Finding the Bigger Meaning

This is a post I wrote for a blog that Georgetown will be providing for admitted students.   I know it is a little skewed towards Georgetown school spirit but I think the message is important to consider regardless of where you currently go to law school or where you want to go.  Enjoy!

Long before I received my acceptance letter, I knew that Georgetown was where I wanted to be.  I was in love with the location, was amazed by the extensive resources available and was thrilled to get the opportunity to study with such distinguished faculty.  However, I did have one hesitation that made me a little nervous coming into my first weeks here.  For some reason, I assumed that a law school with as great a reputation and ranking as Georgetown‘s would attract a lot of future lawyers motivated primarily by the glamour of a high-power, high-paying legal career.  

Who wants to grow a fin on their back??? NOT ME!

I understand that when a lot of people think of a stereotypical lawyer, they think of someone who fits this profile: greedy, competitive, self-focused.  However, in my limited experience with the law, I’ve come to see how there are so many lawyers who are motivated by something much bigger than monetary gain or prestige.  There are lawyers who give up a high paying salary in order to help the homeless, displaced, children, immigrants, and many other marginalized groups in our society.  There are others who work in private practice and make a decent living, but if you ask them why they practice the law, they immediately light up and tell you that the law has given them a sense of purpose and passion in life.  These are the lawyers who inspired me to come to law school.  My concern coming into law school was that my incredibly smart fellow classmates, who have the ability to get the high-powered job, would be very focused on the attainment of a high salary rather than assessing whether this type of job fit their interests or utilized their unique skills to help better the lives of others.  About 2 days into law school, I realized that this fear had been so wrong. 

Georgetown students are incredibly committed to public service.  I couldn’t even begin to try and list the number of people I have met who already know they want to dedicate their lives to working in the public sector.  My lovely roommate for example wants to work as a child guardian to help represent children in abuse and neglect cases.  Appropriately so, not every student wants to practice in the public sector, but almost everyone seems to value the general importance of giving back to the community.  There are numerous community service opportunities available for any interest you may have, a program for 1Ls to do pro bono work where you get real legal experience, and events run by student organizations to raise money for charity.  

I know we look a little scary but I promise we want to help people

The administration also seems committed to helping us find careers where we feel excited about the practice areas we are in and feel fulfilled by the work we produce.  The Dean of Students runs a program called the search before the search where students are shown the importance of finding a job that incorporates their personal interests and values, over and above any interests about salary or prestige. If you are someone that is excited about finding a more high-powered job, that is totally ok!  But what I love about Georgetown is that they will encourage you, no matter what area of the law you want to practice in, to always self-reflect about why you are passionate about that area of the law.  If you can’t answer that question, you’re going to have a hard time feeling fulfilled and satisfied in your career.

Moral of the story, I am so thrilled to say that Georgetown students are caring and passionate people who are committed to helping others and dedicated to living their lives with purpose and meaning.  I know that being surrounded by people like this will help me to stay motivated to pursue my interests and keep the bigger picture in mind.  In an economy where job security and availability is inconsistent and just plain scary, I know keeping a good perspective will be more important than ever.         

Georgetown Law Alum (well fictional one anyway)!

Day in the Life

I stand like this all day- carefree and model-esque

So for the last several weeks I've been trying to plan out this post where I sort of give a day in the life of a law student snapshot.  The plan was one day I would just write down everything I did so that prospective law school people can see just what goes into our day to day life as law students.  But every day that I tried to do this something would always happen that just threw me way off track and wasn't the usual.  Like last weekend I had 2 different people on the same day say they were in town only for the evening and wanted to get together.  Or other days I will have a bigillion meetings that force me to stay up until 2:30 in the morning finishing my work but who wants to hear about that scariness (:  So moral of the story: Life is never normal in law school.  With meetings, friends, reading up to your eyeballs each day brings a new adventure.  It's fun but definitely stressful and keeps me on my toes.  Here is mock schedule of a "normal" day but like I said I haven't had one in quite some time now.

Typical Tuesday

7:45 Wake up after having hit the snooze button about 5 times

7:45-8 Check email, Read CNN, Read a blog or 2

8-8:20 Shower

8:20-8:55 Breakfast, Get Dressed, Hair/Makeup, Franctically grab all my books/finish up any last minute reading I didn't do

8:55-9 Walk to class (amazing benefit of living on campus)

9-11 Contracts (always accompaniged with some caffinated beverage)

Amen Sister...

