Wisconsin

How did I end up in Wisconsin?

It happened unexpectedly.

Early in my 3L year, a North Carolina judge hired me to be his law clerk.

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.

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, on my 27th birthday, I moved to Milwaukee.

The clerk I replaced 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.

. . .

If you had told me, in April 2013, that I’d be moving to Wisconsin in two months, I’d have called you a fool.

It was a whirlwind.

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 now love Wisconsin:

the people, Lake Michigan, Up North, and winter.

I met my husband here.

I landed my dream firm jobs here.

That unexpected call from the North Carolina judge changed the course of my life.

As we age, we seem to be able to put things into perspective.

I didn’t know then, what I know now:

My parents pushed me.

They believed in me.

They set no boundaries on possibility.

And because of that, I’ve ridden the wave of life.

I am forever grateful to Milwaukee (and every stop before here) for welcoming me with open arms.

Change and unexpected announcements, although sometimes unsettling, can lead to unimaginable things.

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