Never Say Never
Current position and employer: Law Office of Deidre M. Martin, Esq. LLC and the Van Dyk Group
Degree and Major: B.S. in Business and Economics
Affinity or Alliance: Lehigh Lawyers Association (LLA)
How did your Lehigh experience inform, help, or influence your life now?
Lehigh was a great experience for me. I learned to work hard on South Mountain, and it prepared me for life after Lehigh. Equally as important, I gained so many good friends while at Lehigh, and I still have those close friends. I always say that once at Lehigh, you have a Lehigh family for life!
What has been the most challenging thing you’ve faced since graduating (personal or professional)?
Law school. It was an adjustment for me, and it was grueling and exhausting at times.
What excites you right now?
The same thing that has excited me most of my life: I love learning and helping others. I wanted to be an attorney because I knew it would allow me to assist people in challenging times, and I would always be learning something new. Every file I handle as an attorney or agent is different.
What advice would you give current Lehigh students OR what’s the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Never say never, be open minded, adapt and choose a job — or in my case jobs — that you love. I said prior to attending law school that I would never practice real estate law — joke’s on me. In addition to practicing real estate law, I am also a real estate agent. I never saw myself as a real estate agent, but the opportunity arose for me to work with a top agent on LBI, and it just made sense to me. Not listening to people who told me I could not practice law and be a real estate agent at the same time was one of the best things I did — be open minded and adapt. Just because something is rare does not mean it is impossible. It is very important to do something you love. I never have the “Sunday scaries,” and I never sit by watching the minutes while working. Most times my job doesn’t even feel like a job. Most days I enjoy what I do both as an attorney and an agent.
I love this quote by David G. Allen that one of my clients sent to me: “Patience is the calm acceptance that things can happen in a different order than the one you have in mind.”
What keeps you connected to Lehigh?
The desire to give back as much as I can. I know I gained so much by going to Lehigh, so I help as I can in the hopes that others can gain as much as I did from Lehigh.