Before you get your hopes up, I will tell you my journey does not begin with, “Since I was four years old, I always knew that I wanted to be a lawyer.”  This is not an article about a lifelong legal dream, but rather about an unexpected pivot. Now, with that out of the way, let us begin.

Growing up, I never desired to be an attorney. While I knew the career existed, the extent of that knowledge extended only as far as the attorneys I saw depicted in movies and the judges I watched on daytime television. I did not have any attorneys to look up to as role models to make entering the legal field a desirable goal. On the contrary, I was surrounded by teachers most of my life. So, as a child, I helped my mother and her fellow coworkers decorate their classrooms for the upcoming school year, plan lessons, and grade papers. Seeing their impact on students sparked my own childhood dream of becoming a teacher.   Consequently, when I finally graduated from high school and attended the University of Florida, it was no surprise that I obtained two degrees in Elementary Education.

Upon graduating from college, I hit the ground running and started teaching at Title I schools in Florida. Title I is a federal program that provides supplemental financial assistance to school districts for children from low-income families.[i]   The main purpose of Title I funding in schools is to provide all children with a fair, equitable, and high-quality education.[ii]

I taught first grade my first year and second grade for the following three years, all at Title I schools. However, during my fourth and final year of teaching, several unconnected events transpired that led me to research more about the legal field:  (1) I taught a student who had been in seven different foster homes due to familial issues; (2) I saw how state legislation was affecting testing and increasing the already lofty burden on current teachers; and (3) I had a family member encounter some legal trouble. I perceived three different angles of how laws concerning families, education, and criminal conduct could have such a substantial effect on our lives. And it was this realization that prompted me to exchange those sticky desks for sticky notes.  My next Google search “how to become an attorney in Florida” changed the trajectory of my life.  Through that research, I learned that I needed to take the LSAT, create a profile on www.lsac.org, and start applying to law schools. I studied for three months, took the LSAT in February, and received my letter of acceptance from the University of Florida in April.

But while my mind was now set on law, I remained open to the type of law I wanted to practice. My initial desire was to practice either family, education, or criminal law based on my experiences.  However, after taking Criminal Law my 1L year, I eliminated that option.  By my 2L year, I took Family Law and served as a Guardian ad Litem. Upon realizing that the cases affected me on a personal level in a greater way than I expected, I eliminated that option as well, leaving Education Law as the last man standing.

However, during the summer that preceded my 3L year, I took an insurance course which surprisingly piqued my interest in insurance defense. I also served as an intern for an insurance defense law firm in Gainesville, Florida.  During that time, I learned the basics of insurance defense and assisted with a few cases in which the school board was a named defendant (talk about a full circle moment).   I realized that while teaching had allowed me to inspire change inside the classroom, the legal field was empowering me to advocate for change on a much broader scale.

When I graduated, I decided to continue in either insurance defense or pursue a career in education law, so I applied to various firms handling either area of law.  I ultimately accepted a position in insurance defense and have been working in the field since. There are days that I miss teaching, especially around the beginning of the school year and Christmas.  But the legal field has been equally satisfying. Every day is an opportunity to delve into a new issue and learn something completely unexpected.  And while I may have traded students for clients, chalk for ballpoint pens, and lesson plans for legal briefs, I would be remiss in overlooking the fact that there are qualities I acquired as a teacher that have shaped me into the attorney that I am today. And for that, I am grateful for my unique “journey to attorney.”

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Sources

[i] National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Facts (January 22, 2026). https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=158

[ii] National Center for Education Statistics, Fast Facts (January 22, 2026). https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/display.asp?id=158