"The feeling of completing my last final exam of my first semester of law school, contracts, was indescribable. My brain was able to decompress after cramming all those rules into my head!"
No, it's not a line from the beginning of a bad infomercial, but it is most of the reasoning behind Alexander "Alex" Keblish's entrance into the world of law.
A life in corporate law never sounded too appealing to Keblish, so he always strayed away from entering the legal sector.
"Call me naïve, but for a very long period of time, the only lawyers I knew worked at corporate law firms, so I had a fairly negative view of lawyers," admits Keblish. "I couldn't understand why people would go to law school to then dedicate their lives to helping corporations make more money."
Keblish completed his undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, from which he received a Bachelor of Science in Biology. He "attempted" a master's degree in public health at SUNY Downstate in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, but didn't particularly take an interest in the program.
Thanks in part to a "down-to-earth" friend he met during his doubtful stage who attended law school and his "yearning to give back to society in some way and help the less fortunate," Keblish reconsidered his negative view of law.
"'Fight the good fight,' as my AP American History teacher always preached to us," he recalls. "I took an 'Issues in Environmental Health' course for my master's program where I saw the correlation between the law and environmental protection, which also aids in protecting public health. I felt having a law degree would be more flexible and offer more options than obtaining a master's degree in public health, so I decided to pursue law instead."
The New York native, known to his folks and close friends as just "Al," is now in his second year of law school at the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law in Flushing, NY. It was fortunate Keblish got in since it was the only school he had his eyes on.
"I picked CUNY because after returning to New York following undergrad, I decided I was content living here and would ultimately stay here. Based on the mission of the school and its affordability, it was the only law school I wanted to attend, so it was the one and only law school I applied to," he says. "I'd say that's a rarity nowadays, since I've met people who have applied to a ridiculous number of schools — I remember hearing one person who applied to something like 19 law schools! It was all or nothing with CUNY. My family thought I was crazy for taking such a gamble, but thankfully it turned out okay!"
Crazy or not, Keblish stuck to it and is now intrigued by the different facets of law.
"I guess in some ways I find studying law more fulfilling than my undergraduate major because I feel like I'm being groomed for a profession and learning skills that will be put into practice later," he explains. "Areas ranging from landlord/tenant law, the construction of contracts, or even things like the complexity of the U.S. Constitution or how the Supreme Court operates are topics not many folks know about, and in law school I'm benefiting from learning about these and many other topics."
Keblish is happy at CUNY, especially since it is costing him considerably less than other law schools. According to him, it's the only state-subsidized law school in New York, and for this reason its tuition is lower.
"Since our school is dedicated to producing public interest lawyers who do not earn as much compared to other fields, having such modest tuition is crucial to ensure graduates aren't in debt up to their eyeballs. The way I see it, I'll only be waist-high in debt by the end of my law school career," he says. "The sad reality is even if students from other law schools are interested in working in the public interest sector, they can't afford to because of their precipitously high debt and resort to taking higher-paying jobs (e.g., at corporate law firms) to work off their debt."
Q. What do you do for fun?
A. I dig finding new coffee shops in Manhattan and checking out low-key jazz clubs, comedy clubs, and indie rock clubs. I love writing, whether it be random Chuck Klosterman-esque essays about life and pop culture and hope to sit down and write leisurely once a week this semester. I'm a bit of a cinephile. I also have recently gotten into pub trivia and try to go every Wednesday. In the summers I try to hit the beach every weekend, going absurdly early (i.e., 7 a.m.) to beat the throngs of New Yorkers who head to the shores of Long Island.
Q. What CD is in your CD player right now, or what was the last song you heard?
A. Who listens to CDs anymore? The last CDs I bought that were then immediately put onto my iPod were Kate Nash's Made of Bricks and Beck's Odelay: Deluxe Edition.
Q. What is the last magazine you read?
A. The latest issue of Rolling Stone, with the cover story on "The Tragedy of Britney Spears."
Q. What is your favorite TV show?
A. My all-time favorite might be The Wonder Years, but currently I'm getting back into Lost, and I know I'm getting older because I also enjoy 60 Minutes every Sunday night.
Q. Who is your role model?
A. My Grandma Sophia — she's got an indomitable spirit that is supremely inspirational (and she's also my landlady!).
Q. What is something most people don't know about you?
A. Many folks don't know that I only applied to one law school…that I hope to set foot on six out of seven continents by the time I'm 30…that I'm planning on taking a post-law school/post-bar exam trip through Eastern Europe (where my ancestry is from) into India, Tibet, China, and eventually Japan.
As for his future in law, Keblish hopes to continue on the path to public service. He is a little overwhelmed by other things for the time being, though.
"I want to [pursue] environmental law or environmental justice, but I'm aware of how competitive those jobs are," he says candidly. "To be honest, I sort of take things day by day, so right now I'm just worried about finding a great internship for this summer (summer '08). I met with a career counselor this past week, and he was telling me how I should start thinking about employment after graduation…I was thinking to myself, 'I came to you for insight regarding this summer, and you're going to make me anxious about post-graduation plans?' I know he was just doing his job, but it was still unsettling to me."
Keblish is far from an internship struggle, though, as he has already completed three internships at different firms and organizations, including nonprofit ones.
He is planning to graduate in 2009 and says that his future "remains to be seen" for now.
"Here's the goal: graduate, take/pass the bar exam, find a job (if one hasn't been found already by that point)," he says. "On bad days I think I won't make use of my degree and will go abroad to teach English in (insert exotic location here). Don't tell my parents, though!"
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