Erik Bjornson:  

Life Almost 20 years since Bellingham High School. Hard to believe. Bellingham High School (1985) I pledged never to take a book home in school and was granted a wopping 2.66 GPA from BHS. I guess I deserved it. I received 2 Ds. Not a good start. Western Washington University (1985-1987) The safe college in town. I imagine I barely got in with my grades. I had a great time and lived in Mathes Hall and then in Delta. Nice school but got a little small after 2 years. Yes, I did finally start taking books home and did well enough to transfer to UW. University of Washington (1987-1991) This place had 35,000 students, overwhelming at first. I don't know how I decided I was going into Mechanical Engineering, but I did. I graduated in 1991 and then moved to Visalia, California for my "dream job." Too bad it turned out to be a nightmare. My employer (Westinghouse) went bankrupt. Before 1992, I had never known an attorney, other than the father of a friend of mine who drank too much. Yet, in order to escape certain hell in a dust town of 3000 in California, I took the Law School Admission Exam. University of Puget Sound School of Law (1992 - 1995): Was I really in Law School? A small town kid with below average grades in High School competing against the pampered and privileged from around the country? Many of the applicants to law school had excelled in undergraduate school and had rarely received a B their entire life. I owned one old tie. It was tough to believe I was really in law school. I graduated in 1995, passed the Washington State Bar Exam of the first shot and was admitted to practice law in Washington State in November of 1995. This ended my living like a transient for 10 years. Could I stand, speak and argue for a living? Could I learn to wear a white shirt with no wrinkles and a tie? Italian Tassled loafers? First Legal Job: S...Expand for more