Why law (Part II)

When I tell people I want to become a lawyer, they either encourage me or they say something like, "Is there any way I could dissuade you?"
I'm sure if I wanted to be a doctor, nobody would try to stop me. People respect doctors. Oh well.
In the minds of most Americans, lawyers are slightly better than cockroaches and a little worse than journalists. So, it will only be a slight loss in social standing for me. Plenty of people already don't like what I do.
But pursuing law will be a HUGE challenge. That's a big reason for choosing this path: to stretch myself. My academic background is utilitarian, not prestigious. I earned my associate's degree at a community college before I commuted to a compass-point state university to finish my bachelor's. My undergraduate studies were not very challenging -- I didn't buy textbooks in some classes because I never had to crack them to learn the material. My major, journalism, isn't exactly a mind crusher.
I never believed that I should (or could) rise beyond mediocre. I'm an underachiever. So I want to find out what I'm capable of in a demanding college setting. To whom much has been given, much will be required. I can't keep giving minimum effort and expect my life to be satisfying decades from now.
The study of law is rigorous. At every school I visit, the professors and administrators talk about how I'll learn to "think like a lawyer." What they mean is the education will make me a better critical thinker, teach me to synthesize volumes of information quickly, and show me how to reason coherently.
The lawyer who promised me lunch described law school this way: It takes your brain out, reorganizes it and puts it back in. It gives you a how new way of looking at the world. That kind of education is good for me no matter what I choose to do.