I had to decline the full-tuition offer from law school

When I was in high school, my school taught me to have a dream, pursue it, and never let it go. My dream was to help others through the law. I believed that meant becoming a lawyer. I joined Forvis Mazars as a Corporate Secretarial Consultant. As I endeavored to hone my legal knowledge at work, I prepared to apply to law school.

This time last year, I took the LSAT and applied to law school in the US. The result was quite satisfactory—I was accepted to several Tier 1 schools, including two that offered full-tuition scholarships. Until then, I believed I was close to achieving my dream.

However, while other admitted students are now sitting in the classroom, nervously waiting for cold calls from professors, I am at my small desk in South Korea. I put my effort into saving money for living expenses abroad. However, my efforts were far from sufficient. A few months later, my significant other and I realized that it would be nearly impossible to save enough within a few months—or even a few years—to attend law school. Although I had earned a full ride and believed that I was fully prepared—both in legal mindset and academic prowess—I had to admit that I was not ready. I could not go to law school this year.

I deferred my admission and wept for hours. Although I was grateful to the school X for approving my deferral request and for securing my full ride, I certainly knew that the deferral, a piecemeal solution to earn some time, would not solve the problem at all. Soon, I felt that my life was ruined. What I learned was to follow my dream. What I found out was that I was never able to chase even a shadow of my dream.

After a few weeks of sorrow and despair had passed, I ruminated on what my dream was all about. Soon came a sudden realization, striking my mind like a massive hammer, that my dream was to help others through the law, not to become a lawyer. Although I am certain from the experience in this field that I need a professional degree to help others, it does not necessarily mean that I cannot help others right now. I can still do what I can.

Although it looks like my dream has been shattered and seems unattainable, I will never cease to dream. I would like to live my dream—helping others through the law. I will start sharing several articles and publications through various channels. I am also planning to run some side projects to present some solutions for the problems raised in the articles until I am fully equipped, both academically and financially, to become a lawyer. Isn’t it also a great way to live my dream?

Please let me know if you have any good suggestions. I will prioritize addressing that specific topic first.