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WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

Thomas Sip was 10 years old when he moved from Japan to America.

And so I learned English in middle school.

My parents separated soon after we moved.

And so I was raised by a single mom who doesn't speak a lot of English.

And, you know, it was difficult.

Like, learning a language in middle school is tough.

And I had an accent that I worked really hard to, you know, get rid of.

Thomas went on to college and earned his undergraduate degree in his home state at the University of Texas.

After that, law school.

For an immigrant kid like me who, you know, learned English in middle school, you know,

went to a great institution at University of Texas, like, you know,

but, you know, it's a public school, and suddenly Columbia law school is asking me to come,

and, you know, that they'll help fund my time there is, you know, is a hard offer to turn down.

Funding, though, didn't mean free, so Thomas took on large student loans.

But once he graduated, major law firms, which offer big salaries, they were very attractive to him, places like Scaden, Arp, Slate, Meagra, and Flom.

They're prestigious and they pay you, you know, a lot of money.

And, you know, I was raised by a single mom who I promised

when I was a kid, you know, that I, you know, be able to take care of her when I'm older. And so

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