Last week, I was able to attend the Becker/Rose Cafe with the Associate Dean of Cornell Law School, who spoke about criminal law and how cases can be handled between countries after injustices across borders occur. Most of the talk revolved around the recent American bombing of a hospital in Afghanistan, and how it would be handled by considering the different aspects of the attack, and whether or not it can be considered a “war crime.”

The talk was very exciting for me, because I come from a family of lawyers, but my parents and uncles mostly do litigation and property damage cases. This was perhaps the more exciting arm of the law that I had seen on television, more reminiscent of the Law & Order episodes I had watched in middle school. The thought process that goes into this case is astounding, and I see Professor Ohlins has carefully thought about many different aspects of this case in particular, from how the trial can go to the International Criminal Court to whether it can even be considered a war crime instead of “collateral damage.”

This makes me almost (almost) want to try my hand at law. Not because I want to go before a judge and talk loudly in a a courtroom in front of a jury of my peers, but because it seems like a problem that requires a lot of thought, a challenge that needs to be met, a question that needs to be answered. This is where the analytical essays we wrote in high school come in handy, learning how to craft and argument and effectively convey your own viewpoint. A lot of people say that the things we learn in school, like essay writing and math, are never used in the real world, but I see examples of it every day (granted I’m still in school, but I read the paper). I’ve always wanted to be in an environment where the stuff I learned throughout my life isn’t going to waste, just sitting in a file cabinet in my brain gathering dust, and hopefully I can find that kind of balance once I graduate. Not necessarily doing international criminal law, but something that can validate everything I’ve experienced and learned, the sum total of my life thus far, while still providing new and exciting challenges to look forward to.