Career chats: Similar careers can have very different career paths
About this video
Four people in law and law enforcement describe very different routes into similar careers. One trained as a Marine lawyer, one interned on both defense and prosecution sides, one served in the Peace Corps before law school, and one police officer earned a part-time master's degree while working.
You'll be able to
- explain that people in similar careers can take very different paths.
- describe at least two different paths the speakers took.
- explain how experiences outside a field, like the Peace Corps, can still be part of a career path.
Key words
- the bar
- The exam a person must pass to become a licensed lawyer.
- public defender
- A government lawyer who defends people accused of crimes who can't pay for a lawyer.
- DA (district attorney)
- The government office whose lawyers, called prosecutors, bring criminal cases against accused people.
- Peace Corps
- A US program where volunteers live and work in other countries, often teaching or helping communities.
- jurisdiction
- The area where an officer or court has the authority to act.
Transcript
(upbeat music) - The Marine Corps is different from all the other branches with regards to their lawyers in that they require lawyers to go through the same training as everyone else. And so, right after I passed the bar, when I was, you know, all enthusiastic about being a lawyer, I was running around in the woods with a pack and a rifle and being like, "What did I do?
What did I get myself into?" - So I interned with someone who owned their own law firm like I do now. He had a really small practice. I interned at the Public Defender's Office where I was on the defense side and dealing with some very interesting criminal cases.
And then I interned on the opposite side at the DA's office supporting prosecutors
- To the Peace Corps, and I was in Southeast Asian Peace Corps. I did that mostly because I wanted to see what we like to live in the developing world, and I wanted to teach to see if I'd like that, and I wanted to learn another language. And so it worked great for all of those things.
It was a fantastic experience. If could talk my wife into it, I'd probably do it again. And I then went from the Peace Corps to law school.
- I graduated from the police academy in I think 2000 and either eight or nine. And I was a dignitary protection law enforcement officer in the Senate with statewide jurisdiction. I did that for about a year and a half, and I realized, wow, this was interesting work.
Maybe I can do more. So I went to Sacramento State University, got a master's degree in Criminal Justice through a part-time program, while I was also a law enforcement officer. (upbeat music)
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