How I changed the course of my life for a song #LifeLessons #WednesdayWisdom
[image error]Small things that seem insignificant sometimes have huge influences on our lives. Like the words to a song. Several lives ago, I joined the military. One of the reasons for my joining the US Army was the GI Bill. The GI Bill provides military veterans with tuition and/or living expenses for higher education. I already had a Bachelor’s degree in history, but I was determined to go to law school and become a lawyer. I had decided to become a lawyer when I was five-years old, and I never wavered from this decision. (Although the US Army offered me tons of incentives to change my mind.)
After five years in the US Army as a military policewoman, it was (finally!) time to head off to law school. I had basically boiled down my choice of law schools to two: The University of Wisconsin-Madison and Ohio Northern University. The first – UW-Madison – is a well-known and respected state school and was in my home state. But I was no longer a resident of Wisconsin and would be forced to pay out of state tuition. The second – a lesser known private school – offered me a scholarship that fully covered my tuition for three years. What to do?
At the time, I was working as a military police investigator at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. I worked closely with the JAG officers. Naturally, I asked their advice – state school that is well-known and respected or an unknown school that offered me a free ride? They asked me what I planned to do with the degree. I wasn’t sure in what area of law I wanted to practice, but I did know that the chances were more than likely that whatever law I practiced would not be in the US.
Their advice? If I’m not staying in the US, the law school I attend won’t matter. Although this sounded like good advice, I hesitated to listen to anyone who put their medals upside down on their Class A uniform. That sounds shallow, but my fellow military peeps will understand.
Right around the time I needed to make my decision, I got married. In fact, we eloped. While driving off to the courthouse in Manassas, Virginia, one of my favorite songs of the time was playing – Ironic by Alanis Morissette. As we drove in the rain, I sang along to the words:
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It’s like rain on your wedding day
It’s a free ride when you’ve already paid
Huh. It was raining on my wedding day. And I had the chance to take a free ride to law school, but I was hesitating. Why was I hesitating? Would I regret more – paying for law school when I could have taken a free ride or going to an unknown school? The answer was actually easy. We were planning to move to The Netherlands as soon as I graduated. With both the hubby and I starting our careers, money would be tight. Add on having to move overseas and start a household there and the decision was made. No way was I going to start our new life with a huge debt.
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Just in case anyone needs proof that I actually made it through law school 
