Why I should have been a fireman.

In 1990, shortly before i completed my studentereksamen (equivalent to A-levels), I had a conversation with my parents about my plans for the future.

In this conversation I stated that I wanted to be a fireman (a profession that doesn't even require a Studentereksamen). My parents said that while being a fireman was a good and respectable job, they were certain that I would be bored and unsatisfied in such a career. To settle for less than what was achievable and which suited my abilities was not, in their opinion, a wise decision.

I, on the other hand, argued strongly and passionately for the virtue of having low aspirations and for pursuing a career that would be a waste of the last three years of my education. In the end I was too scared to follow my heart and a few months later I was off to college in America.

For the next 18 years I've been in search of a profession that would not be selling myself short or be of low aspiration. I have in total spent 10 years in higher education and will complete my LLM at the end of this month. I am, however, no closer to being qualified for a job that would interest me than I was that evening in 1990. I still need between 1-3 years of further study to get a job in law, and I don't know how I will either finance this or muster energy for further study.

I really should have been a firemen!