Andrew Lynes (2L)
Wednesday, November 5th, 2014 – known as “Offer Day” to an infinitesimally small number of people – was a bit of a weird one for me. I suffered a string of defeats that can now only be described as minor and wryly amusing. Most of them didn’t really feel like that at the time.
First and foremost, as I’m sure you’ve probably guessed by now: I got no offers! Watching 5:00pm approach on my phone… then pass… then slip further and further away – that was probably the most stressed I’ve ever been playing video games since dying in GoldenEye scared me as a young child.
Second, my girlfriend essentially lost her job. She was a legislative assistant in Washington State, working for a State Representative. The race was too close to call on election day but as the ballots continued to come in and the gap grew, it became apparent that the writing was on the wall.
On to the fun stuff. Partially to cope, and partially just to have fun, I decided to ply myself with alcohol in the company of good friends. (One thing I learned that night is that I am a poor judge of how much whiskey my flask actually holds.) While excessively inebriated, I received the following text from my father:
“Just landed. Very disappointed about the job. Got a text from mom.”
That reads pretty bad, eh? Now, I know my father, and although he can get on my case sometimes, he’s not really the kick-em’-when-they’re-down type. But when you first scan the words that definitely feels like a bit of a kick in the groin. After giving it a couple seconds I realized he must have meant that he was disappointed with the situation, not me. So s’all good. I can count the number of texts I’ve received from my father on both hands – he’s still getting a hang of this thing. My charitable interpretation was subsequently vindicated with the next text: “You will find something.”
Finally – and this one is probably my favourite, because it’s entirely avoidable and entirely my fault – after sobering up, I rode my bike home and blissfully ignored the many, many pylons demarcating what I was about to learn was fresh paint outlining the bike lane. Yup – I got it all over my tires, and all up my back. If any of you have noticed white paint on the back of one of my jackets, this is the reason. The construction workers got a pretty good laugh out of it, so there’s a plus.
So that day kinda sucked. But just kinda. And I realized it pretty quickly, too. Fortunately (in retrospect), I had experienced about two months of steady failures in the process. First it was fewer OCIs than I had hoped, and then there was only one in-firm. But at least I hadn’t spent all Monday and Tuesday and even Wednesday scampering around downtown. I actually got pretty far in Mass Effect 2 instead. And I did manage to milk that one dinner for all it was worth.
My dad was right: I will find a job. My girlfriend already did – she’s moving up to the state senate. There are a ton of great opportunities still available for next summer, and even more in the articling recruit. If I’m honest with myself – judging partially on the fact that nobody wanted to hire me – I probably wouldn’t fit in that well at those firms anyways. I’m getting excited about other areas of law that flew under the radar for me a bit during the OCI process.
Most importantly, this is as good a time as any to check my privilege. I had to work hard to get here. But although I don’t come from a wealthy background, I do come from a comfortable one that affords me an incredible amount of support. My debt will be formidable but it will not be crushing. Society is structured in a great deal of incredibly complicated ways that has helped me further, and will continue to cushion my failures. There are many people at this school for whom this is not true. And all of us are lucky to be here, at this school, and in Canada.
So this process kinda sucked. But just kinda. This is a good opportunity for perspective. Failure happens, and often that can be a good thing. I’m thankful for the opportunities that are still out there. And we can all be thankful for one more thing: that it’s over.
