Entry Essay

The road to selecting my major has been a long one, full of twists and turns. Never the

less, I have always persevered. We will begin our discovery where the road to my future first

began, graduation from High school in 2004. Then we will discuss come of the twists and turns

that have begun to shape my future, including the most important events that helped define my

major and career path.

In 2004 I graduated from High school, extremely driven and ready to start my College

Career. I moved down to Santa Barbara to attend school at Santa Barbara City College. My

original plan was to become a teacher, I have always loved children and had a natural love for

people. After two years in Santa Barbara, I decided to move back to the Bay Area to finish my

general education. By the fall off 2008 I was about to graduate with my Associates Degree, and

only needed a few more classes that spring. But life had different plans for me, and in August of

2009, I gave birth to my beautiful daughter Lilly. This was the first important event that defined

my future.

After having Lilly I took a break from school to begin working full time. I was the sole

supporter of her and I and worked very hard to provide a good life for both of us. From

2008-2014 I worked my way up the ranks to become a store manager for a very high volume

retail store. During my time with this company, I honed in on my business acumen and

communication skills. I learned about different cultures, from all the customers I met; which

taught me to change my methods of communication to be better understood by different groups

of people. I loved the business side of retail as well as my customers, but it took an extreme toll
on my work-life balance. So I decided to quit my job, move back home, and return to school in

hopes to better my future with a College education.

When I returned to school in the spring of 2014 I only had a few classes left to complete

and decided to take a few business classes out of curiosity. I was contemplating switching my

major to business when I transferred to California State University Monterey Bay. One of the

classes I took was business Law with Professor Sonja Banks; this class and professor changed

my life! As she began to lecture on everything from contract law to family law, something

sparked inside of me. I couldn't get enough of the material she was teaching. I loved the way the

law made you think. There was no right and wrong answer, everything was debatable. The

professor also pushed me in my writing, and I received great feedback from her. She told me I

had a natural ability to think and write like a lawyer. She even said she was going to make it her

mission to make me switch my major! Well her plan worked, and I decided from then on that I

would become a lawyer. The section of the law that interested me the most was family law,

which obviously stemmed from my own personal experience.

My personal experience with Family Law came from two areas of my life. The first was

how I was raised. I am the product of a divorced family, and then a single mother. I saw how

hard my mother worked to provide for us and take care of us without my father involved. When

my stepfather came into the picture it taught me that nontraditional families can still thrive.

Secondly, when my daughter was born I decided to also become a single mother. I didn’t marry

my daughter's father out of the sake of tradition; I never believed it was best for the child. These

experiences in my past combined with my love of the business law class was the turning point in

my Future and the most significant time in my life.

 In the fall of 2016, I transferred to CSUMB, as a Social and Behavioral Science major.

Most students in my position may have entered in as a Human Communications major since that

was what most pre-law students selected. But there were a few ideas that I based my decision on.

My career as a store manager gave me the real-life experience I needed to have basic

communication skills, I had also taken several communication classes in my general education as

well. I also knew that I would be attending law school after my undergraduate work, and would

receive extensive training in this area. I did, however, select pre-law as my minor, so I would

have a more detailed understanding of the law in order to do well on the LSAT’s; which is

needed to get into a good law school. The last idea that shaped my decision to select SBS was

what I planned to do with my law degree.

As a family lawyer, you deal with many aspects of clients affairs. Many times court cases

can be won based on research and studies found to support your claims. Lawyers spend hours

researching and building cases. I think the skills and theories learned In SBS will provide me

with a great foundation to become a successful lawyer. I will have the knowledge and the ability

to create my own studies. As a lawyer, I would also like to handle every aspect of someone's

divorce. I would like to be their mediator and asset controller. Knowing how people think and

interact with a community can help me better understand how families work. This can give me a

great perspective and be a fair mediator.

In 2004, if you would have asked me where I would be in ten years I don’t think I would

have ever imagined I would be a mother and still in University! But just because my journey has

taken me down a completely different path doesn't mean I regret a single moment of it.

Everything happens for a reason, and if I hadn’t had all those experiences I would not be the
person I am today. One thing that has never changed is my self-efficacy and perseverance. I

didn’t always have the support of others around me, but I drove myself. I kept myself on track

and never gave up. I never believed that law school was out of reach. I always found a way to

pay for school and continue my dreams. Just as I reflect now on my previous experiences, I

know in another ten years my time as an SBS major will be just one more event that took me to

unexpected places. I know I will stay with the study of law, but who knows what else may be in

store for me next.