I Didn’t Ask to be a Hero; I Just Declared Myself One
To think, it has been about eight months since my father generously donated $500,000 to Osgoode and seven since I received my acceptance. Little did I know that day, my path to becoming a lawyer would be rockier than the beginnings of Justice Abella’s and Bora Laskin’s careers combined.
I am no stranger to hardship. My undergraduate papers are soaked in tears and bullshit comments from professors who took off marks for “reasons” such as “lacking a thesis” or “citing YouTube comments as scholarly sources”. On my 16th birthday, my parents only bought me a used car. Do I look like I vote NDP? But I persisted and now my Yeezys and I stand proud in these hallowed halls.
Despite the tough and exasperating existence I led prior to law school, nothing could have prepared me for the mark on my Torts midterm. I picked up my paper, stunned.
“B? Like, B for Best?”
My professor politely shook his head no and I peacefully left the room, after yelling that the classroom was a Castle of Lies and Deception. I went home and made sure to cry in my best pair of non-prescription glasses (as all intellectuals wear when they sob).
I didn’t go to school for the next few days. I couldn’t shake the despair as questions filled my mind: What would my future hold? How could I possibly get a job on Bay Street? A summer abroad in Milan and Prague can’t be paid for with a second-tier law job! And I could kiss my Supreme Court dreams goodbye- would I have to live a demeaning life as a Superior Court Justice for a province that accepts Equalization payments instead?
Despite those dark thoughts, I am proud to say I have now begun to emerge from my chrysalis of sadness, McDonald’s and broken dreams. I have started to listen to less My Chemical Romance and Panic! At the Disco and go to the gym more. I’ve stopped telling myself I’m not worth it and started telling myself I am worth it. Arguably, I’m probably worth a lot more than whatever “it” is (once you factor in the trust fund my parents set up for me).
I hope I can serve as an inspiration to my fellow students who have failed and then risen above oppression and all of the barriers standing before us. Above all, my compatriots, always remember one thing: obstacles to those with determination are worth as much as my midterm mark – absolutely nothing.