"It is very easy to become consumed with the prospect of a lucrative career, but it really takes courage to commit to one’s passions."
Destiney Wilson
"Being frustrated is the secret sauce to great advocacy," says Wilson.

Learning the law has made me aware of how it shapes society. Every aspect of life is influenced by the law. The decisions we make, the products we buy and the ideals we have about morality. The law is good in ways because it is needed to keep order. It comes from traditions and majority views about what is best for society. It is also interesting to see the differences in how ordinary people think about the law and how the law actually operates. For instance, a lot of people who are not in law school have these conceptions about what should be actionable, but in reality, there are standards and case precedent that courts use to decide cases. There may be components of a case that a client thinks is significant, but it actually could be irrelevant under a legal standard. Overall, this further illustrates the importance of lawyers. It is up to the lawyer to decide what is relevant to the client's case. There are many types of lawyers. The standard image of what a lawyer looks like is far from accurate. It is so refreshing to know that being an attorney is really what a person makes out of it.

It is fascinating to see how old laws still apply in today's society. How the oldest legal minds are still influencing current law students and will continue to years in the future. While reading cases, there are times when I am pleased with the outcome and others where I am frustrated. I believe these are the emotions one goes through in law school. It is normal to have a love-hate relationship with the law. There are times when the law does not favor the most deserving people. It is important to realize that this frustration is important. Being frustrated is the secret sauce to great advocacy. I like to think that Thurgood Marshall was frustrated as the head of the NAACP legal defense. He must have been so frustrated constantly being confronted with the injustices against black people. I believe his frustration is what led him to successfully advocate in front of the United States Supreme Court in cases such as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954). 

I realize that my time here is critical and that it matters. When I first came to law school, I lost sight of why I started law school in the first place. I started to think about practice areas that were not central to my passions. Although it is important to embrace every area of the law, it is important to stay true to what fueled the decision to attend law school. It is very easy to become consumed with the prospect of a lucrative career, but it really takes courage to commit to one’s passions. I believe that practicing law is really meant to be a selfless career, that is purposed to help those who need advocacy the most. I will dedicate my life and education to advocating and helping others. 

Back to The Brief

Destiney Nadio Wilson portrait

Destiney Wilson RLAW'21

During her undergraduate program, Destiney Wilson studied Child Advocacy & Policy where she learned about the world of child welfare and systems set in place for the protection of children. She hopes to use her legal education to advocate for Children’s rights on a legislative level.  During her 1L summer, she interned with the Office of the Law Guardian. There she gained knowledge of how Law Guardians advocate in court for children every day. Law Guardians gives children a voice in court by advocating for their express wishes. The court takes this into consideration when making a determination of whether a child is reunited with their parents or if they will be placed into foster care. She plans to go back during her 2L summer, where she hopes to work on cases of her own, representing children in court. She is also a Social Justice Scholar at Rutgers Law.