I was traveling with my teammates for the AAJ Trial Team National Championship. The competition spanned several days, so I brought three suits to wear. Unfortunately, the courtrooms we were competing in did not have air conditioning. I sweated through my black suit on the first day.

First suit, down.

I tried wearing my dark grey suit for the second day of the competition. On the way to the courthouse, my teammates and I were hurriedly crossing a street when I hopped up onto a curb. My tiny hop was enough to rip open the slit on my skirt, tearing it all the way up the back of the skirt. Thank God I was wearing a long overcoat.

Second suit, down.

One of my teammates brought me my third and final suit to wear so that I didn’t have to don a ripped skirt all day. Unfortunately, it barely fit me since I’d lost weight during the competition–the suit looked like it was three sizes too big for me. My teammates and I advanced to the final day of the competition, when the National Champion would be decided. And there I was without a single suit that fit me. I nearly had a nervous breakdown the night before the final competition. It made me wonder:

How did I get here? Why was it so hard to find suits I could afford as a broke law school student? What in the world was I supposed to do about the competition?

Thankfully, I was blessed with some incredibly supportive teammates. They were level-headed enough to help me figure out a plan and compassionate enough to understand why I was stressed over a matter that probably seemed trivial to some. One of my teammates helped me work the sweat stains out of my black suit–the only one I had that fit and wasn’t in tatters.

We went on to win the 2017 AAJ Trial Team National Championship.

And I decided to create this blog.