or
How a nerdy gramma makes a major course change, seemingly
overnight...
Law seems like quite a departure from computers and
information technology, no? Yes, in a way, but here’s how it came about, and it
all boils down to my intuition.
Law has been a consideration for me since I was a child, in
the same way that computers were. When I was young, my sisters and I would “play
computer.” I would hide in the closet with a stack of encyclopedias and they
would pass slips of paper to me with questions on them. I would look up the
answers, print them by hand on fresh slips of paper and pass them back. (And
yes, I am the only kid in the world that has ever done that, I know. Even then
I was such a nerd!)
Fast forward to the mid-1980s. At that time, I bought my
first desktop computer, a Tandy TRS-80 CoCo2. I was the only person I knew who
had a computer of their own.
My CoCo2 had 8k of memory, which I upgraded to a screamin’
16k right away (because obviously that wasn’t enough). I used an old TV for a
monitor and hooked up an old cassette player to use for data storage. I typed
programs laboriously by hand, in Color Basic, copied from the latest edition of
Rainbow Magazine.
Somehow, even with this first rudimentary tool, as with my games
with my sisters, I could sense the value of access to information for everyone.
There was no Internet yet, but I was still so excited with the potential that I
saw.
Later, when I bought my first painfully slow modem and
shared information digitally over a telephone line, my world became officially
rocked. Speaking to and “meeting” people online blew my mind. My intuition was
screaming at me that this was huge. This was going to change life as we know it.
This was going to impact our global
culture in ways we could not even begin to fathom.
And I was right. Boy, was I right.
Eventually my passion for computers and the Internet led me
to getting my first degree, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems.
And, to make a long story short, I had fun with that for some time, learned a
lot, made some decent money (and a ton of like-minded, nerdy friends), and
moved forward in my life.
But things change. Over time I became more aware of global
struggles. Problems that my own country and its people were dealing with, along
with international issues. Many times, as I was watching the news, I would
think “I should do something; write a letter to a politician or an article for
the newspaper. If only I knew more about how things really work and what the
law says.”
It was a recurring theme. Tom and I would talk about modern
politics and more and more it was becoming painfully obvious how little I
actually knew. Sometimes I would sign online petitions or write a letter or
two, but it never felt like enough.
I felt that I needed to know more to do more.
And my intuition kicked in again. In the same way I knew that
personal computers and online interactions would change life as we know it, I
began to sense that there was an international revolution coming up from the
grass roots. To be clear, this was not just a hunch; this was a deep knowing in my gut. Folks were unhappy
and they were catching on to how they’d been duped over the years. And now,
with technology as it is, they could actually do something about it.
So, needless to say, I was not surprised to see movements
such as Occupy and Arab Spring develop. It did not faze me to watch vigilante
groups such as Wikileaks and Anonymous spring up. I expected them. And, though
I did not participate in their actions beyond an occasional letter or petition-signing,
I greatly enjoyed watching their progress. I still do.
But it became personal when Canadian First Nations peoples began
their Idle No More campaign. Being of
First Nations heritage and knowing how the government has abused treaties and the
Aboriginal peoples themselves, I was delighted to see them suddenly saying “enough
is enough” and demanding a response.
And that’s when the idea of law - specifically, Aboriginal law - began to really mature. Sure, I’d thought of it before, but now was the time to act. I
had recently finished up several different obligations and my calendar had
cleared. My children are grown and Tom and I, though not wealthy, are financially comfortable. And a
cousin, who is a litigator, tells me there is a shortage of Aboriginal lawyers and to “get
thee to law school.” How do you argue with that, I ask you?
Now is the time and I know it with every ounce of my being.
And I am going to “make it so.”
