Tag: Career

Career Pathways and Trusting the Journey

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Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge, Northern Ireland. Photo of people walking along a narrow path on a coast toward a tiny rocky island

This Friday, I’ll be speaking at an undergraduate career conference. In preparation for my panel on Advocating for Justice (legal careers), the organizers sent me some questions to consider. The first was how my educational experience sparked my interest in being an attorney or working in the judiciary and making a difference in this sphere.

I laughed a little when I read the question because, as some of you know, I didn’t even consider going to law school until after I had graduated from college. I started trying to think of experiences I’d had in college that may have led me in this direction, but then I realized that pointing to any particular undergraduate experience would be a contrived answer. I decided it was best to just be honest with these students, because the truth is that many of us don’t have some early moment of clarity or grand plan that leads us to our dream careers. For me and many others I’ve met, we got to where we are largely by chance. More accurately, we made a bunch of small decisions without a big vision. We put one foot in front of the other, unable to see the full path but hoping and trusting we’d eventually end up somewhere good.

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Why You Need Specific Goals and How to Set Them

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Photo of bright afternoon sun shining over a ridge

A reader recently asked me to do a post on goal setting, and it’s a topic that’s been on my list for a while, so I’m happy to oblige!


Looking back at stages in my life when I felt like I was underperforming or not living up to my potential, they were pretty much all times when I lacked a vision for where I wanted to go and specific goals I wanted to meet. Goal-setting in school was fairly easy because the structure of formal schooling involves a lot of clear steps and numeric measures. There are external expectations that you can strive toward: get an A on the next test, achieve a certain score on the SAT, rank high in your class, get into college or graduate school, secure an internship, etc. I was a people-pleaser when I was younger, and I was motivated to check those boxes, get the associated praise, and feel like I was in control and doing well.


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Sumissura Review: Affordable, Ethically Produced Custom-Made Suits and Clothes

- Alexis 5 Comments

Me in my new Sumissura suit, post-alterations (apologies for the poor-quality cell phone photos)

Alexigraph is not a fashion blog, and I rarely post product reviews here, so this post is a little out of the ordinary for me.  It is not a sponsored post, just an honest review of a service that I thought might be of interest to some of you.

A few years ago, I made the decision only to purchase clothes that are made by people working in safe conditions or that are second-hand (you can read more about my reasons here).  For the most part, it’s been a fun challenge to seek out brands and retailers that meet my standards, and the change has significantly cut down on impulse shopping.

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Imagining the Ideal Life

- Alexis 1 Comment

Black and white photo of a wooden bridge in the woods

Yesterday I had the pleasure of conducting mock interviews of law students in preparation for the upcoming interview season.  They were eager and well-prepared, looking out at the endless possibilities that lay ahead if them.  I asked them where they saw themselves five years after graduation, and I answered their questions about my job, including what had led me to it, what I loved about it, and what, if anything, I might change.

When I was in their position ten years ago, I hated the “where do you see yourself in x years?” question.  I had no real vision for my future.  I guess I figured if I followed all the recommended steps — work hard, get good grades, network, get a good job at a big firm — everything would fall into place and I’d end up with the life I was supposed to have, whatever that was.  I really didn’t know enough about the world or myself to know what I wanted my life to look like.  I could recite answers to interview questions, but the visions I described were really other peoples’ ideas of what a good life and career looked like.

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I’m Happy to Be a Working Mother. Really.

- Alexis Leave a comment

High-heel shoes and a watch next to a teddy bear and play mat

Now that I’m back at work post-maternity-leave, well-meaning friends, family members, and colleagues ask me how it’s going, often with a look of sympathy in their eyes.  I think some of them expect me to say I’m exhausted or I wish I could stay at home.  Several have voiced their assumptions in the form of questions: It’s tough, isn’t it?  Don’t you just want to cry when you get those texts with pictures of your little one?

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