Best of Both Worlds

Adal – future engineer or lawyer / judge

Every summer I have had the opportunity to attend the gifted and talented science program through which I have developed my love of math and science. I had always thought I would pursue a career in the field of engineering, until this year.

I took an interest inventory that matched us with a career according to our interests and responses. My first match was judge and the second was a lawyer. I was a bit confused that a field in science was not anywhere near the top ten. That is when I began researching how to become a lawyer and a judge.

I realized that I might be able to have the best of both worlds. My mom's friend told me that many of her classmates in law school did not have a degree in Criminal Justice or Political Science; instead some were teachers, nurses, and business majors. Since becoming a lawyer requires you to go to Law School, I figure I could get a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering and then apply for Law School and if I ever decide to run for judge one day I could do that as well. Becoming a lawyer requires 3 years of law school after undergraduate studies in addition to passing the Bar Exam.

The average salary for a lawyer is $118,000 with a projected growth of 9 percent over the next ten years. The average salary of a judge is $110,000 but that all depends on what type of judge you are. Federal district judges make up to $170,000 and Chief Justice of the United States makes $263,000. Getting to that range requires hard work, dedication, and for you to be really good at what you do.

I have plans to continue looking into my future career. A key to being successful is being happy; I know for sure that I need to love what I choose as my future career in order to be happy and successful.