Why I became a Paralegal, mwb

By: Matthew Walters-Bowens

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Risk is like fire: if controlled it will help you; if uncontrolled it will rise up and destroy you.”

Mr. Roosevelt may have been a tad dramatic, when he said this, but the best quotes always are. Keeping in line with Mr. Roosevelt’s quote, choosing any path to follow, whether a job or a person or schooling, always has its risks; life throws figurative curveballs at you, situations change and sometimes you just fail. I became a paralegal because I believed my risks for failure in acquiring a job would be low. My belief, more accurately my hypothesis, was founded in intensive research I did into the field, courtesy of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (“BLS”). I already had big ‘fires’ in my life and I could not afford, at all, to make a wrong or ill-advised career move. Paralegal work also seemed interesting to me because I had prior interest in political science, a field closely linked with the law, and had I not gone to the school I chose, I would have went to Dickinson University who accepted me for political science with a minor in music.

I chose to go to Rider University’s Westminster Choir College (“WCC”), a great school for music. I majored in music, was an aspiring opera singer and WCC a great place for me to be, given my pursuits. I also majored in debt, like many young people in this country; and figuratively speaking, majoring in debt will always cause a ‘fire’ that needs to be actively controlled or else it will “…rise up and destroy you.” I graduated college in 2010 with over eighty-thousand dollars of debt, an amount that I never thought I would mention so publicly (God forbid I actually write the numbers out), during an economic downturn as well; but I had a bachelors!

Albert Einstein, when asked to name the greatest invention in human history, replied, “Compound interest.”

I was so happy to have my bachelor! Actually, I barely cared that I had my bachelors and don’t think I enjoyed my graduation festivities as much as my family because all I could think of was my student loans. My lovely student loans, permanently stuck on my record till paid off, unable to be removed, even by bankruptcy, literally compounding every second of every hour, catching fire right in front of me, bursting forth and burning the hands of my mind as I tried to grasp the situation. My debt was far from uncontrollable, but for an aspiring singer it was all kinds of unnecessary.

After college, I did go on to sing with some small opera companies in New York City. Currently, I even work as a section leader/cantor for churches, but the pay was never substantial enough for my bills; and within a year of my graduating from college I decided to pursue paralegal work. I already had a bachelors so I only needed a paralegal certificate, most of which were only 21 credits to complete. New York does not require any paralegal certification, but I am practical and given my very non-existent legal background, to get anywhere I knew I needed a paralegal certificate. When I meet younger singers, they often ask me to my surprise (I’m only 25), “What advice would you give someone looking to perform?” I always answer, “Don’t get into debt,” usually, followed by a nice tailored explanation for whoever asked.

The prior 3 paragraphs reflect my history on why I became a paralegal, the following shows how I became a paralegal:

I did my ABA approved certificate program at Nassau Community College, from the fall of 2011 to spring of 2012, while working as a part time retail manager. The start of 2012 while still in school I joined NYCPA (the New York City Paralegal Association, because I knew I wanted to work in the city, their CLEs very much appealed to me and I needed to create a network.) Upon graduating from the certificate program in May of 2012, I had gone to several NYCPA CLEs and per a board member’s suggestion gave my resume to the Job Bank coordinator. I was approached later that summer by the coordinator about a paralegal internship opening up and it could be paid or for credit! Prior to hearing about the internship, I had been job hunting for what felt like an eternity, though in reality it was only about 4 months, so I requested the coordinator submit my resume. I got an interview for the internship and by September 1 was the first paralegal intern for LOUIS VUITTON NORTH AMERICA and my career as a paralegal had begun. It was very, very lucky, but lucky in the way Oprah describes it as: opportunity meeting preparation and I was amply prepared while in the right place too.

“Nothing is impossible, the word itself says, ‘I’m possible.’” – Audrey Hepburn.

I have been incredibly blessed in regards to my time as a paralegal. Everything happened at critical moments: 1) by the time I took on my internship I had no more deferment left on my student loans; 2) my internship last 6 months, 2 months longer than planned and that was necessary because, 3) I had saved just enough money from my internship to continue paying my loans for four months until the moment I landed my first job as a paralegal in a law firm.

“It is not just what you know or who you know, but who knows you.”

– Matthew C. Walters-Bowens

Currently, I am NYCPA’s Paralegal School Liaison Co-Coordinator on top of working, singing and taking care of my mother. I always say the quote right above, when I visit schools to talk about NYCPA, because had no one in the organization knew who I was, had I not given in my resume, I would not be the paralegal I am today. I want to take the LSAT sometime in 2014, just to see how I do, but I have in no way committed to a law school path just yet. Lawyers and paralegals are different. People choose to become one or the other for different reasons. I chose to become a paralegal it was practical for me.

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