The two people who made my law degree possible...

... are the two guys I used to work for; John Tu and David Sun.

And I'll bet you thought I was going to say that my parents were the ones who made it possible. To be sure, my parents played a big role in this new career choice, both before I decided to risk everything and go to law school, and then throughout the whole process. Especially my mother who, when I was a kid, always told me that I could do anything I wanted to in life. I still remember being in the kitchen in the house in which I grew up, hearing her tell me that I could do anything in life that I set my mind to. Of course, being a kid, I probably gave no sign that I even heard what she was saying. but those words stuck with me and still provide motivation to this day. Thanks Mom. You've played a big part in this. But keeping in mind that I've yet to pass the Bar Exam, the "this" that I refer to is still a work in progress.

But back to the two guys who made it all possible. Take a minute to read this old article and I'll provide a few details... In Latest Bonus, Firm Helps Workers Become Own Bosses

It's not very long but, in case you don't want to read the whole thing, the pertinent part reads thusly... "Sun and Tu attracted attention worldwide four years ago, when their unorthodox and benevolent way of doing business made their employees the envy of workers everywhere. After selling 80% of their company to Japanese conglomerate Softbank Corp. for $1.5 billion in cash and stock, the pair set aside $100 million to share with Kingston's then-employees, numbering roughly 450 at the time."

That article was written three years after the initial event, and the only startup they funded that had any success was the film making venture (but can three "B" movies really be called "success"?)

I had been working for them for about three years when the whole thing went down. The initial bonus paid off all of my bills, made a down payment on my house, and left me about $15k to spruce the place up a bit. The subsequent bonuses (they only distributed $33 mil on the first go round) were put to similarly good use.

When I left the company to focus on school, they gave me a year's salary, paid for 6-month's tuition, and let me keep the laptop computer that I had borrowed from the IT department to use for school.

They always told us that we should use the money we get from them to make a better life for ourselves. I'm trying real hard to make it so. And I'm a very lucky person to have worked for those guys for 11 years.

Thanks, John and David.