It is believed that the choices that one makes affect the direction their lives will take and therefore the levels of personal and material development they can attain. The importance of proper decision making is brought about by the fact that there are situations where one has to make decisions that will affect their lives. When decision making is a must then there is a more pronounced need to ensure that the decision made is the correct one and leads to the overall good. All these literature on decision making is not a result of research work rather is the result of experiences I have undergone in the near two decades I have inhabited planet earth.
The decision I make on what I will eat has a bearing on my health, the decisions I make on people I will associate with has an effect on my perception on life and the decision that I made on my career is the most important decision I ever made in my life. It is rare to find an all round student and I am lucky to be among the few. I was and still believe that I am good in nearly all area of study and extra-curricular activities. This unique ability placed me in a position where I was spoilt for choice on what I would like to be when I grew up and now that I am growing up I am proud of the decision I made along the way. A fond memory of my childhood years is the simple answer I had to the question that every normal child is asked: What do you want to be when you grow up? Funny, as it may be I never new what I wanted to do for I found everything interesting and my answer always was ‘ I don’t know’. Experiences in life and academics however reduced my choice set to medicine, law and engineering.
I was good in sciences, history, languages and the levels of creativity that I exhibited was above the average thus the craft associated with engineering only required little molding. What made the dilemma even more interesting in the high levels of correlation that the disciplines have. It is worth noting that as much as engineering, law and medicine have different academic requirements they are both demanding and well paying. I had the ability to go for any and the considerations I placed in choosing a career which included the challenge in the field and the pay were doing little in helping me choose a career path.
It all started with a court case in which my father was involved and the lawyer basically conned him of his money and did little to defend him. This is from my perception of the lawyer and being a teenager the belief that everything is possible and in superheroes must have had a toll on me. The arguments brought forward by the defense attorney were in no way similar to those I had heard in my favorite justice series. This was the drop of a seed that was to develop to be the most important decision I ever made. The 2001 US scandal involved some fraudulent accounting and securities frauds.
It is a shame that some legal representatives were involved and this had an effect of shaping my perception of the effects that the practice of law has on the society. My initial perception of the three competing fields was that medicine could be used to save lives and deal with diseases and therefore lead to a satisfied society, law was a weapon against crime and therefore the development of a society that is highly integrated, engineering was an avenue for the development of social infrastructure and therefore the development of a society that is self sustaining. The scandal however led to the realization that law can be used to save lives by averting scandals that have effects on the economy and develop a society that is self sustaining by ensuring order and developing avenues for dealing with issues that have a bearing on the society. No society can consider itself self sustaining if the level of crime is high and injustices go unpunished.
With this realization I knew that I was going to be involved with the justices system in one way or the other. An important quality that was developed by this experience that is of importance in the practice of law is patience. Patience is a virtue that is developed with time and by not rushing into stating what I wanted to be while knowing I was torn between professions, I was able to delay the decision till a time when I was prepared and sure of the decision. Law as an area of study is quite demanding and the same can be said of its practice. Patience is especially important in the modern context of law practice where court cases may even take years to be determined. Appreciation of patience is important in maintaining objectivity and motivating the client to maintain his cool and therefore avoid making rush decisions that may affect the course of justice negatively.
Another area of importance that was developed as a result of the decision making process that led to the choice of law as a career path is decision making skills. Appreciation of the need for objectivity in decision making and appreciation of decision making as being a process that is affected by both internal and external variables with respect to the individual are important. Rush decisions are defined as instantaneous decision making processes and their effect are often skewed to the negative. Many have dropped out of colleges due to poor decisions in choosing units, poor choice of friends, poor choice of lifestyle and engagement in activities that are detrimental to academics and social welfare of the students. Objective decision making defined by consideration on individual ability, personal goals and interest is important in ensuring successful completion of any graduate level.
In summary, the decision making process and the choice of law as the desired career path are the reasons as to why I am writing this essay to seek admission in law school and are central to the development and appreciation of the role played by objectivity and patience in decision making that will be of importance to successful completion of an undergraduate level course in law should I be granted the opportunity. Moreover, decision making skills and patience come in handy in finding solutions to and preventing unnecessary squabbles in the society. These skills are also vital in the actual practice of law since they are part and parcel of what a practicing lawyer should be armed with.
