Keeping my eyes on the prize!

In the midst of finals and all of the anxiety leading up to them, it’s hard to lose passion and motivation. In an attempt to keep my “eye on the prize”, I’ve decided to actively write down some of my personal and professional goals as a reminder of why I am doing this.

1 – Live in Manhattan Beach or Hermosa Beach in my 20’s. No farther than 2 blocks from the water.

2 – Live in New York City for a minimum of 6 months.

3 – Live in Europe for a minimum of a month (yay for study abroad, hopefully!)

4 – Pay for a vacation in full for my parents.

5 – Inspire someone to study the law.

6 – Help a stranger by using my knowledge of the law.

7 – Graduate law school!

8 – Pass the California bar.

9 – Be completely financially independent from my parents (I know this is lame at 22, but I’ve been a student since I was 4. Cut me a break.)

10 – Be completely, unapologetically in love with my day-to-day life.

Here’s to not only passing finals, but to excelling on them, and leaving nothing in the tank J

Education.

This post isn't completely law school related, but my day at law school kind of stimulated the thought process that lead to this post. Maybe it was my CivPro's references to "practice" today or maybe it was a conversation I had about summer internships that brought these thoughts. In any case, I got to thinking today.

I started thinking about all the times I mention law school to people and most of their reactions are "Well, at least you'll be making a lot of money someday." I've never really thought about it before, but what do they mean "at least you'll be making a lot of money someday?" Has our society really allowed the value of education to only be measured by the career you obtain after you finish?

This concept really started to bother me the more I thought about. Education is so powerful. I've heard my sister mention people at times ask her why she needs a Master's to be an actor. Why not?! I find it beautiful that someone is so passionate about a craft they want to study it at the highest possible level, without any certain dollar sign at the end. That's how we create experts and how people's true genius eventually can be exposed. There are many times I have thought I might not even want to be a lawyer. Should I quit? Should someone enter law school only with the hopes to one day be a lawyer? I don't think so. And I feel that way about any undergraduate, graduate or vocational program. I believe if someone is curious and excited to learn about anything, that should be enough. Education equips us to help our family, our friends and often times even strangers. Education can only empower you and give you strength in this world. When I finish law school, I am going to have the ability to be a much more productive world citizen because I am able to understand and navigate myself as well as others through the legal system. As it stands today, that is where any change eventually happens. To me, that's reason enough to go through law school.

People often fixate on the statistics of how much money a Bachelor's degree makes you in relation to just a high school degree, and similarly, the difference in income between a Bachelor's degree and a graduate or professional degree. If you can't give someone hard proof your degree will put you in a better place financially than where you stood before the degree, people question it. Why? I understand school costs money and these conversations are often brought up in the context of weighing the costs with the benefits... but, can benefits really only be measured by future incomes?

I sit in my classes everyday and am in awe at the subjects I am able to learn and the professors of whom I am privileged to learn from. I know I'm the minority, but I truly love school. I might not be able to, currently, show you a pay stub that monetarily proves to you that my BA was worth it, or that my JD will eventually be worth it, but I am positive that my education has completely altered and bettered my life. I can think of two classes in undergrad alone - Intercultural Communication and Gender & Communication - that have changed the way I treat people. Both classes opened up worlds I didn't even realized existed. I have said many times I wish every single human being could take these classes because I know the world would be a better place if people did. I can't tell you one job I could land from those classes alone, or one job that would pay me more for the education I received from those classes. However, I treat people better, I am kinder and I am more cultured because of those courses. That's enough for me.

I could never put a dollar sign on my education, which is why I choose to pay what I do to continue it. And even if employers never value my education the way I do, I know am blessed to have received the education I have, regardless of the income it produces one day. And for me, that is benefit enough.

The post-midterm roller coaster and the French Riviera.

I survived midterms.

In not wanting to broadcast my actual midterm grades publicly, I will say this: I cried, cried some more and then finally received some good news.

I finished in the middle for some, and more towards the top on others. I actually think it was God's work to give me the bad grades first, for a couple of reasons. You get grades that aren't totally what you hoped, and it can either disappoint you and drain you or just flat out motivate you. For me, it did all of the above. After a talk with an awesome mentor of mine, I realized getting mediocre grades for midterms is a lot better than for finals. And the awesome part about midterms: they're only worth around 10% of your grade. So, I am able to re-evalaute and move towards succeeding on finals. I did end up receiving a couple of encouraging grades that reassured me that I do in fact belong in school (well, still questionable) and I don't need to drop out (seriously, these are the thoughts that go through your head throughout law school).

And so, I keep chugging along. As of today, we have about 9 class meetings for each class left. NINE! Where in the world is the time going? Because I still feel like I know absolutely nothing and I have a few pretty important finals to conquer in about 5-6 short weeks. But I can do it.

How about some fun and exciting talk?! I attended a meeting for study abroad! Since I was unable to study abroad during undergrad, I have always said if I ever get the chance to in grad school that I would not pass it up. As long as I can financially make it happen, I am planning on studying in Nice, France for four weeks this upcoming summer! I figure if I'm going to be taking summer classes, might as well do it on the French Riviera. Still a lot that can happen in between, but I am going to do everything in my power to not let this opportunity pass me by as I let studying in Rome pass me by in college.

Would love to write more, but there is always homework to be done!

