As I prepare for graduation, I have been considering the course that my service will take outside of the Bonner program. After having been a Bonner, I'm deeply accustomed to working in the community as a standard part of my schedule. It seems impossible to stop at this point. The issue as I face in entering the larger, post-Wofford world is the balance between making ends meet financially and still working towards social justice in a way that I can feel good about. As I've mentioned elsewhere on this blog, I will be attending law school in the fall. In law school, I will have many opportunities to serve the community I'm in through legal clinics and summer internships at nonprofits. This is a little easier to imagine, though - I'll still be in an academic setting and making money will not be my primary goal.
Though things could always change, I currently have difficulty seeing myself in a work setting after law school that is not service-oriented. The job could be governmental or in a nonprofit - the important part is that it helps change something for the better. Particularly in the areas of civil rights and civil liberties law, becoming an attorney will hopefully allow me to take my service to a new level of efficacy. The problem will be resisting the higher paychecks and greater clout a more traditional legal career would provide.
Bonner is a perfect example, though, of a program that is highly profitable and service-oriented. I signed up for Bonner because of the scholarship money, but I stayed a Bonner because I love feeling like I've been valuable to my community. I hope to find a comparable balance in my professional life as well.
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