[The days of Mr. Infinity].
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| We are the creators of our own lives -Mr. Infinity |
My second year of law school was the most challenging. 1L was easy. In fact, I put a lot into getting the top 18% in my class. I knew I would do well, and I did. But it was 2L that made me question if I wanted to continue law school at all. Should I drop out? I asked myself. Then, some how, some way, my own grandparents found out that I was considering leaving my legal education behind and going straight into the labor force. I figured I could do better than law school. If I had dropped out then, I would owe around $70-90,000 less than I now do. My grandparents, upon finding out about the possibility of me dropping out of law school, replied:
"You mentioned you were thinking about quitting school. I hope you decide not to because you have so much time invested in it and you are almost at the finish line. You may look back and really regret it later on if you quit now. Sure there are people out there that just see gloom and doom but if you have the will to succeed, and Lord knows you do, the right position will be there for you . It sounds like you have been doing real good and getting internships so you must be doing something right. You have a really good, smart head on your shoulders so I know you will really give it some very serious thought."
This letter came a year ago. I never replied. In fact, when I went back home for summer between second and third year, I didn't even go visit them. I was angry at the letter they wrote back. How dare they tell me what I should do with my money.
Nando, once a huge supporter of mine, had the following to say:
I remember my first Thanksgiving, during law school. People asking stupid legal questions. The poor [people born out of wedlock] simply don't understand that first year law students don't learn a [darn] thing about "the law." They are indoctrinated by academic [tush]-hats, and learn nothing of substance. For instance, how the [heck] does Carbolic Smoke Ball help one become a competent contracts lawyer?!?!
Feel free to email me. That info is on my blog. Keep documenting your story, but make sure not to provide any details that could identify you. Best of luck!
Thank you for the luck, but I never really needed it. And, don't worry, I would have never provided any details that could have identified me. And while my critics search with fervor the details of who I am, I have decided that upon graduation that I will be changing my name anyway!
But let's get to the story, shall we?
It was upon reading this letter one more time that I changed my tune, and I began to prepare an e-mail for my grandparents. Something in me had changed at the begging of my third year of law school. The end was in sight. I was to be the architect of my own fate. I realized that it was up to me to make my post-law school life as best as it could be. Nobody would wipe my own behind. I did not have parents who would pay my way through life. I did not have parents who would let me move back in with them and let me leech of them.
If I would send my grandparents an e-mail, this is what it would say:
Grandmother and father grand!
I am now holding near $300,000 in debt, but I am on the verge of emerging victorious from law school. I have you and the rest of the family to thank for your support. Had I dropped out over a year ago, I would owe well under $200,000. Yet, I would have went a year and a half of law school for naught. I now, indebted to the core, will arise a law school graduate -- esquire. But, I will have the opportunity to do great things with my life. Things that my ardent enemies -- some that call for my ouster and possible death -- claim I can not do. But they are wrong.
Grandeth mother, you wrote that letter that said "do not drop out!" I was so angry with you. When I went to Washington state last summer I wondered it visiting you would be worth it. Why? I would have to hear it again -- and I thought my ears should bleed. I wanted nothing to do with law school at the time! I wanted nothing at all to do with you or the law!!!!
Now, I am graduating with debt that will compound constantly. Yet, I am not afraid any longer! Income Based Repayment will help me through it. Further, I will soon be holding a Juris Doctorate degree. One of the highest degrees in the world! A law degree gives me (and you) pedigree! Our family was never really that high on the social ladder. But I feel that this degree is going to help us climb ever higher grandmother!
I have further news for you. In law school I have become famous. Yes, I am now known as the Infinite, or Mr. Infinity, or The Legendary Law Student of the Infinite Mind! Law students read my blog daily. In fact, my name is thrown around all over the internet. Like I said, there are people out there hoping that I fail. They want me to, but they secretly know I am going to succeed. I already have a real paying law job grandmother! I already have one and they refuse to even acknowledge that!
They, they hate me so much. They hate my positive outlook on life, my goals, and they hate that I didn't drop out. I am making people who consider dropping out double think! They are seeing that dropping out is not always the best choice.
Sincerely,
Mr. Infinity, your grandson
Of course, I don't think that this letter will be sent. The reality is that I tend to let the past lie where it lies. And sometimes the past is best left behind us.
***
Mr. Infinity's Playhouse Productions in association with Mr. Infinity, The Legendary Law Student of the Infinite Mind (who is one and the same as The World Traveling Law Student, also sometimes referred to as The (highly esteemed) World Traveling Law Student) proudly presents a work of non-fiction, The Life and Times of Mr. Infinity.
1L: WESTERN NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE SCHOOL OF LAW
It took me three years to get into law school. Three years. With an LSAT of 153, not too many schools wanted to take a chance on me. But, I finally busted open not one, but three, acceptance letters the summer before I moved across the United States to attend what I firmly believe is one of the best law schools on the east coast.
I was accepted to three schools. Western New England College School of Law (Now Western New England University school of Law) was the first to let me in and it was the school I decided to go with. I was also accepted to New England Law in Boston and Golden Gate University in my home of San Francisco. I wanted to live in New York, so I moved to Western New England (later I would realize that I wanted to go back to the west coast).
Western New England College is located in Springfield, MA, a city that is very much opposite to San Francisco. The weather was something I was not prepared for. Further, I was used to walking all over San Francisco and not very used to driving around or waiting up to half an hour for a bus. Being that I did not have a car, I would rely on the bus a lot. I knew that I would be transferring to a New York school after my first year at WNEC, so I did not bother purchasing a car.
