Peter Park is a name that you probably should commit to memory because I think we will be hearing a lot about him in the years to come. He took the California Bar exam in July, became a law clerk for the D.A.’s office in August, was notified that he has passed the bar in November, and was sworn in as a practicing California lawyer on December 5, 2023 by Tulare County District Attorney Tim Ward in Visalia, California. Peter went to work on January 1, 2024 as a Deputy District Attorney.
Perhaps you wonder what makes this so remarkable. The state of California already has 196,300 practicing attorneys.1 What’s one more?
Did I neglect to tell you that Peter did this on his first attempt? This is only achieved by about half of those taking the bar exam. But what really sets Peter apart from everyone else is that he passed the bar at the age of 17. He had just turned 18 at the end of November when he was sworn in in December, making him the youngest to ever pass the bar.
“In 2019, he simultaneously enrolled in high school in Cypress, California, and a four-year Juris Doctor program at Northwestern California University School of Law, according to the Tulare County District Attorney’s Office…Park, who turned 18 [in November], graduated from high school in 2021 after taking the California High School Proficiency Exam, and from there, he continued his law school career and graduated in 2023, according to the release.”2
Ever since Peter was 13, this has been his aim and goal. He was willing to do what was necessary to get him to this point. I’m sure that throughout his high school years, there would have been many of the normal teenage distractions that could have derailed his plans. However, this young man had drive and ambition. His eyes were fixed on a goal, and he sacrificed to get there.
Often, I have preached that our culture has done more to damage those in their teen years than to help them. In Jewish culture, Peter would have been considered a man and given manly responsibilities. 1 Corinthians 13:11 says, “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a
man, I put away childish things.” Culture today, though, keeps teens very immature and absorbed with concepts of having fun and pursuing their goals and ambitions in life.
There’s nothing wrong with ambition and interest. However, “according to the National Center for Education Statistics, 80% of college students change their majors. Students switch out of an average of three majors during their college careers.”3 In other words, most high school ambitions don’t equate to lifelong pursuits.
It would seem that it would be far better to follow the admonition of Ecclesiastes 11:9-12:1. “Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. (10) Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity. (12:1) Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them.”
The greatest encouragement we can give a kid is to help them aspire to manhood and womanhood a lot earlier than the cultural standards dictate and to surrender fully to God’s design for their lives.
I celebrate Peter’s accomplishments and the drive that got him there when the ambition of many at that age is to play video games on the weekend. I hope Peter is a child of God and has pursued God’s desire for his life. We need good, Christian lawyers.
1https://www.cnn.com/2023/12/16/us/bar-exam-youngest-peter-park-trnd/index.html
2Ibid.
3https://collegeaftermath.com/college/how-many-times-do-college-students-change-their-major/
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