First law job observations from the First Lady

Now admit it--most of us avidly read the stories on Michelle Obama's fashion sense. We cannot help but comment on the coverage of her bare arms--and how she should keep them uncovered. But, we're ready for more substance on the First Lady: her hopes for the future, her current plans, and her past experiences. Most relevantly for Woman, Esq., her years as a woman lawyer in a large city.

On Thursday, the Chicago Sun Times featured a story on Michelle Obama's speech to a Corporation for National and Community Service event. In it, we get a glimpse into some of the First Lady's first reflections on her law career aspirations.

And I went from college to law school to a big ol' fancy law firm where I was making more money than both of my parents combined. I thought I had arrived. I was working on the 47th floor of one of the largest buildings in the city of Chicago. And I thought, well, I must be doing okay.

But then several things happened over the course of my life in a year to make me stop and actually think for the first time about what I wanted. I lost my father. I lost one of my good friends to cancer suddenly. She was in her mid-20s when she died. And I thought that -- for the first time I had to think about life and the life that I was building for myself, and I had to ask myself whether, if I died tomorrow, would I want this to be my legacy, working in a corporate firm, working for big companies? And when I asked myself the question, the resounding answer was, absolutely not. This isn't what I want to leave behind, this isn't why I went to Princeton and Harvard, this isn't why I was doing what I was doing. I thought I had more to give.

So people were quite surprised when I told them at the firm that I was going to leave this big lucrative paycheck behind and a promising career, and go on to do something more service-oriented. They all told me to wait and to become a partner first, and then leave. And I was -- that was financially the better option, but I knew in my heart that I was making the right decision to leave then.

An important message to take from Michelle Obama's words is to take time for self-reflection and evaluation. With the economy right now, it may be hard to imagine that now is the time to change your career path. But it's never the wrong time to think about where you want to be, and develop networks and relationships that could get you to that place.