My path to law. Surmounting hidden disabilities

• Author: Emily Cox
• Pages: 11-12

doing meditation, keeping a gratitude

journal, doing yoga or whatever helps

you to feel more grounded.

My husband and I have a no-iPhone-

in-the-bedroom rule. This creates a bit

of space every evening where we can

catch up, talk about our day or just

read a novel.

Whatever rule you institute, it’s

important to be exible. There have

been times where my husband and I

have fallen out of the habit of not using

the iPhone in the bedroom—sometimes

there are important client matters that

need attending to or other life events.

However, when the client matter settles

or the family emergency passes, when

life returns to normal, we go back to

the rule.

Studies show that we’re much more

likely to be distracted by the digital

device if it’s close by, so consider some

distance. Instead of walking around the

house with it or having it in your pock-

et, leave it plugged in on the kitchen

counter.

Notice how it feels

Periodically ask yourself: “Do I have a

healthy relationship with digital tech-

nology?” I notice that when I’m glued

to that tiny screen too long, I feel sort

of hungover. There’s just a sense like

I’ve consumed too much Facebook or

been on Twitter entirely too long.

Let your senses guide you. Pay atten-

tion. Spending too much time looking

at screens likely means you’re not

getting much exercise or spending time

outdoors. Strive to cultivate a balance

that feels good to you.

As we come to the end of the year,

it’s a wonderful time to reect and

make small changes in your life that can

have a big impact. I invite you to start

by making small changes and commit-

ting to doing it over a sustained period

of time. Q

Jeena Cho consults with Am Law 200

rms on stress management, resiliency

training, mindfulness and meditation.

She co-wrote The Anxious Lawyer and

practices bankruptcy law with the JC

Law Group in San Francisco.

BY EMILY COX

#MyPathToLaw is a guest column that

celebrates the diversity of the legal pro-

fession through attorneys’ rst-person

stories detailing their unique and inspir-

ing trajectories. Read more #mypathto-

law stories on Twitter.

Being placed in my school’s

special education program

when I was 6 was the rst and

probably most important step

on my path to the law.

I was born with congenital nystag-

mus, a condition that causes my eyes to

rapidly and continuously move side-to-

side. As a toddler, the nystagmus was

so severe that doctors told my parents

I was legally blind and would never be

able to read. Glasses helped, but the

doctors couldn’t do anything about

my eye movements. In kindergarten, I

quickly fell behind. The rst time I truly

understood that I was different from the

other kids was when they taught us to

tie our shoes, and I repeatedly failed the

follow-up test. No matter how often I

practiced, the laces in my shoes seemed

to swarm together in a jumble. I had to

wear my Velcro shoes long after all my

classmates graduated to the “big kid”

shoes (my dad started wearing Velcro

shoes in solidarity with me—and ended

up liking them so much that he some-

times still wears them!).

By rst grade, my peers were far

ahead of me in more than just shoe-ty-

ing skills. The school assigned a special

education teacher named Gretchen to

work with me, and Gretchen is the one

who nally set me on a better path.

Twice a week, I left class to work with

Gretchen on my reading and writing

using large-print books and materials,

as well as computer programs for the

visually impaired. Although being taken

out of class for these sessions was em-

barrassing, I eventu-

ally looked forward

to them. Gretchen

never made me feel

stupid or different,

and nally having

the tools I needed

was transformation-

al. I saw Gretchen

for most of elementary school, until

I caught up with my classmates and

could use the tools on my own.

By sixth grade, I tested into my

school’s gifted program. By my 16th

birthday, I had taken my GED and was

accepted into college full time.

Shortly after earning a bachelor’s in

philosophy, I enlisted in the Washington

Army National Guard. Like many oth-

ers, after Sept. 11, I wanted to do my

part to serve and protect my country. I

chose to join the Army National Guard

because it gave me the opportunity to

be a part of missions in my home state

as well as the national mission.

I’ve never been an “outdoorsy”

person and had never so much as held

a gun, so the nine weeks I spent in basic

training at Fort Leonard Wood in Mis-

souri was by far the most difcult thing

I’d ever done. But I made it through,

then completed my advanced individual

training as an intelligence analyst at

Fort Huachuca in Arizona. Soon I was

providing intelligence for our Black

MY PATH TO LAW

Surmounting Hidden

Disabilities

Inter Alia | MY PATH TO LAW

Emily Cox: “Law

school is dicult

no matter who

you are, but it

can be particu-

larly rough when

you have

a disability.”

Photo courtesy of Emily Cox

ABA JOURNAL | WINTER 2019-2020

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