Am I falling behind?
I鈥檓 at the point in my degree where the only thing my friends and I could only ever talk about are our contemplations for the future. We鈥檙e all freaking out about it but lately I can鈥檛 help feeling as though I鈥檓 falling behind on all my peers. If only one had a crystal ball to peer into鈥
It鈥檚 daunting thinking about life post-graduation. I mean, I鈥檓 excited obviously for the day I get to wake up and not worry about the assignment I left to the last minute to do but with that comes a whole different world of responsibilities, and it鈥檚 not even the 鈥渞eal world鈥 that I鈥檓 scared of 鈥 it鈥檚 thinking of how to get there that鈥檚 keeping me up at night.
I don鈥檛 know a lot of things but (at this point) I know one thing鈥檚 for certain, I don鈥檛 want to become a lawyer. Sorry mum, dad鈥 and Elle Woods but analysing cases and applying laws to the facts for the past 3 years have made me realised that this is not where my heart lies. Great, she鈥檚 a girl who knows what she wants! That鈥檚 a good first step to planning one鈥檚 future. What am I freaking out for?
Well, for one, I now must figure out a way to get my foot in an industry that is so different to law. It鈥檚 not impossible, of course, but boy it sure ain鈥檛 easy when you have to break away from the conventional path; when you don鈥檛 have the comfort of simply going with the flow because I have to steer my own course.
And seeing my friends securing clerkships and internships and networking with lawyers is feeding into my delusions that I鈥檓 falling behind. Don鈥檛 get me wrong, I鈥檓 beyond stoked for them, but I can鈥檛 help feel like I鈥檓 stuck in a mud pit whilst I watch my friends march on ahead of me, bagging their dream jobs. Should I have just stuck to a career in law instead?聽
Don鈥檛 even get me started on the LinkedIn posts.
I know that all these thoughts and worries are normal, that pretty much everyone went through it at some point in their lives, but it has been occupying my mind a lot lately. It鈥檚 also been tough trying to convey what鈥檚 been eating at my thoughts because I haven鈥檛 known anyone who is going through the same predicament as I am. That is until this morning when I had a chat with one of my sister鈥檚 friends.聽
She went through pretty much the same situation as I did 鈥 studied law, graduated, did something else completely different afterwards. In law school, that鈥檚 what we call a good analogous case. She assured me that what I wanted to do is completely possible, but what stuck with me the most was when she told me to just stay in my own lane and not worry about the progress of others.聽
I think it鈥檚 so easy to get sucked into that vacuum of comparing yourself to others, especially when you feel like you鈥檙e alone in this situation. So it was nice to get that gentle reminder.