My kids came first. At 50, I finally went to law school.

Nancy Vinsel wanted to be a lawyer, but raising her kids came first.

Sean Vinsel Nancy Vinsel put off going to law school until after raising her children.

Vinsel passed the bar on her first try at 53 and landed her dream legal job at a state agency at 64.

She said she now tells people to consider the law as a second career.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Nancy Vinsel, a retired lawyer in Florida.

Business Insider has verified her identity and background.

This story has been edited for length and clarity.

I got married after my sophomore year of college, and my husband and I started having children early.

I left school when my first was born, and went back part-time after my second, but I stopped again because juggling school and two kids was too hard.

I didn't finish college until my youngest was in third grade.

I was 29.

I attended the University of Louisville and earned my undergraduate degree in history.

I'd always wanted to be a librarian or a lawyer.

I worked as a librarian and a book vendor while earning a master's degree in library science from the University of Kentucky.