Lessons from law school that are nothing about law school.

Since my last post, I have begun really preparing for midterms, while simultaneously keeping up with my reading, assignments and writing for both the classes I do have midterms in and the classes I don’t. Law school.

Needless to say, I have had a lot to do in very little time. A few things have popped in my head throughout this week, so I thought my blog would be a good place to jot them down while they’re still fresh.

Law school teaches you about the law, obviously. Even in these first few months of school, though, I’m realizing the lessons span a lot farther than just the doctrines and the academic lessons. Law school has already taught me a lot about life. Here are the law school lessons I have learned that I can apply to life so far:

1.  Time is valuable. In law school, you don’t have time to finish everything. It’s not like undergrad or high school, where you have assignments and once you finish them you can relax and enjoy non-school things. No, there’s always something to be done, whether it be your actual assignments, reading cases, additional reading, help with a teaching assistant, attending an extra curricular meeting, meeting with a teacher, notecarding, did I mention reading? Anyway, you get it. You finish what you can in the 24 hours you're given. And you hope it’s enough. So law school has taught me how valuable even an extra 5 minutes are. How precious an hour is when it comes to sleep and how so very special two hours before bed can be when you have no assignments and you can work on your outline. Time is valuable.
2.  It’s not about what you do, but how well you do it. The time you spend studying is completely useless if it’s not done efficiently. The person who studies more doesn’t always study best. Planning is everything.  Strategy is everything. Focus is everything. As John Wooden once said: “Practice doesn’t make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.”
3. You can’t let any one thing consume you. My grandfather always says “everything is okay in moderation.” And that’s an essential thing to keep in mind in law school, and in life. No matter what the other students do, no matter what my professors or mentors say, it’s not okay to only do law school. I have to make time for myself and for my family. At the end of the day, my family is what matters, and the things I love keep me happy. The hour I spend running might actually help me in my study! Imagine that. Keep everything in moderation, even law school.
4. Celebrate the good moments. I turned in my first memo on Tuesday and holy crap -- did it feel good. That moment when you hit submit and know you really gave it your everything and it’s all over.. it’s wonderful. I took a second and just smiled for myself. I did it! I have finished my first legal memo and I did it. Did I get a good grade? I won’t know for a couple of weeks. But I celebrated in that moment regardless, because I put forth the effort and I finished it. You have to celebrate the good moments, because it’s okay to celebrate yourself in life... even in law school.
5. Make everything you do fun. I had a classmate turn around a couple days ago and tell me “I figured it out! You just have to convince yourself law school is fun.” And while it may not actually be that simple, he is kind of right. You have to find little ways to make it more enjoyable. That comes with being prepared, and being curious. Ask questions! I’ve found if I sit down in a coffee shop with a great cup of coffee, I enjoy studying more. So, I sit down in a coffee shop with a great cup of coffee and I study. Period. It doesn’t have to be painful.

I could probably think of a few more, but these are the ones that come to mind right now. If law school teaches me nothing else, it’s taught me a lot about life in just a few short months. Now, back to those midterms…

Better late than never.

So, I finally did it.

I made a blog. I kept telling myself I should do it, but being as I barely even have time to sleep some weeks, I never got around to it. I am not writing this because I feel like many people want to or will read it. I simply am creating this blog as an outlet for myself during this difficult, yet rewarding part of my life. I also have a harder time keeping up with my family members and close friends now that school is in session, and I know they enjoy hearing about my life in law school. So, here it is. My cliche law school blog.

I am in my (I believe) seventh week of my 1L. The whirlwind of emotions I have already experienced was anticipated, yet still something I could have never fully prepared for. Somedays I am tired and somedays I cannot contain my energy. There are times I want to quit and times I can't imagine myself anywhere else but in law school. 

Today, after reading Iqbal v. Ashcroft, a civil rights case, it kind of hit me as to why I am here. 

My journey to law school wasn't like some of my classmates. Although I did dream of being a Supreme Court judge in 7th grade, that dream quickly disappeared, and law school was not something I planned for. My sophomore year in college, I met the corporate attorney my dad was working with at the time, and for whatever reason, there it happened. I decided I was going to go to law school. My ultimate dream was to become a sports agent at some point, but even just six weeks into school, I am realizing there are so many things I could do with a JD. Back to Iqbal, though. In this case, the attorney of the plaintiff kind of dropped the ball. He screwed up before the plaintiff even made it to court, because of a mistake in the pleading stages (I won't bore you with Civil Procedure for those who are not in the profession of law). It hit me then what an enormous task it was to be a lawyer. 

Many people see lawyers as scumbags only looking for a dollar. I often hear the saying "talk is cheap, until you speak with your attorney." And I get it. There are a lot of reasons to dislike lawyers. However, there are so many reasons to be thankful for them. As a lawyer, I will have the opportunity to defend people who cannot defend themselves, to argue for people who cannot argue for themselves and to advocate for many causes. It hit me today after reading this case what a privilege that is. 

I won't write in full detail today how hard this journey has already been, or how many times I second guess why I was even accepted into law school. Today was not one of the days I thought about either of the things I just mentioned. Today I realized how lucky I am to be in law school, and how many lives I am going to help and change when I become an attorney. It's going to be my personal mission to stay committed to that purpose after I pass the bar, and to make it my goal to never lose sight of that.