I have had difficulty most of my life trying to decide what I wanted to pursue after high school and have gone through numerous different options; ranging from owning a restaurant to active military service. Only recently did I discover a great interest in criminal justice and the opportunity to help keep people safe and uphold the law, and I discovered that becoming a lawyer would combine that interest with the pleasure I get from lively debate and from intellectual conversation. The road to becoming an outstanding criminal lawyer is paved with rigorous academic criteria used to instill versatility for the vastly changing tasks one may face, and those who lose focus may find it difficult to keep up with the pace required.“Becoming a lawyer usually takes 7 years of full-time study after high school: 4 years of university studies, followed by 3 years of law school. (United States Bureau of Statistics) Becoming a lawyer of any kind requires considerable dedication simply because of the time required alone; however, the list of difficult academic standards would ensure that a person must be passionate about law to do the amount of work needed. The LSAT is the first test a person takes on their path to law school admission, and the score awarded is matched to the individual's undergraduate GPA in order for the university to decide whether or not he or she will be accepted. Each university has a unique set of standards for accepting people into their program, but I am looking to go to the University of Miami to join a long tradition of excellent legal education. Miami typically doesn't accept people with a GPA lower than 3.1 and an average LSAT score of 156, so they aren't subjected to the stricter... paper center... every day, and all while helping people and attempting to make the world safer. Initially, 7 years seems like a huge amount of time to spend passing all the tests and studying, but the hard work will be worth it once you reach the end goal. All academic obstacles are simply there to lead the individual to the end result of becoming a successful lawyer; with a strong sense of ethics and a willingness to help support the justice system that keeps our people safe. Works Cited “How to Become a Lawyer.” US Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, January 8, 2014. Web. March 15, 2014. Wardwell, Walter I., and Arthur L. Wood. "The extra-professional role of the lawyer". American Journal of Sociology 61.4 (1956): 304.Wood, Arthur Lewis. "Professional ethics among criminal lawyers". Social problems 7.1 (1959): 70-83.