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I walked into the courthouse feeling like a little boy dressed up in someone else’s clothes. Sure, I looked like a man, going to the office in my smart work uniform. I was all grown up, or at least that’s how I thought I looked. But underneath the Tommy Hilfiger shirt and Perry Ellis suit, I was just a scared little kid playing dress up.

Before I began my internship this summer at the courthouse, I thought I had it all figured out: graduate, go to college, then law school, and become a lawyer. Never had it dawned on me that, in reality, I actually had no idea what I wanted to do. Of course, I had always wanted to be a lawyer. But as I walked through the courthouse hallways each day – the same halls that so many lawyers and judges have walked before me – I realized that there are so many choices to make. Would I rather pursue a criminology major and go on to practice criminal law, or will a degree in accounting lead me toward a career as a tax attorney? These were the thoughts that swam through my head as I reviewed the morning dockets.

I began by asking questions. I talked to the lawyers and judges, asking them about their academic backgrounds and how they chose their particular areas of the law. As I listened to what each had to say, I asked myself, Could I do this? Could I see myself working on this case or that? Being that kind of lawyer? A deep thought process spun around my head as I spent my months analyzing each sector of the law.

Day after day, I would watch the lawyers – all different types of them – stand up in front of the judges – all different types of them – and I would watch as they asked to be granted this motion or release this client. It wasn’t like the stuff you see on Law and Order. There was very little trial action going on, mostly just arraignments and hearings. All the interaction between the lawyers and the judges was very routine and redundant. I could feel my interest waning with every...