Law Schools

Harvard Law Grad Who Took Final Exam While In Labor On Life As A Mother

Keep going. You can do it. She did.

By Staci Zaretsky on November 05, 2018 3:15 pm

Briana Williams (Photo via Twitter)

I asked for an epidural so I could hurry and finish an exam before the baby came. I do not know what made me feel most empty — the fact that I had no one by my side to celebrate my daughter’s arrival, or that I was already confronted with the tension of balancing two of my most important identities: mother and attorney. …

I got to the point where I was so mentally and physically exhausted. I would just break down crying. I have my baby in one arm while she’s breastfeeding, I’m trying to type a paper with the other hand and she’s waking up every two hours. Sometimes I’d be at work literally laying my head down trying to go to sleep. Because I have no help with childcare, I am bringing her to meetings, bringing her to class.

I cannot count how many times a day I tell myself, “keep going.”

— Briana Williams, a 2018 graduate of Harvard Law, reflecting on the emotions she felt during the time leading up to her daughter’s birth in an essay written for Good Morning America. She later explains why she never gave up, despite all of the adversity she faced as a single mother at one of the most prestigious law schools in the country. Watch below as she takes her final while in labor.

https://twitter.com/BrianaESQ/status/1003696779978665984

Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter or connect with her on LinkedIn.