Monday, March 22, 2010

Doing the same exact thing I was doing 7 yrs ago

7 yrs ago I was working at my dads restaurants. He owns a chain of restaurants which are very financially strong. 7 yrs ago i was cooking, cleaning dishes, doing the accounting, working on product development, advertisements, etc. 7 yrs later with my law degree and license, im doing the same fucking thing. Not that I have a problem making french fries and flipping burgers, but it begs the question: why the fuck did i waste 3 yrs of my life studying bullshit cases and listening to bullshit professors. Why did my parents have to blow 80k (60k in loans)on this ponzi subprime degree??? Granted i am in a exponentially better position than many of my fellow grads as I can work for pops and be financially secure. But it doesnt change the fact that i wasted 3 yrs of my life for nothing. I blame myself for getting suckered in by the law school ponzi scheme. I failed to do my research and due diligence before signing up for one of the biggest cons in educational history. Some of the blame lies with my parents as they pushed me into LS, i never truly wanted to go. So now they have their trophy lawyer serving fries, burgers, and breakfast burritos with his red apron and paper hat on. Dont get me wrong i love the restaurants, i love serving food to customers. Its great seeing the smiles on their face after eating a great meal. But it fucking enrages me that i had to go through all the stress of exams, bar exams, classes, rent, etc. I also blew through a ton of my own money to get through law school. Now im living at home with the family, my wife living with me with my parents. I cant even have a good lay because they will hear the erotic noises. Still broke, as the company cant pay me much right now as we have some deleveraging to do.

I went to LS so i could be independent from the family business. Dad is cool but mom can be such a monster. I wanted to away from the family business for a few years, make my own career, independent. The reality is that im not going anywhere. Im right back where i started. Again, i 100000% understand how incredibly lucky i am to be able to work for the family business. I know the struggles that many other TTT grads are going through. I cant even imagine the frustration, stress, anger, and anxiety. But to each his own misery. I have the right to be pissed at the ABA, my LS, and most importantly myself for wasting practically 4 yrs of my fucking life. Graduating from a bottom of the barrel tier 4 law school in 2009 was the biggest mistake i have ever made and will probably be the biggest mistake i will ever make.

Its strange how many of my fellow grads that haven't passed the bar still have this optimism that everything will be A OK once they get their license. Less than half my class passed the cal bar in July 09. I talk to them and they have this hope in their voice. I don't pop their bubbles, i just listen. They tell me that they have deferred their loans and how they haven't opened student loan letters in months. If they only knew how much that interest is blowing up their principal balance. I keep silent. Once they pass, if they ever pass, they will see what hell awaits them. Some will get lucky, most will live miserable lives until they realize that tier 4 lawyers don't stand a chance in this extra special legal market.

I fully realize and understand that if true market forces were at play, i would have never been able to become an attorney. I got in during the easiest possible time in US history. The past 20 yrs had a massive credit bubble where tier 4 schools were opening left and right. With my 3.3 undergrad gpa and 153 LSAT score the door was opened wide for me to enter a few bottom of the barrel tier 4 schools. If gov wasnt subsidizing and guaranteeing student loans, you can bet your sweet ass that many of these tier 4's wouldnt be in operation. If the ABA truly regulated the employment data that law schools publish, these tier 4 shitholes would be out of business. With a standard LSAT of 160 i would have never been able to get in. What a blessing that would be. At least then i would still be the hamburger guy with my BA in political science. I would have only spent 7k for my undergraduate degree (junior college and 2 yrs at cal state fullerton). Now I owe a good 60k that im paying off month after month. I know its much less than many others but i still hate paying that fucking loan. Im on the 10yr plan so i can get rid of it quicker.

Hopefully some law school applicant will come upon these blogs and run away as far as he/she can.

5 comments:

  1. That's the spirit. Get pissed about this. You got jobbed, just like all those morons that believed their mortgage broker when he said they could afford a 600k house on a 40k income.

    Your blog name says it all. Even the highly educated (maybe especially the highly educated) are truly subprime now.

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  2. "But one can do ANYTHING with a law degree," squeal the law school choir.

    Yeah, like washing cars, working as a bouncer, and delivering submarine sandwiches.

    Good post, Subprime!

    Nando

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  3. Our prelaw stories are very similar!

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  4. I think the mistake is assuming a law degree would automatically = a great paying job. You still have to work, and work HARD for success. Between graduating/passing the bar in 1995 and being General Counsel today, I was, in roughly chronological order: a bartender, secretary, day-care worker, telemarketer (several times, data processing manager, project manager, contract manager, attorney, associate counsel, senior counsel, temporary lawyer, Asst. General Counsel, General Counsel. Success has fits and starts.

    My loans were huge and I'm still paying them ioff. Do I blame anyone but me? I chose not to work and save before going to law school. I chose to take those loans. I am extremely grateful I had the option to take them and I pay them back with pleasure.

    Get over your entitled mentality and wake up to the fact that nothing in this life that is worthwhile is handed to you on a silver platter.

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  5. PS My law school was way down on the list and my parents were a stay at homke mom and a blue collar workwer who did not graduate from HS. Again, get over yourselves.

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