The joke I say in passing (which many people have no doubt said before) is that this piece of paper cost me over $100,000. It is a dumb, unoriginal and completely untrue joke. It cost way more than that. Time, friendships, relationships, confidence - you name it and it was probably sacrificed or in some way shaken by my trip to and recent graduation from law school. But seriously, the number is actually closer to $159, 990 in all. (That is of course with around $10,000 from undergraduate and a scholarship-free, work-free graduate experience).

My grandmother died in August of 2009 the night before her 80th birthday party. She had flown down from Illinois and less than 24 hours before we would all be there to celebrate her birthday she died in her sleep in a log cabin by a river in the town she called “home.” Days later we would celebrate her life instead. I had successfully finished my first year of law school and her pride was apparent when she wrote me or saw me in person. My grandfather was an attorney and I think she liked the reminder as much as she liked seeing her grandson make an attempt at some sort of success. I received $200 from her estate with an instruction to use it in furtherance of my legal career. I was really unsure what to use that money for and landed on framing my Juris Doctorate with it. Luckily the costs was right at $200 to get it framed. I supposed that I could have done something else with the money, but the truth is that even if I hate practicing law and decide to quit and do something else, I am always going to be as proud as she was about graduating and getting my doctorate. 

You never get the chance to be proud of graduating law school because the bar is there waiting for you. When I picked this up I felt pride about my graduation and my relationship with my paternal grandmother without one damn thought about my bar results - one of the best feelings I have had in months.

So here it is - $159,990 + $200 + __________________ = a framed J.D.