I was a little girl, something my Dad has never failed to point out is that I was always willing to speak up. He may not have used those specific words, and it may have been along the lines of "Why are you always arguing with me?" but stay with me here. He eventually started telling me that I would make a great lawyer. .

My Dad, who has been working at the same company for over 30 years, loves his job more than anything. While it has it's days, he has reiterated the same important idea to me since I was old enough to understand it.

"Find a job that you love so much that you never have to work a day in your life".

This is the number one thing that my Dad has taught me (disregard how to drive, how to tie my shoes, how to ride a bike, and how to put new wipers on my car, but you get the point). Ever since, I have applied this to all aspects of my life. If I don't love something, then why am I putting in the effort to do it?

When it came time to take my first intro to law class at UGA, I must say I enjoyed it overall. I was having my own little moment as Elle Woods. I could sit in lecture all day and just absorb the information, sometimes so that I would forget to take notes. The way law school works though is that you need to learn every single aspect of it before finding your niche practice. THAT I was not enjoying. It was a lot of work toward something that I was not sure I was ready to devote my time to, especially something that I was not sure I loved wholeheartedly.

There is one thing in my life that I have loved from the second I started wearing onesies as an infant (so, forever). I tend to be someone that falls in love with something, gets bored, and loses touch. Different sports, different hobbies, tv shows, you name it. However, with fashion, it has always been something I am passionate about.

Fashion is, and continues to be, my constant in my life.

Even when I was little, my favorite thing to do would be to sneak into my Mom’s closet while I was in her room watching TV. I would just go in there and stare at all her makeup and clothes, and eventually muster up the courage to try them on. When I would hear a noise, I would run back into the room and pretend like I was just watching TV. Fashion and my love for it has been a constant in my life for as long as I can remember, which is why it is so important to me.

Law is something I am undoubtedly fascinated by, but was it just a hobby and a nice pay check, or was it a love? That was the hard decision that I had to make.

At the end of the day, my heart starts to race and I get chills when I discuss omni-channel retail, or watch the Met Gala red carpet, or scroll through Instagram to look at luxury collections. I am not afraid to admit it, but I am that person that will wander around the mall for 2 hours, not buy anything, and still enjoy every second of it (just ask my friends-- all of them refuse to go shopping with me).

Now I know what you're thinking automatically. "Really? She chose fashion over being a lawyer. Retail is dying and there is no sustainable jobs in the fashion industry." Not quite, but I love the enthusiasm. The fashion industry is actually a BILLION (yes- billion with a B) dollar global industry that employs more individuals than the number of people that go through Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in a single day. Did you also know that for every brick-and-mortar store location that closes, 2.7 stores open in its place? Like I said, big brain over on this side of the screen.

As I finish writing this, I am currently in the middle of an internship with the social media team at an Athens-based clothing boutique. I love my internship, and it has helped me realize that I definitely made the right decision as to what path I want to take for my future career. Who knows, maybe my own clothing brand is in my future.

Even though my path does not involve law, I still have no problem walking into a conference room or my own future clothing store with the same level of confidence that Elle Woods did on her first day at Harvard Law. And she looked damn good doing it.

Bye for now,

Emily <3

P.S. In case you were wondering, criminal law does still remain a huge interest of mine, especially when it involves true crime. If you ever want to exchange true crime documentaries, shoot me a message ;)