Light posting this week, since my mother is in town. I end up hanging out with her more than blogging or anything, naturally.
But I couldn't let yesterday pass unremarked. I was sworn in and officially became a lawyer. It's the last step of a process that I began about four years ago, and it feels pretty good.
I have to say, both my professors and the members of the bar do a pretty good job of treating us as lawyers from day 1. There's a lot of talk about "our" profession, and that sort of thing. But there's always a bit of a distance, a gap that was there as a student. Really, maybe it was just me knowing that I wasn't quite part of the club, but it certainly seemed real.
Now, there will still a difference between myself and other practitioners, but it will be based on experience, not the sort of official sanction on ability that a license brings. I'm a brand new member of the club, but I'm still a member of the club.
In a way, yesterday was the true commencement. Law school is behind me, and its successes and failures are less important now. The important thing is that I work hard in my new career, that I prove myself capable again. It's time to start over again with my learning (then I'll do it again, and again, for the rest of my career).
It feels good to say, "I'm a lawyer," but it's only the beginning.
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