As an evening division student, you learn very quickly that you have to take advantage of small gifts of free time as they come, including your commute. Which leads me to a funny story: One night, my best friend, Angela Park [’15], and I got out of class and headed to the subway. Both of us worked full time, and were exhausted. We were studying for finals, probably had bags under our eyes, were carrying backpacks bigger than our bodies, and were generally running on steam. Basically, we were a mess. But when the 1 train came, lo and behold, there was no one on it. That had never happened to either one of us before. We were shocked, and we sort of just looked at each other with that beleaguered-law-student, working-all-the-time, stressed-out mentality. We didn’t speak. Instead, we just went nuts, and started dancing, singing, and swinging from the poles. I smiled so much my face hurt. That was our opportunity. When you’re working a full-time job and in law school, and you need to get up the next day, go to work, then go to class, these small bits of freedom are important to survival. They nourish you, and help you remember why it’s all worth it. That’s what we had in that moment.
–Kelly E. Herbert ’15
Associate, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
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Illustrated by Tom Bachtell