programs Match the Promise

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.

Adal's essay appears here as written, to preserve the young author’s unique voice and individual writing style. However, we have deleted personally identifiable information to protect the student’s privacy.