Why I Chose Law

It was around sixth grade when I seriously started contemplating the fields I was interested in, and the career paths I would pick. It was also the year I had just shifted to Chennai from Delhi and was surprised to see all my classmates prepared with an answer to the question, What do you want to do when you grow up? They would be doctors, engineers or if they dared a little more, then chartered accountants. I was not keen on any of those subjects- science and math. I loved social sciences, literature, civics and history, I knew I wanted to study humanities as a stream. I always enjoyed writing, I even considered journalism as an option. Around the same time, I saw my aunt graduate from law school, start living independently and work at Indias best law firm- Cyril Amarchand. I would hear stories of everything she got to learn in those years, everything she gets to explore now and I was fascinated. It was love at first sight. Law is not a career path easily found in my surroundings. I would only see and hear about it from television shows and movies. Unfortunately for me, I did not pick Law because of the series Suits, or because I liked wearing black and white blazers and sounding smarter than others, though it definitely added to the charm. Initially, it was simply because of the fact that I liked what it demanded of us, what I had seen a few people around me work at. I would go on to take up debating, public speaking, work on my civil awareness and even my literature. Around eleventh grade, when I started preparing for CLAT and someone asked me again, Why did I choose law?, I would again say it was because I just did not like the other alternative career paths available. But now I am sure it is because I understand that the world cannot be changed entirely but being a lawyer can be my way of bringing some measure of change. I want to work for people, I like knowing that something I could do is going to result in benefitting the underprivileged or people stuck in an unfortunate situation. I decided that I want to have a true impact in the lives of at least a few people and want to work towards gendered issues specifically, and being associated with the legal field will empower me to do this. My decision also became emboldened by the fact that I had a natural inclination towards research, reading extensively, being critical and opinionated and a strong affection towards debating. I have sometimes worried myself about choosing to be a lawyer for fickle reasons, but every time I meet a lawyer, regardless of the kind or age, I get excited. When I had an off-chance opportunity to interact with an old corporate lawyer, I was fascinated with her journey from a government college to her own firm. Every time my legal teacher at Career Launcher would tell us about her cases or her own journey, my friends and I would be completely in awe. I recently read To Kill a Mockingbird and Atticus Finchs character and his conviction are something I hope practising law would inculcate in me. However, when I really think about it, I also like knowing that law is not just black and white. It is complicated, there is not just a victim and a criminal. I was once told that not everyone behind bars is guilty and everyone no matter what they have done, deserves a chance at defending themselves. At this point, what I most like about law and aspiring to be a lawyer is that there is so much I can explore in it. I can hope to be at the UN practising international law, hope to be a Harvey Specter or a D.Y Chandrachud or a Harish Salve, and hopefully add female names to the list. There is no limit here, no limit to what can be achieved, no end of challenges thrown at me and nothing gets me more excited for law school knowing that it is just the beginning. Aayushi Bhartia Student, Career Launcher, Chennai