VP's Corner:
BECAUSE YOU DON’T ALREADY HAVE ENOUGH TO DO… Kara Vincent, TCBA Vice President 2019-2020 Can you hear the sarcasm in the title? We’re all busy. There are never enough hours in the day to do everything. Added to that, your taxes are due this month (yeah, I know, it’s like a poke in the eye). That’s why it is ridiculous for me to talk about volunteering this month – but I’m doing it anyway.
Those thoughts you have daily about what you might have done differently or what you wish someone would have told you about before you launched your career…this is your opportunity to help someone else avoid the mistakes you made when you started practicing.
Did you know that April is National Volunteer Month? I didn’t until it came up in a conversation. Before that conversation, I thought of volunteering in terms of something that everyone should do, but I’d never thought about focusing my volunteering efforts into a particular month. However, it’s perfect timing for my TCBA topic this month…mentoring.
Because of the mentoring and networking lunch at TU, we have 25 1st and 2nd year law school students who have submitted applications to be paired with a mentor. They want to prepare for the practice of law and they need your help. Most students are completing their first year of law school. Some are from Tulsa and plan to practice here. Others are from different states such as Texas, Idaho, and Georgia, and are undecided about moving elsewhere. The students have different fields of interest and from oil and gas to intellectual property to corporate law. They have each committed to three years of study and hard work and they can use some advice and counsel.
I can hear your collective voices telling me to shut up about the volunteering and mentoring already… but that’s the great thing about writing this article a month in advance. I can’t hear you yet, and I can blithely ignore what’s coming. Besides, regardless of how tired you are of hearing me talk about this, I will Come on, agree to be a mentor! Your not stop because it’s important. It’s really important. connection might lead you to the best coffee shops in On February 27th, the fearless duo of Randy Tulsa are and maybe, just maybe, the excitement from Lewin and Faith Orlowski met with students at TU a law school student just starting the legal journey will to discuss the TCBA Mentoring Committee and the remind you of why you started practicing law in the opportunities it could open up for each as they decide first place. Alternatively, if you can’t be a mentor, then how they want to move forward in their legal careers. help someone else who is. Let a student join a meeting There were questions from the students about how the or a hearing and share your knowledge in the moment. mentoring opportunity would work and a curiosity We can all help bring the next generation along. surrounding how certain legal interests could actually work as a career. For example, given the current If you are interested economic climate, it is possible to make a career from in mentoring a student, doing only oil and gas work? These students need please contact Randy guidance and what better place to get it than from Lewin or Faith Orlowski individuals already living it daily. to discover how you can be involved.
