Rejection — Law School Edition

Have you ever looked up the word “rejected” or “rejection”? Well if you haven’t, there’s no need to because I’ve done it for you. Merriam-Webster defines rejected as, “not given approval or acceptance” hmm….sounds pretty accurate, but since I’m a Gen Z kid I’ll give you Urban Dictionaries definition of the word, rejection:

“Something I’ve experienced my entire life. Those who have never experienced it cannot know the pain and emotional damage it causes. It makes you feel depressed, lonely and like a worthless reject who will never amount to anything or find someone worthy to love or love you in return for who you are because you are not good enough. It’s the worst and loneliest feeling a person could ever experience”.

I will admit this is a pretty extreme definition that is mainly focused around getting rejected by a person, but when I replace with being rejected by a law school and a career, this seems pretty darn accurate.

After my first attempt at the LSAT in September of 2016 (which did not go well), I decided to take the year off from school after graduating from undergrad in April 2017 to work, make some money, and study for LSAT again. After my second LSAT attempt, my mark increased slightly and I decided I would “shoot my shot” and apply to law school.

I spent countless hours on my applications which consisted of an essential recall of every single significant job, volunteer experience, extracurricular activity, award, and achievement I had throughout my life to that point. Not to mention that you need someone to verify every single entry you place in your application.

Aside from that aspect of the application known as the “biographical sketch”, the applications require personal statements catered to each school, multiple reference letters and hours of editing (not to mention that applying to law school isn’t cheap). I was sure that with my experiences and achievements I would be a great candidate.

Then the rejections started flowing in.

One by one, schools from across the country sent kindly-worded emails apologizing for being unable to accept me but encouraged me to try again next year. Each email I received sent a mixture of a cold tingle down my spine and a hot flash everywhere else, as the words in these emails, had the power to change my life. Reading each rejection felt like a massive punch to the gut that never got easier.

I went through many phases of emotion because of these rejections. I was sad, I felt like I wasn’t good enough, smart enough, or competent enough to be a law student. I lost a lot of self-confidence. I have always been a confident person and never really faced rejection the way I had when applying to law school. I always made every sports team and got the jobs I wanted, I just seemed to always be able to achieve what I set my mind too…except this.

That feeling was something I was truly processing for the first time and it took a large toll on my day to day life. For the two years I was in the workforce I spent my days going to work and excelling, all while lacking the self-confidence I once thrived on. On a daily basis, I second-guessed everything, whether it was work-related, relationships, sports, even opinions on certain topics. I really felt like I didn’t know myself anymore. That is when I finally realized that I needed to make a change.

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again!

I took a short leave of absence from work to give the LSAT one last try, putting all my time and effort into the one aspect of my applications I knew was holding me back. I spent one month treating the LSAT like a day job, getting to the library bright and early and leaving when the sun went down (it was more like when I finished all my snacks and needed dinner). Bottom line is, I put everything I had into this one last attempt into law school.

While studying, I revamped and resubmitted my applications for the 2019 admission period, adding in my new work experiences and community involvement I had gained since my last application. Most importantly, I hoped this new application would be accompanied by a new and improved LSAT score. This test was it, this going to be my last shot at the brutally challenging LSAT. All I can say is, it paid off.

In May of 2019, I was accepted to the University of Windsor and University of Detroit Mercy Dual JD program, which was a feeling I cannot describe, but I’ll try my best to in my next post (guess what next week’s topic is?). I will say, that I had never felt like I conquered any challenge so great in my life both physically and mentally than getting into law school.

I had not only proved to my own friends and family that I could do it, but I proved it to myself. I was my own biggest doubter and was harder on myself than I had ever been. All it took was the guts to give it one more shot, to truly change the trajectory of my life. It was the biggest weight off my shoulders and I could not have been happier to have this opportunity and be where I am today.

So, what do I hope you can learn from this? This is so classic and I’m sorry to be another guy to say this and it’s kind of making me cringe to type but: “never give up”. If you really want something go get it, but before you do, take a step back and realize what it’s really going to take to get there. What do you need to sacrifice? And what challenges are you going to have to overcome?

The real takeaway from this on a personal level is to just be kind to yourself. Everyone has a purpose and it takes ups and downs to find yourself and your purpose. Regardless of the hard times you face, never take the little things for granted and never take your abilities for granted. I was my own worst enemy in my convoluted journey to law school and I genuinely believe that if I had been a little nicer to myself, it would not have been as emotionally and physically demanding on me, my family, and friends.

The journey is a grind and for many people it isn’t as easy as it is for others, but that goes for anything in life. We all get to where we need to and want to be, it just takes your drive to get you there. I promise you one thing, if I can do it, you can do it and this is coming from a guy who failed grade 4 math.