Don’t look for cliche responses from Valerie Bridges on why she’s pursuing a law degree after graduating from Wayland Baptist University just two months ago. She doesn’t enjoy arguing and doesn’t plan on chasing ambulances.
Instead, the Meadow native sees law school as a continuation of the challenges she’s enjoyed since deciding to go back to college five years ago at age 27. And the law career is another challenge to which she looks forward, as well as a vehicle for serving the community and truly making a difference in people’s lives.
“ 
I see the duties of an attorney to be less about arguing and more about serving the needs of a client, which could be helping them to interpret a contract or guide them through estate planning, neither of which includes ‘arguing,’” she said.
The field of law was not Bridges’ first choice when she finally made the move to pursue her undergraduate degree. She’d attended one semester at a junior college just out of high school but quit when she soon married husband Toby, had their first child a year later, and moved to Plainview for Toby’s job. While school was always a desire, it wasn’t until the family was financially more secure that she decided the time was right to enroll in college.
Since the family was settled in Plainview, Wayland was a convenient location for her education, and Toby was more than supportive, both in his encouragement and in providing for the family while Valerie pursued her education without having to work full-time. She enrolled in six hours in 2003, then began taking full loads the next semester.
Her studies were interrupted for a short time when son No. 2, Colt, who is nearly four, came along in 2005. But she returned in 2006 to finish the degree. That’s when she settled on a major in justice administration with the goal of pursuing law school afterward at Texas Tech University.
“When I first started (the degree), I wasn’t sure what I wanted to major in or do; I just knew I wanted an education,” she said. “When I came back, I was talking to a family member about what I wanted to do, and I knew I wanted something that would challenge me. She suggested being a doctor but I knew I didn’t like needles. Then she suggested law school, and my first thought was that I wasn’t smart enough.”
Still, the more Bridges thought about a law career, the more the idea began to appeal to her. Some of her own experiences as a child helped draw her to that path and have shaped what she expects to accomplish as an attorney.
“My parents divorced when I was six. My mom had custody of us but wasn't financially able to care for us, so we moved in with grandparents,” she recalled. “I remember my mom saying so many times that if only she would have been able to afford a better lawyer, or if her lawyer had worked harder for her, then maybe things would have been better.”
That memory inspires Bridges to want to continue juggling home, family, church and school for a few more years as she pursues the law degree. At age 32, she might feel apprehensive at the work load in law school – she’s already heard the horror stories about assignments and courses designed to “weed out” the class – but after getting over the hurdles of the undergraduate degree, she is more confident.
Her confidence is also thanks in part to her professors, especially those in the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences who have encouraged her along the way.
“All of them have been so encouraging and supportive, and they’ve made a huge difference. They set Wayland apart from other schools just because they are so approachable and helpful,” she said, noting that Dr. Denton Lankford, a relatively new professor, even helped her review her law school application essay though she never had a class with him. “The professors here are on your level with you and don’t act too high for you.”
Instead of struggling as she feared, Bridges did well at Wayland, completing her degree with a perfect 4.0 grade point average and earning the honor of Highest Ranking Senior in her December graduating class. She credits good teachers with helping make the experience so enjoyable.
“The classes were interesting, and for me, that makes it not as hard. I was focused and determined that I was going to do what I had to do to get the degree,” she said. “Some classes were harder and took more work and study, but that made it more challenging and fun.”
One set of classes in particular have had an even greater impact on Bridges, though she dreaded them at first. Religion classes required of all students at Wayland – Old and New Testament History – daunted Bridges since she said, “I hadn’t been to church in years.”
But her experience in Kim Pond’s classes did more than earn her college credit.
“Taking the religion classes here really propelled me with the desire to seek out God and find a good church to continue to learn what I started learning here,” she said. Today, the Bridges family is active at First Assembly of God, where Valerie helps in the children’s department and is planning to go on her first mission trip this summer, a journey to Africa with the church’s youth group.
At this point, Bridges is not sure exactly which area of law she will work, with interests in criminal justice as well as family law. No matter which path she takes, she knows she wants to make a difference and serve God through her profession.
“I find myself to be passionate about people. When a woman comes into my office because her husband is leaving her, I want to represent her to such an extent that she will never have to say, ‘If only I had a better attorney.’ I want to know that not only have I served her, but also her children,” she said.
As for what she will accomplish as an attorney, Bridges’ response is equally open.
“No response can compare to what God has in store,” she said. “His plans are bigger than my plans.”
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