Wisconsin
Hi, Emily,
I'm wondering, How'd you end up in Wisconsin?
Sincerely, Small Talk
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Hi, Small Talk,
Great (and common) question. People often wonder how a Georgia girl landed in Wisconsin (and made it home).
It happened unexpectedly.
Early in my 3L year, a North Carolina Judge hired me to be his law clerk following graduation.
I enjoyed my final year of law school planning to be in Raleigh.
I signed up for the North Carolina bar exam and a bar prep course.
I rented an apartment.
Then, one month (almost to the day) before graduation, driving to a Blues Festival in the Mississippi Delta,
that North Carolina Judge called me:
"Emily, I am going to become the dean of a law school."**
. . .
I do not know how or why I was able to stay calm over the next month or so.
The North Carolina Judge kindly connected me with his network in Raleigh.
And others stepped up to help me,
including a Mississippi Judge I interned for my 2L summer.
That Mississippi Judge connected me with a Wisconsin Judge, who, coincidentally, would shortly post for an open clerkship.
I interviewed with the Wisconsin Judge the day before I graduated, by video, from the Dean's Office.
I had never been to Wisconsin.
I asked about Wisconsin winters in the interview.
But, my gut told me (and I told my parents, waiting for me after the interview, because . . . graduation weekend) that if she offered me the job, I would take it.
I graduated the next day.
A week later, the Wisconsin Judge offered me the position.
Two weeks later, I moved to Milwaukee (on my 27th birthday, so it's extra memorable).
The clerk I would replace generously gave me advice about where to live in Milwaukee (I still miss my first Wisconsin apartment).
A week after that, on June 10, 2013, I started my clerkship.
. . .
It was a whirlwind.
I remember it vividly all these years later.
It was stressful.
My first winter, while studying for the February bar, was brutal (the coldest they'd had in 40 years).
I did not own a proper winter coat--and it started snowing in October.
I cried a lot that winter.
I had never seen frozen bodies of water.
Leaving the bar exam, I thought: "What have I done?"
And yet, I came to love Wisconsin:
the people, Lake Michigan, Up North, and winter.
That unexpected call from the North Carolina Judge changed the course of my life.
I am grateful for it (now).
I would not change one thing about my 3L year or my first legal job.
Thanks, Small Talk, for asking.
This story reminds me that change and unexpected announcements, although sometimes unsettling, may lead to unimaginable things.
Sincerely, Emily
#story #lawschool #clerkship #Wisconsin #HiEmily