Thursday, September 17, 2009

My Fantasy Alternate Reality

Lately I've been perusing the possible specializations I might obtain with my degree: Strategy, Economics, Operations, Law & Business. This last is particularly interesting to me right now.

It's difficult to explain why I'm interested in law and business. Maybe it's because regulation and politics - both firmly rooted in the law - are kind of hot right now. Maybe it's because I tend to be far more qualitative than quantitative. Maybe I just like making arguments. 

I spent three years simply being interested in the law, not counting post-college mental perambulations. Five years ago I was reading about law, talking to lawyers and almost-lawyers. I read www.nylawyer.com every day over my morning coffee. I toured Fordham and Brooklyn law schools. I paid off all of my consumer debt, then studied for over a year and took the LSAT.

I bombed. Still, the allure of law persists.

It's tedious and detailed. I work in IT, which is already tedious and detailed. There are kinds of rules, regulations, the mechanics of our society. Come to think of it, I was first enamored over ten years ago, when I worked at a dot.com startup and the telecommunications industry started to deregulate. What does it all mean? How does this work? Instead I moved to NYC to work in media, and ended up in IT instead.

When I first set out for an MBA, I was going to go to Baruch. They have a JD/MBA program with Fordham and Brooklyn. Granted, these are not toppity-top ranked schools but they are well-regarded in the city. As it stands now, getting my MBA at NYU significantly impacts the kind of opportunity cost I'm willing to take on for a second professional degree.

But still, I dream of law school. Reading up on contract law, torts, interstate commerce clause. It all sounds so fascinating, at least until there's a test on it.

Maybe I'd be better positioned now as a full adult in school, not a young'un trying to be cool and high-achieving and encountering setbacks for the first time. I have much more fortitude than I did in my twenties.

More than anything else I like to know what I'm talking about, and these days, I'm more interested in talking about government and business than, say, the annual politics of a film festival, or the latest album by some arty Canadian band.

Law school, we never had ye, but ye be missed.


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