Indecisive

Weekly Report 09/12/2017 to 09/18/2017

As Maimonides once said, “The risk of a wrong decision is preferable to the terror of indecision.” Even before the start of my ISM journey, I was procrastinating putting my foot down and choosing a topic. Before my interview, I kept going back and forth on whether to put down law or politics, and then later, during the summer, I was not sure whether to prepare for law or business. Even now that the year has begun, I am still unsure of which career path I should use this program to study because I am stuck in a fixed mindset. Goals and aspirations are typically encouraged to be set high so that one has room to grow and learn, rather than creating low standards that do not challenge one’s character. However, reality tends to cause one to squelch their potential by forming a belief that one cannot do what one truly wants to do.

This week, my research assessment focused on capital punishment, a widely debated issue which continues to be argued for and against in the Supreme Court to this day. In spending more time reading into this hot topic, I realized how much that I enjoy questioning ethics and civil cases. Although criminal law is my current topic, in reading these articles and spending more time looking into other cases which have passed through the Supreme Court, I have begun to reevaluate my choice for studying criminal law. These types of cases are so localized and are more about the people rather than the issues, which initially seemed best fit for me. As someone who has a heart for justice for underprivileged people and achieving equality through the law, it would seem right to follow a path in criminal justice. However, after studying the overarching social issues rather than the details of the people through Supreme Court cases regarding the death penalty, I have recognized my appreciation for Constitutional law and legislation. This type of law reaches far more than just one person, with the decisions of constitutionality affecting thousands; even though they are less specific, these decisions can affect a greater amount of people, as they are determining factors of the law. Arguing for the Supreme Court is such a prestigious job, let alone being on the justice panel. For the most part, I have told myself that this career is out of my ability range, but that voice in my head is stopping me from experimenting to see whether or not that is true. This program is about challenging oneself to find one’s true passion, and if my true passion is Constitutional law, then I should follow that career path instead of my safety choice.

Now that I am more seriously considering Constitutional law and legislation as a replacement path, it would be beneficial to conduct research comparing the two different types of law, as well as the steps to becoming each type of attorney. I will also still continue to research hot topics in the political world so that I can further evaluate my love of ethics to see whether or not I should study Constitutional law instead. Indecision is very familiar with me, but more preliminary research will help to provide support for whichever topic I end up choosing to study.