When I was a little girl, I certainly did not dream of growing up to be an unwed teenage mother.
And yet there I was, a high-school dropout working at Red Lobster forty hours a week in order to support myself and my son. Upon the discovery that I was pregnant, I left my home at the age of fifteen and set out on my own. I worked at Red Lobster for two years, but after being asked enough times for “…more Cheddar Bay Biscuits, please?” I realized that I wanted more in life. I reenrolled in high school and received my high school diploma. Upon graduating from high school, I enrolled in Jefferson Community and Technical College, where I completed one year of schooling. Yet, once again, I knew I wanted more.
In the fall of 2007, I enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves to satisfy my desire to serve my country in some real, meaningful way. Ever since witnessing the 9/11 attacks during my freshman year of high school, I knew I wanted to help protect my country and its citizens in some direct, hands on way. Immediately after graduating from boot camp, I transferred to Indiana University Southeast to pursue my Bachelor’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies. I became very involved politically, writing regular columns for my local newspaper, serving as the Executive Director of Kentucky College Republicans, and involving myself in nearly every social cause that I felt worthy of defending. I soon realized that I had the ability to influence others, correct injustices, and actually make tangible differences in my community and the world. Remarkably, the single teenage mother who once waited tables to scrape by has since received her Bachelor’s Degree with honors, studied abroad in countries such as Italy, Greece, Turkey, London, and Amsterdam, and even had the opportunity to meet with numerous political leaders, including Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, along the way.
What enabled this woman who, statistically speaking, should have never graduated high school to accomplish so much more? The answer is freedom: political, economical, and ideological. In the United States, there is the basic belief that everyone is created equal, and that we all have the right to pursue our own happiness. However, happiness does not fall in our laps; nor is it simply handed to us. Pursuing happiness and a better lot in life takes hard work, ambition, and a competitive spirit. Yet, I believe that Americans can truly choose to be whoever they want to be regardless of social class, race, gender, or religion. I am living proof that the freedom we experience in the United States provides us the opportunity to choose to be whoever we want to be and achieve whatever we want to achieve, regardless of statistics or stereotypes.
However, the principles that enabled me to get where I am today are currently under attack, both legislatively and ideologically. More and more, in the White House and in the classroom, I hear the value of freedom being replaced with the value of equality. Freedom, true freedom, does not ensure that everyone is equal, but that everyone has equal opportunity. I do not believe that everyone should be equal, but rather that everyone should be afforded equal opportunity. If everyone is forced to be same, then no one will be great. True freedom should allow for greatness.
One of the greatest things about the United States legal system is that it is built on the bedrock of the Constitution and on the founding principles of freedom, equal opportunity, and the right to pursue happiness. Today, every time I see a teenage mother settling for a life with little or no education, little or no money, and little or no hope, I am reminded of why I want to pursue a legal education.
I believe a lawyer is a person who is trained to serve his or her society. A lawyer defends people who are not trained to defend themselves, a lawyer defends the rights of people, and a lawyer is needed to seek justice. As a lawyer, I will be able to protect freedom and defend the principles that enabled my own trajectory in life. To me, becoming a lawyer is the next step in my mission to defend the freedom, rights, and interests of the American people.
So, here I am, two weeks in to the next three years of my life at University of Louisville Brandeis School of Law.
Great blog. I just wish our kids weren't being trained to think the exact opposite. I'm definitely taking every opportunity to teach my son about hard work, taking care of yourself and taking advantage of the fact that he lives in America and can therefore accomplish anything he wants in life.
ReplyDelete"If everyone is forced to be same, then no one will be great."
ReplyDeleteTo clarify the above: Is there actually a place where we might we draw a legitimate distinction between "equality" and "equal opportunity," at least insomuch as public policy is concerned? More specifically, what substantive things that the government are pushing to provide as of late - be it social welfare programs, housing, education and/or healthcare, etc. - are robbing individuals of the chance to be great?
Following this distinction between the two (equality v. equal opportunity), are those woefully few things the government even has the capacity to provide truly measures of greatness?
After all, it's not as if the governmental powers that be have the capacity to make a person more artistic, or more musically-inclined, or better able to process theoretical physics, or faster at long division...does it?
If not, then can we perhaps see a problem drawing this seemingly arbitrary distinction between "equality" and "equal opportunity," at least with respect to social (and fiscal, by extension) policy? Or could it be that we don't *really* want to provide equal opportunity - after all, such a provision would ultimately place everyone on the same playing field. Maybe that's what so many of us are truly afraid of...
I, for one, yearn for a world of equality - in such a world, greatness is *truly* great.
To that end, perhaps we give the benefit of the doubt, and discard the distinction entirely...perhaps that's precisely what we need: equality, without qualifier or asterisk.
Just a thought (or two). All best!
Loved reading your back story. Looking forward to reading about your adventures in law school.
ReplyDelete