One of the law schools I visited had a student panel, and the students were asked what skills they’ve learned through their pro-bono programs. Some said they learned how to hone their legal writing skills, some answered broadly that they learned “real life” skills.  But one 1L girl responded with an interesting answer: she said she learned how to put together a good story.  She said that through working with her clients, she learned how to ask the right questions to get deeper with them, find out their core issues, and craft this information into a story that is coherent, compelling, and ultimately resolvable.

Even in “The People vs OJ Simpson” (which I’ve been watching religiously for the past several weeks), Chris Darden frustratingly tells Marcia Clarke, who keeps emphasizing the power of their DNA evidence, that people care about stories. They like good stories (and in such particular cases, almost to a fault).

I think for a small group session, I remember an icebreaker question asking what we would want to do with our lives, if we had the skills/gifts/resources to do anything we wanted.  I simply said I wanted to do something that allowed me to tell stories, whether it be writing books/articles, hosting a podcast, or crafting a screenplay. With a naturally curious mind, I want to learn about people, learn about things. I love listening to “Fresh Air” and hearing Terry Gross (with her calming voice) ask questions on to her guests, who might start realizing things about themselves as they open up.  I enjoy watching documentaries about random topics from an artist’s recyclable art projects giving life to his subjects to the hyper-competitive world of young ballerinas to the legacy of a hated college basketball player.  I eat these stories up like delicious treats (or ramen). After all, it’s ultimately a handful of narratives (both real and fiction) that led me to change my career.

So hearing that student say what she did hit me in a way that I didn’t expect. Though it might not be the most “creative” format of storytelling, I realized I can still do what I dreamed of doing.