Well, the first week is down. An innumerable amount to follow, I'm sure. Honestly, I'm just looking forward to pay day and not having to ask what to do and how exactly to do that--not in that specific order, of course.
I have learned that it pays to work for The Man (especially if you happen to be one of those select few of the golden law students, and, my god, if you do a clerkship! holy shit), but we are all pretty mistaken by what that means exactly. The firm that I'm working for is ridiculously progressive. Progressive in ways that are not yet common to other fields and definitely in ways that are nearly unheard of in the legal arena. This firm even has a diversity department that is actually active and doesn't sport only a handful of employees without much impact, or trying to encourage others to take charge. It actually facilitates attorneys and staff who are interested and proactive.
When I say that we're mistaken about what it means to work for The Man, I mean that we're mistaken in assuming it has to be one way or another. There are a few areas that I think are without hope such as those who make profit by placing value on helping and saving lives (and by this, I explicitly mean health care and pharmaceutical giants), particularly the big pharmaceutical company that was recently charged with human testing. It seems that The Man might be evolving. Maybe.
There was a programme about diversity within the firm put on for the summer associates yesterday that we sat in on. There was a question about efforts undertaken to not only promote working in large firms to minority students but also the legal field to younger students who do not pursue the field since there are many minorities who believe there is little to no chance of climbing the ranks for minorities in large firms. The point was made that there are specific beliefs that the media pushes and that things are actively being discussed and examined within the firm. One of the more impressive points was that they're also ensuring the engagement of junior associate males, since they are routinely excluded in these sort of discussions but that leads progress to a dead-end. A culture of inclusiveness.
I think things are promising for many areas in the US. I am also drunk on the possibilities of these sort of initiatives in industries I would have not normally sought. I was definitely not looking for a position in a law firm, but it seems to be a pretty good fit thus far.
I'm now scouting out the organizations I want to volunteer with. Boys & Girls Club of American and Big Brothers, Big Sisters are at the top of the list, but I specifically want to see if I can search something out about working with refugees in the Bay Area. There is something about integration issues that is near and dear to my heart as of late.
I have learned that it pays to work for The Man (especially if you happen to be one of those select few of the golden law students, and, my god, if you do a clerkship! holy shit), but we are all pretty mistaken by what that means exactly. The firm that I'm working for is ridiculously progressive. Progressive in ways that are not yet common to other fields and definitely in ways that are nearly unheard of in the legal arena. This firm even has a diversity department that is actually active and doesn't sport only a handful of employees without much impact, or trying to encourage others to take charge. It actually facilitates attorneys and staff who are interested and proactive.
When I say that we're mistaken about what it means to work for The Man, I mean that we're mistaken in assuming it has to be one way or another. There are a few areas that I think are without hope such as those who make profit by placing value on helping and saving lives (and by this, I explicitly mean health care and pharmaceutical giants), particularly the big pharmaceutical company that was recently charged with human testing. It seems that The Man might be evolving. Maybe.
There was a programme about diversity within the firm put on for the summer associates yesterday that we sat in on. There was a question about efforts undertaken to not only promote working in large firms to minority students but also the legal field to younger students who do not pursue the field since there are many minorities who believe there is little to no chance of climbing the ranks for minorities in large firms. The point was made that there are specific beliefs that the media pushes and that things are actively being discussed and examined within the firm. One of the more impressive points was that they're also ensuring the engagement of junior associate males, since they are routinely excluded in these sort of discussions but that leads progress to a dead-end. A culture of inclusiveness.
I think things are promising for many areas in the US. I am also drunk on the possibilities of these sort of initiatives in industries I would have not normally sought. I was definitely not looking for a position in a law firm, but it seems to be a pretty good fit thus far.
I'm now scouting out the organizations I want to volunteer with. Boys & Girls Club of American and Big Brothers, Big Sisters are at the top of the list, but I specifically want to see if I can search something out about working with refugees in the Bay Area. There is something about integration issues that is near and dear to my heart as of late.
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