Not that she had any idea what that would entail, but growing up in Southland, she thought it seemed a good idea.
Determination was a hallmark - "probably obstinate"- Gallaway Cook Allan's newest partner quipped - from a young age.
And while she watched many friends and contemporaries struggle with what they wanted to do, both when they finished school and when they were at university, she always felt her own path was very clear.
Ms Riddle (30) practised law in Auckland and Queenstown before returning to Dunedin to join Gallaway Cook Allan's litigation and employment team.
The city had an "essence of community", something that was a major drawcard.
"You have to find joy in your daily grind. I think Dunedin is that place to find that joy.
I wake up, living in Company Bay, and see the sun touch the entire city and feel really happy to be here," she said.
Describing herself as a true Southern girl, Ms Riddle grew up in Riversdale and school was something that she took fairly seriously.
Her uncle was a gunner and warrant officer in the army for many years, which spurred an interest in completing her basic training when she left secondary school and joining the Territorial Force.
It was "great fun" - the 4th Otago Southland Battalion was "just fantastic" - and it offered so many opportunities.
Being a student could be quite insular and so it offered a more expansive view on life, and ways of thinking differently.
The "real grounding" she obtained and the leadership training was second to none, along with the friendships forged.
The only problem was that she tended to commit a lot of her energy to things and - when it came to a legal career and the army - something had to give.
So the army was not part of her life at the moment, something which made her a little sad, but she was focused on taking what she learnt and "paying it forward" in her role as a partner.
After graduating in 2010, Ms Riddle headed to Auckland to see if she could "make it in the big smoke".
It was a great experience, and the diversity of people she was exposed to was the most important part of it.
It also made her realise how privileged she had been to have an education, and have gone to university.
To be able to advocate for others was something that she felt very strongly about and was what drove her.
After a few years in Auckland, she moved to Queenstown for two and a-half years - "Queenstown was always the dream" - and it was a wonderful couple of years.
When the opportunity arose with Gallaway Cook Allan, she and her partner looked very carefully at Dunedin and the life they could build in the city.
And again, when she was asked to become a partner, she also had to look very carefully at what that meant to her - despite it appearing to be the next logical progression - and what sort of partner she wanted to be.
Joining Gallaway Cook Allan had been a great career choice. It was a very forward-thinking firm with great people.
Becoming a partner meant an opportunity to become part of a leadership team and her voice would hopefully have some influence and make "a bit of a difference".
"We need people with a desire to make the law a better place. That's the sort of people I work with here, that's incredibly exciting for me," she said.
So it was an opportunity to create a career that was both meaningful and rewarding but also balanced.
Since moving to the city, she and her partner had become keen mountain bikers and enjoyed exploring the city's environs.
"There's so much to do here, so much on offer. This is definitely where I'm supposed to be," she said.
Ms Riddle acknowledged she had moments - "as everyone does" - of doubt, wondering if she had taken the right path.
However, she had been able to find the answer to that, and she would not have ever wanted to stray for the law path.
It was an exciting career, with so much variation, but the key point - "as cliched as it sounds" - was the ability to help people.
In litigation, that involved helping people at some of the worst times of their life, or in their business, and that was a "huge privilege".
When it came to the skills required to do such a job, Ms Riddle said communication was a key component, along with a sense of empathy and also some life experience.
Being able to digest what somebody was saying and finding a way of giving them options to take their lives forward was quite a skill.
Becoming a lawyer meant becoming a jack-of-all-trades which, for her, meant knowledge from the heavy transport industry through to construction and insurance.
She did a lot of work concerned with employment and health and safety. Health and safety was a huge topic and there were still a lot of agricultural-related incidents.
It was about changing the way of thinking around health and safety and, while it was quite onerous in terms of regulations, everyone had to do their bit and take their place in that chain of responsibility and hopefully that would create some culture change.