WNEC was terrifying to me at first. There were so many people who were entering the first year of law school (now, looking back, it is a smaller school than my current behemoth of a law school). I wanted to get the highest grades and be known as an elite law student. I was very quiet in law school. So much so in fact that at the orientation I created an imaginary friend named Darcy Hookhands. Darcy existed purely in my head and was a beautiful female who had hooks for hands. I created her as a genius that could remember cases word for word in her head, but due to the lack of hands, could not actually quickly answer the final exam. Therefore, even though Darcy Hookhands possessed incredible legal knowledge, she would not be able to get a grade in the top 50% of the class. Therefore, I knew that I was already guaranteed to get a better grade than Darcy Hookhands.
This worked to my advantage, because, unlike my competition, I knew that it would be impossible for me to be in the bottom of my class. My competition wondered if they would be smarter than the rest, but I knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that I would do better than the SMARTEST LAW STUDENT IN THE WORLD.I would always imagine that Darcy Hookhands sat on the opposite side of the room. Therefore, I could keep an eye on her. In my mind, she would answer the questions in the manner that the professor asked them while fumbling to take notes on her computer due to her awkward hooks. I would smile, seeing that she could not write the notes that the professor put on the board.
Western New England College was pummeled with terrible snow in the winter of 2010-11. In fact, it was so awful that I would sometimes be passed by the bus that I had to wait an hour or so to catch. That would mean waiting another hour to catch another bus. The snow was so high that it was, in places, higher than I was tall when plowed. This proved to be a dilemma for me. But I knew that since I would be moving to New York after owning first year I should not buy a car. I was, as with many things in life, right on the mark.
After my first semester of law school I slid through with an epic performance on my exams. I had the highest score in the class on my Contracts exam and was 3rd in the class on my Property exam. I did incredibly well in Criminal Law and Torts. In fact, the only class I did not do very good in was Civil Procedure, getting median grades. On balance my rank was somewhere around 5-10% based on my own calculations.
I wanted to step things up during the second semester, but this is when much of the snow came and where I found that I missed the most time. I worried that my grades would slip, and the reality is that the grades slipped somewhat. I was pushed down to the top 18% of my class. But I still finished strong, and I would apply to and get accepted to many law schools. These schools included University of San Francisco, Lewis and Clark, and a few in New York City!
I would be transferring to New York just as I knew I would. Conventional law school wisdom said "do not expect to transfer" but I knew that conventional law school wisdom did not apply to me. I was a special snowflake, and I was right! This was usually the case in my life, and I had come the conclusion that when other people would say something negative about me or my life, that I should not listen.
I wondered if I should move to New York or Portland (Oregon). The school in Portland was really enticing to me, as it was the best in the state and one of the best on the west coast. In fact, Portland is a city I had spent some time in and as a bohemian minded individual I found that Portland was the kind of place I would fit in well. At this time I had an inkling that I belonged on the west coast and I missed it greatly. However, I decided to go ahead to New York because that was my goal. Sometimes I kind of wish I moved to Portland, but it is too late for that now.
Due to moving across country, we had very little in our huge two bedroom apartment in Springfield. In fact, we did not bother buying a bed until I was almost done with law school. My wife and I shared a twin sized air mattress on the floor of the bedroom for a semester and a half. Our living room had two small Ikea chairs. Our dining room had a very small table and nothing else. We had always had very small apartments in the downtown area of the cities we had lived in and never had such a massive unit and were unprepared to furnish it. In fact, we knew we would end up in a very small New York apartment (and, again, we were right). We never had any guests, friends or family, in our apartment while living in Springfield. In fact, we are very private people, my wife and I. )That is why I do not share who I am on the internet and the real name of "Mr. Infinity" does not exist online. Further, Mr. Infinity's "real name" changes when I graduate law school.)
Packing the U-haul to move to New York was easy. This was due to the fact that I have a pretty well built body and I do a really good amount of exercise and also eat a very strict vegetarian diet, do not drink alcohol or sugary drinks, and I strongly believe in keeping a clean mind (especially at the time of this writing). This was also due to the fact that we did not have much furniture to pack into the very small U-haul truck.
2L: CARDOZO/ST.JOHN'S/BROOKLYN/FORDHAM/NYLS/COLUMBIA/NYU/TOURO
3L: CARDOZO/ST.JOHN'S/BROOKLYN/FORDHAM/NYLS/COLUMBIA/NYU/TOURO
3L: MINDSHIFT -- FROM NEGATIVITY TO POSITIVITY -- OWNING THE LAW SCHOOL EXPERIENCE, FINDING LEGAL EMPLOYMENT, AND ATTAINING YOUR DREAMS DESPITE THE ODDS AGAINST YOU, A LAW STUDENT'S GUIDE TO SUCCESS IN LAW SCHOOL AND BEYOND
[Coming Soon]
POST GRADUATE: STUDYING FOR THE BAR EXAM AND TRAVELING THE WORLD
[Summer 2013]
For Grandmother: You gave me something to write about!
©2013 Mr. Infinity's Playhouse Productions
Mr. Infinity, The Triple Infinite (∞∞∞), The World Traveling Law Student, Mr. Infinity's Playhouse Productions, Mr. Infinity The Legendary Law Student of the Infinite Mind, The (highly esteemed) World Traveling Law Student, WTLS, the "Top 18%" moniker, Mr. Infinity's Tea Hour, Mr. Infinity's Domain are all reserved as the property of Mr. Infinity and Mr. Infinity's Playhouse Productions. All rights reserved.
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