The Drive to Florida

Classes for the spring semester begin on Monday the 10th. Yesterday, I made the 10 hour drive back from North Carolina to Tallahassee. As I headed down Interstate 95 South, the time alone in my car gave me a chance to think about the Christmas gatherings with my family, and to contemplate the future.

It was nice to see my aunts, uncles and cousins back in NC. Several of them asked me how much longer I had in law school, and were surprised when I replied, "Just one more semester, if everything goes according to plan." My time in school has flown by for both them and myself.

"Wow, so you're pretty much a lawyer now," one of my cousins said.

"Not quite," I answered. "I still have to pass the bar exam after I graduate."

I could not help but notice that a few family members were studying me like never before. The best way that I can describe their look is as if they thought I knew some important secret. The way they looked at me and asked me questions about school reminded me of the privilege and opportunity I was given when I received the acceptance letter from Florida State Law back in the spring of 2008.

Yesterday when I began my drive from NC, the morning was cold, overcast and drizzling. The temperature had not climbed much above the freezing mark. But as I headed south toward Florida, I could see the end of the cloud cover in front of me, growing larger. Though it was only one or two o'clock in the afternoon, the sunlight shining off the cloud edges had the colors of a sunrise. By the time I was in Georgia, the clouds were all gone and it felt warm to stand outside and pump gas into my car.

As I drove, I thought about graduation from law school. Graduation will mean the taking on of responsibility- responsibility for my clients and for my fellow attorneys whose livelihood and welfare of their families is invested in the success of the firm. At Christmas, I looked at my parents and thought about all the responsibilities they had shouldered in their lives. My dad, as the top manager for an entire county of probation officers (and a county containing the largest military base in the world). My mother, for all the disabled and mentally handicapped children she taught over the years. My mother as well for all the meals that she cooked for us as a family and all the rooms in the house that she constantly cleaned.

Each morning, my parents got up before dawn to head to their stress-filled jobs. 25 to 30 years they did this. And now, they are both enjoying well deserved retirements.

Over the break, I caught myself complaining about the hours in front of a computer screen that a lawyer must spend. But I stopped when I thought about my parents and the work of their lives.

It's my turn, now. Soon it will be "The Real World, Part II." This time, I will have a law degree from a great school. As I headed down I-95 to Jacksonville and then I-10 to Tallahassee, it became clear in my mind that not disappointing my parents is the chief motivator in my life. They worked very hard to help me get to this point. I owe it to them to do my very best to become successful- as a trial lawyer or through whatever other doors this degree opens for me.

I hope that I can remember these thoughts and this goal as I make decisions for the future.

Until Next Time,

Nathan Marshburn