Attorney valued education from day 1
Sally Holt Emerson
Age: 54
Occupation: Attorney, Underwood Law Firm
Where did you receive your education?
B.A. in Spanish, Texas Tech University; Texas Tech School of Law.
How has your education played a role in your life today?
My Spanish degree and my law degree have interplayed well. When I first started practicing law, I would occasionally have a Spanish-speaking client, but today, fairly consistently, I have clients who prefer to speak Spanish.
What was your greatest educational challenge and how did you overcome it?
My first year of law school was a killer. It took me that year to change my way of thinking. After that, I had a clearer understanding of how to be a successful law student.
What would you say to someone who's undecided about continuing their education?
Decide now to complete it. It is my firm belief that it is very difficult to continue it later if a person stops midstream.
When did you make education a priority?
On my first day in school in the first grade. My parents insisted that school was to come first above all else, and they instilled that attitude in me. Fortunately, that lesson served me well in college and law school.
What made you realize the importance of education in your life?
When I started representing people who were not as well educated I could see how limited their employment opportunities and chances for advancement were. I have seldom felt any of these limitations because of the education I received.
Did you ever think about quitting? What made you keep going?
A couple of times during that first year of law school I became very discouraged. School had always been easy and interesting for me, and I was not immediately successful in law school. I never thought about quitting, because I have never quit anything without giving it my all, but there were times when I wondered if I was in the right place.
