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When I was 20, living my dream as a student at the University of Notre Dame, one phone call changed everything. My parents —both of whom worked in the auto industry when it faltered in the early 1980s — called and told me they could no longer afford my tuition. I would have to drop out. It was devastating.
I had a decision to make — to return home to Flint, MI, and find a job so I could save money to go back to school or follow in my father’s and brother’s footsteps and enlist in the U.S. Army.
I chose the second, much scarier, option. And as it turned out, the military, for me, was the quintessential “road less travelled” that “made all the difference.” I spent almost two years active duty in the United States Army before I was awarded an ROTC scholarship and spent the next four years as a cadet at Georgetown University in Washington, DC.
I then served an additional three years as an officer in the Army Reserves at Fort Mead, MD, before resigning my commission so that I could go to law school. During that time in the military, I learned some important lessons that not only molded me as a human being but ultimately shaped my legal career.
First and foremost, the military taught me to “do the difficult thing” — even when, or maybe especially when, I believed I couldn’t. Rappelling down a 60-foot wall despite my fear of heights, crossing a ravine on a single rope bridge, spending a week in a tent with a stranger — these all would have been unimaginable before the Army. And yet, somehow, I did them.
Learning to set aside my fears and do the things I most dread has been particularly impactful in my legal career. When I first became a litigator, I, like many people, was petrified of public speaking, and wasn’t particularly comfortable with confrontation — both essential skills for a litigator. But after detonating a live grenade and crawling under barbed wire during live-fire exercises, somehow making a persuasive argument before a judge didn’t seem so scary. And as it turns out, I’m pretty comfortable with public speaking. And confrontation? It’s kind of my thing now.
The second lesson I learned is the importance of self-confidence. Although I was raised by a strong mother and an assertive and athletic dad with three boisterous brothers, when I joined the Army, I still had a lingering feeling that I was “just a woman.”
That feeling quickly dissipated once I enlisted. In the Army, I served side by side with male soldiers, walking the same miles they did, carrying the same packs and weapons, and performing the same jobs. This gave me the confidence, and the conviction, that has helped me as a commercial litigator.
My years in the military taught me that I can do anything I need to do, no matter how intimidating or challenging. A case in point: I recently was asked if I would move my practice to Sidley’s Singapore office and practice litigation and international arbitration in Asia. The answer was an immediate “yes.” Because while I had never been to Singapore and knew no one there, the confidence I had gained in the Army allowed me to see that not only would I adapt to the new circumstances in Asia, but that I would thrive.
Finally, and perhaps most profoundly, the military taught me about the power and reliability of friendship. My support system has been essential to my development — as a soldier, as a lawyer, and as a human being.
In the Army, when I first got to basic training, I struggled. I felt physically weaker than the 60 other women in my platoon. I was terribly homesick and had trouble making friends. Yet notwithstanding my own trepidation, the women in my platoon totally supported me, even in my worst moments. They befriended me, encouraged me when I failed, and celebrated me when I succeeded.
They didn’t just help me survive basic training; they made me enjoy it. I actually cried my eyes out at the end of eight weeks when we all had to go our separate ways. I ended up never seeing some of those women again. But their impact, and their support, has stuck with me through the years.
It has been no different as a lawyer. Most of my best work, my best jobs, my biggest pay raises, my biggest wins, my biggest laughs, and my best friends all come from the ranks of the lawyers I have had the privilege to know over these last 30 years. And they aren’t just there for the good times, they are there for the bad — when I got divorced, when I had my son three months prematurely, when my dad passed away, when my dog was euthanized.
Joining the military was a watershed moment in my life. To this day, whenever I apply for a job, meet a new client, or interview for a board position, invariably the first thing people ask me about is my military service. I can only hope my experience encourages others to take on challenges that push them beyond their comfort zones, just as the military did for me.
Dianne (Dee Dee) Fischer is a partner at Sidley Austin law firm.
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