You Need to Know Your Value

Plus, a writing prompt for you.

When I was in law school, there was this thing called Law Review. It was a student-run journal covering legal topics. But really it was a status-marker. It said, “this is a smart student, so they deserve more respect.” Students on Law Review had access to better interviews during the summer clerk season, which meant higher paying summer jobs. And graduating as a member of the Law Review was a badge of honor as powerful as having magna cum laude next to your name when you walked on the stage.

We shouldn’t judge people based on their feats. We also shouldn’t judge books by their covers. But we absolutely do both. One of the consistent problems I faced as a corporate lawyer was the undervaluation of my skills. It wasn’t just because I was black. One of my white male counterparts washed out because he wasn’t from the right kind of family, which is an important marker in the deep south. And most of the young women with whom I worked complained of being condescended to by senior partners, whether male or female.