Premi er Law
captain’s log
June 2020
To My Dad, the Trailblazer
and determination. He made himself into someone who contributes so much to his community and the clients we serve. It’s nothing short of incredible. I have so much respect for people like my dad and Patrick who were able to get themselves out of hardship and into lives of success. As a father myself, I think about how my kids will turn out. I wonder if I’m instilling the value of hard work in them. How do I impart drive and motivation? Or help them realize that nothing is free? Like me, they don’t know what it’s like to struggle and to work from the bottom up. They don’t know hardship. I hope I’m doing my best, and I hope my kids can look back when they’re older and use the lessons I taught them. There’s a strong parallel between Captain James T. Kirk and his own father, George Kirk. In the original “Star Trek” series, we never met George Kirk, but we learned a little about him. (As an audience, we wouldn’t officially meet George Kirk until the 2009 reboot “alternate reality” movie, in which George Kirk was played by Chris Hemsworth and James T. Kirk was played by Chris Pine.) George Kirk, like James, was a Starfleet officer. In many ways, he paved the way for his son, who was a farm boy from Iowa. George Kirk made connections and established himself as a great officer. Then, when James applied for Starfleet Academy, he was met with no resistance. Eventually, Captain James T. Kirk would go on to do many great things, but if his father hadn’t blazed those trails before his son, who knows what might have happened? So, thank you, George Kirk, and thank you to all the dads out there who worked hard to blaze those trails and make life that much easier for their children and everyone who follows in their footsteps.
My dad was from a small town in Oregon. He grew up very poor, and as a result, he worked hard to get himself out of that small town and into a better life. Throughout high school, he did everything to make that happen. Thanks to his hard work, he was able to get into the University of Washington. At age 17, he moved to Seattle. He didn’t know a single person, but it didn’t matter. He was ready for a new life. He got his undergraduate degree and continued on to medical school at the University of Washington to become a surgeon. His hard work and vision paid off. He was successful and created the life he had dreamed of when he was young. As we celebrate Father’s Day in June, I think about my own path and growing up with my dad, the doctor. I think about everything he did so I could have the life I knew growing up. I was fortunate to have just about every advantage you could ask for. I was able to go to a good school, pay for college, and make my way to law school. Thanks to the hard work of my dad, my path to where I am today was fairly easy compared to what he had to go through. He was pulling himself up by his bootstraps, as they say. I didn’t have to do that. I worked hard, but so much fell into place for me. I basically had to tread water in the shallow end while he fought the waves along the coast. I’m super grateful to my dad and everything he went through to give himself the things he didn’t have growing up — and to make sure the next generation lived a better life. On the other hand, my law partner, Patrick, experienced circumstances similar to my father’s. He was a first-generation immigrant with no advantages. He put himself through his undergraduate schooling and then law school. He is the definition of hard work
-Jason Epste in
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