Sometimes God Takes You By Surprise

Earlier this semester, Patrick had a phone interview with a firm in Milwaukee (Quarles & Brady). This was his dream firm. When we went to a getting-acquainted event over Christmas during Patrick's first year at Law School, we loved the atmosphere. The event and people were classy without being ostentatious. Many of the people had families, and the firm itself has a family-friendly attitude. It's also professional and well-respected. With all this in mind, you can imagine how this might have become Patrick's goal. And you can imagine how disappointed he might have been when he received a rejection letter from this very firm after the interview. Add to this the stress of business school and his position as executive editor of Business Law Review, and you can imagine how little he was looking forward to applying to other firms which wouldn't appeal to him as much.

And then, stretch your mind a little farther, to imagine how startled he was when a lawyer from the firm called with the position changed-- they had decided that they would, in fact, like to offer him a second interview in person in Milwaukee. Now we had never heard of this happening before-- someone receiving a rejection and then receiving an offer for a second interview afterwards. So we were thrilled and hopeful. And we couldn't help but attribute this strange and unexpected change of circumstance to the hand of God. Patrick did do things that may have helped--sent thank you letters, emailed to ask for interviewing/resume advice and express his desire to work for the firm after graduation--but in most circumstances, that would not have given him a job this summer. He truly asked for advice with post-graduation in mind. This is what makes us recognize where the credit belongs.

Now imagine today how he ecstatic he was when he received a call from Quarles & Brady offering him a summer internship. You can also imagine, while you're at it, how all of us rooting for him (namely myself and our parents) celebrated with happiness when he shared the fantastic news.

Therefore, this summer, we'll be headed back to our home state-- the great and honorable and down-to-earth Wisconsin for another great summer, this time with more hope for post-graduation employment and more immediate compensation (read: paid internship).

With all of this in mind, you can imagine how sincerely I say, we thank God for making this happen. We are definitely blessed!