everybody was competing to work for the highest ranked firm possible. It's funny because my classmates' best-case scenario was my worst-case scenario. It made law school much more pleasant because I wasn't that worried about grades. Some couldn't believe I would go the JAG route instead, but having worked at an investment bank, I had zero interest in Big Law going into law school. I just don't get how lawyers with families make it to partner. Lifting a semi sounds more doable to me.

And as for the social events, I get that, too. It used to drive me crazy because when I was at the bank there were social events every week that were pretty much "you don't have to go, but you really, really should if you want a future in this company." I was recently married, my wife was expecting our first child, and I was already working 65+ hours/week, often more. It was a tough way to begin marriage, but we made it work and the best thing that experience taught me was what I don't want out of life. Doing it for a few years is one thing, but doing it longterm sounds awful.