I Won Legal Professional of the Year,
and I Didn’t Feel Like A Winner
In 2012 I was honored to receive the Omaha Legal Professional of the Year Award. It was an amazing accolade that I had hoped to receive one day.
But honestly, I never thought I was going to receive it. I was always up against so many amazing legal professionals who had much more experience than I did.
Yours Truly Was the 1st Latina Omaha Legal Professional of the Year
I was just overcome with shock and appreciation to receive the award. Then to learn I was the first Latina to ever be named the honor just really humbled me.
However, it came at a time in my personal life when I felt like anything but a winner. My oldest daughter had been getting into trouble and found herself in the juvenile system. Shortly before I received the award, she was sent to Boys Town, an amazing school for adolescents who are getting into trouble in their homes or who don’t have a home at all.
Nonetheless, out-of-home placement of my own child. It was devastating.
My Kids Paid The Price
I just remember feeling so bittersweet about the win. I knew I was a kick-ass paralegal. I knew I deserved to be patted on the back for that. However, I couldn’t help thinking that I gave too much to my profession and for that reason my daughter was getting into trouble.
As a mother, your ambition, drive, self-motivation all comes from the love for your child. But sometimes this profession, like others, can leave a dedicated professional feeling like there are no boundaries between work and home.
Not A Proud Moment
I felt so alone in these thoughts. I really didn’t feel like I could talk to too many people about how receiving this award actually made me feel like (💩) caca . It made me question what all my efforts were for to begin with if I am such an award-winning legal professional but my daughter was going through some of the toughest times of her life.
Additionally, I was just mortified. I had to go into court, not as a supportive paralegal, but as a mom who did not have control over her child. No matter how I looked at it, that was the case. It was humiliating and I consider myself to be a humble person; however I couldn’t get over the embarrassment of needing the intervention of the juvenile court to deal with the discipline of my own child.
A Friend Indeed
Shortly after accepting the award, prior Legal Professional of the Year Award-Recipient Donna Birkby had invited me to help her out with an event she was working on.
At the end of the event she went out of her way to congratulate me on my win, she was certainly not the first person to do so; however, something about her just made me open up and actually cry.
I told her that I didn’t feel like Legal Professional of the Year and went on to explain what I was going through in my personal life. She gave me the best hug and a caring shoulder to cry on. Then went on to give me the most sincere mother-to-mother advice.
I Am A Human First
She reminded me that above all else I am human. And as mothers we do our very best and that doesn’t mean everything goes perfectly, but we don’t give up. And that includes standing up in court next to our children, if need be.
My daughter’s experience at Boys Town only made our family stronger thanks to the house parents Nick and Rachel Clymer. They are truly family to us now and will always be. Our Juvenile Court Judge Vernon Daniels was extremely respectful to us and made some tough decisions that were always in our family’s best interest. He forever holds a special place within the hearts of our family as well.
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That’s What Friends Are For
This experience was not what I was expecting heading into things. But Donna was there to help calm my nerves and tell me to put my chin up and it will be okay. I still consider Donna a godsend. She helped me get through one of the most difficult times of my life at a time when I didn’t think any one in the world could possibly understand.
I have had a few young legal professionals ask me, “What will the other paralegals think?” in reference to whatever personal dilemma they are facing or unorthodox situation they are in.
I tell them, “They’ll think you’re human. These are some of the brightest people in our industry. You think they don’t know that you are human? And this may come as a shock to you as well, they are human too.”
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About the Author
Valentina Zapata Harris
Mother | Advocate | Blogger
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