Congratulations! I hope college is a good experience for you. However, I am going to tell you some things I wish that I had heard going into college.
I would consider your options carefully. Unless you come from money, the loans for law school will trap you into massive debt cycle that will force you to practice in typical lawyer fashions, because they can disbar you if you do not pay your student loans. Now, it is possible to do work on the side, but normally that requires you to already be established in your local area. Most of the attorneys I know who do primarily pro-bono work either come from wealthy families and are libs or are old-timers who have already made their money and are looking to put some good things back in the world. And even then, for every case of non-monetary positive influence, you will have to do something more oriented towards money to offset the cost.
Basically, law is good to know, but there are other less expensive options if you are primarily looking to help vulnerable populations without overthrowing the system. Developing project managment skills and working with shelters in your local area along with learning how they are funded and their relationship to the local politics is all stuff that you can do that only costs time. (Idk maybe you are already doing that) But time is valuable. Basically, just as or more valuable than any degree is actually being there, and if you are there enough you won't need a degree to be effective and helpful.
Congratulations! I hope college is a good experience for you. However, I am going to tell you some things I wish that I had heard going into college.
I would consider your options carefully. Unless you come from money, the loans for law school will trap you into massive debt cycle that will force you to practice in typical lawyer fashions, because they can disbar you if you do not pay your student loans. Now, it is possible to do work on the side, but normally that requires you to already be established in your local area. Most of the attorneys I know who do primarily pro-bono work either come from wealthy families and are libs or are old-timers who have already made their money and are looking to put some good things back in the world. And even then, for every case of non-monetary positive influence, you will have to do something more oriented towards money to offset the cost.
Basically, law is good to know, but there are other less expensive options if you are primarily looking to help vulnerable populations without overthrowing the system. Developing project managment skills and working with shelters in your local area along with learning how they are funded and their relationship to the local politics is all stuff that you can do that only costs time. (Idk maybe you are already doing that) But time is valuable. Basically, just as or more valuable than any degree is actually being there, and if you are there enough you won't need a degree to be effective and helpful.