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A Simple Life Project

In 9th grade I was assigned a "Life Project." During this project we had to interview a person whom we hoped to be like later in life. Then we had to give an oral presentation to the class about how it went. I wanted to become an entertainment lawyer.

Most of the students in my class really did not want to do this project. In my eyes I felt this was a way to open doors to places I never dreamed of. One day I looked in the yellow news papers and wrote down various numbers of entertainment lawyers that I could possibly interview. I called each of the numbers; NO one responded to my messages. I constantly asked people if they knew someone I could interview. Still no help. They told me to keep trying.

As weeks grew I became tired of trying, until I looked on the internet and came across a big time law firm called the Beverly Hills Bar Association. I called and asked if I could possibly interview an entertainment lawyer. The assistant told me that he was a very busy man and did not need to be bothered by my little school project. I was discouraged by this comment. I tried again anyways, and left the entertainment lawyer a message.

He called back! He told me that he would be honored to be interviewed by me. I was very excited and did this interview by myself with poise and attitude. I learned a lot of different things and reported the information to my fellow classmates. My teacher told me to keep in contact with him. I did. And he did a very big presentation at my school to all of the 11th and 12th grade students. This was a celebration of my hard work and determination to get a big time lawyer who I thought would NOT give me the time of day.

To this day in 2008 he always tells me that if I need anything to call him'even a letter of recommendation'he said he would be delighted to write one. We have a close professional friendship and I will never forget how that simple "Life Project" opened so many doors and gave me the opportunity to get out of my comfort zone. Determination and courage are the values I learned from this project.

Story was submitted anonymously