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: Thanks, But No Thanks.

Updates from the Job Front: Coming to Terms with Working Life

I am two weeks into my summer job at Work Hard, Play Hard, LLP, and things are bopping along more or less smoothly. I like the people. The work, for the most part, is interesting. I have a window! And yet, I don't feel quite settled in yet.

I have yet to purchase a meal on my own dime, and am starting to long for a grilled cheese sandwich and baby carrots straight out of the bag. You know: normal, law student food. As much as I enjoy the free meals, the pressure of always being "on" is starting to wear me a little thin. When I get home, all I want is a Coors Light, a pair of sweatpants, and to talk to someone who doesn't look at me like a flighty $100k investment.

And, to be honest, I am a very flighty investment for them. Apparently the firm expects me to have "interests" and an "emphasis." It's so cute how they think that I have "a life plan" or "direction." At the beginning of the summer, rather than saying anything about how my interests were "whatever you are most interested in paying me to do, thanks," I was as honest as I could be, given the circumstances. Bascially, this means I said "employment" and "environmental" off the top of my head.

Two weeks in, I have learned that these are not really fun areas of law. Rule bound, annoying to research, and full of red tape, yes. Fun, no. Over the last few weeks, I've started to appreciate how unbelieveably decadent it is to have the liberty to just sit in class and think big thoughts, and then chase those big ideas down whereever they may lead. Big, esoteric, questions are not highly encouraged in the 6-minute-increments world, and it is a little bit frustrating to see so many interesting questions go unanswered.

Hi, yes. I gun. Pleased to meet you, here's my nerd card. Carry on, Internet.

This revelation prompted a minor identity crisis: I just like being a law student. I remain unconvinced about this whole "practice" thing. Please let me do nerdy things, preferably as far away from OSHA and the administrative courts as I can possibly get....Ok, thanks.

I'm trying to get back into my nerd groove, working on the journal and writing a little in my down time. In my deep, dark, secret soul, I'm a little afraid of getting too attached to this life. The people are amazing, the pay is wonderful, but the constant timekeeping? Being at the beck and call of clients? The overwhelming amount of bureaucracy and red tape? Not so much.

I have been floating around from assignment to assignment trying to find a good fit, but I've had no luck just yet. Oh, except I'm crossing things off the list: goodbye, employment. Next week: hellooooo commercial real estate. In an effort to find some kind of inner peace, there will be writing (copious amounts), and sitting around cross-legged and be spectacled, thinking nerdy thoughts and eating cheezits. You know, just to stay in touch with my nerdy, sweat-pants loving roots.

Is there a balance in law firm life, after the summer-long job interview is over? I sure hope so, because I'm not really cut out for a Phd.

Full post as published by Thanks, But No Thanks. on June 05, 2009 (boomark / email).