My Torrid Past

I am currently in the process of applying for a law clerk placement in the public sector for my Public Interest Externship. (An externship means you do an internship for school credit.) The organization I applied to sent me home with a 50-page book to fill out and return in one week's time. It is a bad sign when the application booklet is bound.

Today, when I returned the book, I went through some items with the officer in charge of background checks. I was amazed by the sheer amount of information requested. For example, I had to admit I had once shoplifted. (Don't judge. I was in high school. I was at a store with friends, and I stuck a small toy in the hood of a friend's sweatshirt. She walked out, not knowing it was there. Shoplifting.)

I also had to admit to using illegal drugs. (Don't judge. I was in high school. I was at a school conference. A guy I liked (and knew for about three days) gave me some of his ADHD medicine so I would be able to stay awake during the conference, since I had spent most of the night talking to him on the phone.) Most kids mess around with marijuana. Not me; I was a prescription junkie.

I know, I was pretty wild and crazy. On one hand, the background book freaks you out and makes you think you have to reveal every last little thing. But then, when you do explain your criminal record of shoplifting and drug abuse, the officer laughs and gives the general impression that you are wasting her time with piddly stories of juvenile delinquency. At any rate, Legally Blond and Law Lady enjoyed my torrid high school past. Cross your fingers that my life of crime won't close too many doors.