Jeremy Cooney quickly realized that corporate law wasn't for him and he's now working for the YMCA

Courtesy of Jeremy Cooney

While he never intended to go into the high-stakes world of corporate law, Cooney says that once in law school, he was captured by the "dog and pony show."

"You get really excited about the opportunities and the money and the glamour of high-profile law firms," says Cooney, a 2010 graduate of Albany Law School. "I got caught up in that and found myself in the traditional legal setting."

Less than a year after starting as a law firm associate representing mostly corporate and institutional clients, Cooney quit his job, hoping to reenter the nonprofit world where he had worked for several years before starting law school.

"I realized how miserable I was when I was making a good deal of money in this law firm. I realized I would have paid money not to have that job," he says. "I missed the fact that I never had time to go on dates or see my family. Those were more important values to me."

Several months later, he was hired as the vice president of Development for the Greater Rochester chapter of the YMCA, which he says has been a much better fit.



"I might be working just as long as [I did as] a lawyer, but at the end of the day I know I’m raising money so children and families can use the services of the Y," he says. "It makes me feel like I have a purpose."

While Cooney is not working in a traditional legal job, he says he uses skills he learned in law school nearly every day, whether it's being able to interpret gifts left to the YMCA in wills and trusts or being able to think quickly and analytically.

Cooney encourages recent legal graduates who feel overwhelmed by student loan debt or lack of job prospects to stay positive.

"Trust me, I’m paying my loans back just as much as everyone else is. But an education loan is never a bad thing. It's the best investment you can do for yourself as a young person," he says. "I haven’t always been this positive. That was less than a year ago, and now I’m okay. Stay in the game and be positive and you will land on your feet."