"It didn't require a whole lot of additional education, the money was decent, and the type of work seemed interesting and challenging," she said.
Besides, Collins added, she needed a change.
"After working in retail for most of my 20s, I found myself working a dead-end job in the medical records department of UNC Hospitals, and I was thoroughly miserable."
But her journey began back in college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she dreamed of becoming a scientist and thought little about law.
"I thought of Perry Mason and Atticus Finch, and I knew that I couldn't do that!" she said.
There was just one small problem. The chemistry major soon discovered, after spending long hours in labs, that she didn't "possess the patience necessary to be a scientist" either.
"I was really at a loss of what else to pursue and changed my major five times," continued Collins. "When I began my junior year, I made a decision to explore as many different disciplines as I could and not worry so much about what I would do later, which, in retrospect, was probably not such a great plan."
She jumped from major to major, worked at a record shop, and, after graduating, continued enrolling in classes at UNC. Not until she signed up for a year-long program at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC, did law begin to entice her.
"While litigation and intellectual property were the 'hot' areas of law and there seemed to be more job opportunities in those fields, I knew fairly quickly that corporate law was the field that I wanted to work in."
Now Collins works as a corporate paralegal for Hutchison Law Group, which "provides strategic business and intellectual property-related legal counsel to leading technology companies throughout the Southeast," according to its website. HLG also "helps [its] clients succeed with an array of legal counsel, advice, and networking."
|
If Atticus Finch and Perry Mason weren't Collins's inspiration, who was?
"After interviewing for a month for my first paralegal position, I was offered a job in a firm and a job in-house. I chose the firm because it was exactly what I wanted to do, for one thing, but mostly because there were two seasoned paralegals there that I could learn from. These two mentors taught me everything I know, and if it weren't for them, I probably wouldn't be here now. I drove them crazy asking them questions, and much of my success is due to them."
Unsurprisingly, "asking questions" seems to be part of Collins's mantra.
"Always ask questions, no matter how stupid," she advised eager individuals interested in law. Plus, "research the various different fields that you might be interested in, [and] then talk to people who work in those fields. Once you get a job, be open-minded to learning as much as you can from experienced paralegals, and then go the extra mile to learn on your own…and if you find yourself in a job or career that you hate, find another one! If you like your job, you will be successful."
