Where the CLA Might Lead You

About two years ago I decided to start studying for the CLA. I told myself that I just wanted to take the test to gain a feeling of personal achievement. I knew that the position I held for several years was not one that offered any kind of monetary benefit from passing the test, nor did I believe I would get any atta-boys from my peers at that office, but I still wanted to try. After about 3 months of study, I gave in to the negative attitudes I was experiencing from my peers at work. They were saying to me, “why do you want to do that.? There is no benefit to you at this office, so why do you want to work so hard for something that won’t do you any good?” I started believing they were right, and eventually I just told myself it wasn’t that important and I didn’t need to do this, just for me. I was so afraid at that time that I might not pass the test, that this is all it took to encourage me to drop the whole idea.

Maybe six months went by with my books piled in the corner of my bedroom, staring at me every night when I went to bed. I started feeling like a failure for giving up so easily, and I realized that I was letting my fear of not passing the test take over. I knew that if I didn’t take the test, I would never have to face not passing. But, deep down I wanted so bad to see if I could do it. I decided to confide in a very wonderful, lady attorney that I trusted to give me an honest opinion. She was so encouraging, telling me that I deserved this chance at being a step above the rest, and she knew that I could do it. This was all I needed to duct off the books and start over.

I lived and breathed the CLA for the next entire year, even taking my books on family camping trips with me. Without the support of my husband and children, any my favorite mentor attorney, I’m not sure I would have kept on. I just plugging away, never mentioning to any of my peers at the office each day that I was studying, for fear that the negative opinions would win over again. At that point it would have been easy to win me over, since I was so sick of the books by then!

On the morning of July 7 I got up, ate some breakfast, said a quick prayer and left the test in God’s hands. For two days I tested, and then the torture began– the waiting. But really, the waiting was not hard for me because I believed at that time that to have taken the test and failed was better than not trying at all. So I already felt a sense of accomplishment, even if I had to take it over. A couple of months later, a large brown envelope was waiting for me when I got home from work. I thought, oh no, a large envelope means they are sending me information on how to retake the test. I tore it open, and the first thing I saw was “Congratulations!” I was numb! I couldn’t believe it. It felt so good to have walked through the fear, the negativity and the unknown. My husband was so proud he was telling everyone he knew. Then the article came out in the paper and all of my friends in the community started calling and congratulating me. It felt so good to have accomplished something so difficult!

I guess the whole point of this story is to tell you what happened after that. I never took the test with the intention of changing jobs. My job continued on, no different really than before taking the test, except I had this renewed feeling of accomplishment and a belief that I could do anything! As a result of giving back to my community and my profession by serving as Vice President and co-webmaster for our local paralegal association, I found myself exposed to all the new jobs that are available in our legal community. All of a sudden I received a call from a headhunter wanting to place a paralegal job on our KCPA website. As we discussed the specifies of the job, this gentleman asked me to submit my resume. I was very hesitant, but for the first time in a long time, I felt the confidence that maybe this was God’s way of rewarding me for stepping out of the fear and trying something I didn’t think I could do. I decided I owed it to myself to at least try, just like I did for the CLA.

After three interviews and two months of talking, I was offered the position of a lifetime. I really don’t believe these jobs come around in our community very often, so I was so thrilled when I was offered the position. What was not possible at my former position, real paralegal work, is now a daily reality to me. I am doing a completely different kind of paralegal work for a large farming company, which is huge stretch from working for a legal service that represents school districts. Every day I learn something new, I am treated like a professional, and in my opinion actually does count for something. It feels so good.

I am once again energized in my profession and would like to encourage anyone out there that is contemplating taking the CLA please do it you never know where it might lead you!