Vote on Desiree Davidson's Story
Were they afraid we were planning a coup d'etat?
I spent my first summer during Columbia Law School at a firm in Philadelphia described as one of the best places in the city for black lawyers. I believed that if there was any place where I would have an equal chance at opportunities, be treated fairly and succeed, this would be it. There were three black female summer associates out of sixty that year but any time all three of us were in an office talking, one of the partners would knock on the door to see how we were doing. It happened too often to be a coincidence that sometimes we would purposely agree to meet in so-and-so's office to test our theory that we were being monitored. Like clock work, ten minutes after we would get together a partner would stop by.
Life Purpose
I woke up at 45 and asked myself, "You know, you never asked me if I liked these rules." I don't like working this many hours per week. There were a number of things in my life that I wanted to explore that I didn't have time to do.
I left because it wasn't driving me. I wasn't doing what I was doing in order to move up - moving up didn't interest me, because I knew I was going to move on in five years. Ultimately, I decided to follow a dream I had since college.