11-12 Lunch, Email, Blog reading, Facebook

12-3:30 Read/Take Notes on my Torts Assignment (some people do this days in advance but I find that because my teacher is a scary cold-caller I prefer to have the readings fresh in my mind)

3:30-5:30 Torts

What I've learned from torts- just walk a step and expect to be sued...

5:30-6:30 mandatory 1 hour break after a class- email, facebook, sometimes a run if I'm adventurous

6:30-7 Dinner

7-8 Reading/Looking at Old notes from the week

8-9 Glee while doing work

9-1 Reading, Taking Notes, Preparing for the next day, Somewhere in there I'll usually talk on the phone with Kevin for a half hour to hour as well

<<<<<<SLEEP>>>>>>>

So that's a typical non-meeting, non-surprise visit, non-slacking Tuesday!  Everybody handles their time differently but as you can see from my schedule I'm work-intensive in the evening and like to give myself "me" time after classes.  I know lots of people who get up super early to work out, others who prefer to do their work all during "business hours", and a few who literally work 24/7... bottom line do what's right for you.  Don't try and change the wheel.  Hope this is helpful and as always please let me know if you would like to see any particular posts on here!  I've heard from a few of you that a law school app. advice post might be helpful so later this weekend I might do that. Thank you for all of the support as I make my way through this first semester!  Have a lovely weekend and remember- GO IRISH BEAT TROJANS!!!

                                               Miss this everyday







 

22 Ramblings Cont.

Hope everyone is having a great week!  

As promised, here is the second half of my "lessons, thoughts, changes, obsessions from over the past year" list!  

 12) Americans can really hold a grudge: Everyday I spend hours reading cases about the crazy things that happen to people- slipping on banana peels, getting hit with a golf club, getting scammed out of $....the list is endless.  While some of these cases are truly injustices that deserve a legal remedy, a lot of the time I just shake my head thinking that the world would be a much better place if people could just forgive and forget.  Granted I wouldn't have a job if this were to happen, but who likes lawyers anyway (;  For example, when your 5 year old nephew plays a prank and pulls the chair out from under you, can't we just give him a little slap on the wrist and call it day rather than take him to court for negligence?  Is that really necessary??

13) Thank you Iphone!  In January I got my very first smart phone (iphone) and literally cannot imagine my life without it ever again.  I know I know.... this is really sad, but having access to maps and the internet has literally saved me more times that I can count. 

So this is what I actually do on my iphone all day...

14) Youtube=Obsession .   What did people do in their free time before youtube because I honestly can't remember (:  I mean I clearly love it for accessing the viral funny videos but youtube has become so much more for me.  I regularly use it for catching up on the news/listening to music/watching documentaries/getting fashion and makeup suggestions... For the band dance last February I even hemmed a whole dress by watching a stitching tutorial!   It has absolutely changed the way I obtain and learn new information.  Here is a new silly favorite I have seen being passed around on facebook this week.  Should a little girl be singing this? NO  Do I still watch it? YES

15) I <3 D.C.- While I have always thought that I preferred smaller cities and suburbs to major cities like New York or LA but I have absolutely fallen in love with living in D.C.  There is so much to do here that you could probably live here for years  without doing half of them.  I definitely miss how at home and college I would walk down the street and recognize at least 1 friendly face, but I think living in a city has made me appreciate how I am just one tiny part of an extremely large and complex world.  There are billions of people each with a different story to tell and in city you have access to explore a bigger and more diverse cross section of that.

I  see this beauty every time  I step outside my apartment building- so cool!

16) Parents are cool people too.  I've always had a pretty good relationship with my parents but I think college and especially this past year have shown me that my parents can be great friends too.  While kids don't like to admit it, our parents went through a lot of the same things and felt a lot of the same feelings when they were our age, and having lived through that, they definitely have advice to give.  I am so grateful to my parents for their openness with me and am glad that I've gotten over the immature teenage phase of thinking my parents have no idea what their talking about (:  

With Mom & Dad on graduation day

17) People my age are getting married and having babies- and I'm kind of freaked out.  To those who fall into either of these 2 categories, I am so incredibly happy for you and partially jealous.  I especially admire you because it think it takes a lot of courage and maturity to take that step- I freak out simply because I don't think it is something I could handle just yet.

18) 2011 Shopping Obsession- Loft.  I do not want to even try and guess how much $ I have spent here this year.  

Love simple and elegant pieces like this!

19) I have connections!-  In my first adult years I've been so pleasantly surprised to realize that I KNOW people!  As I start thinking about my future career aspirations I'm realizing more and more that I have contacts and people that I can call to get referred to other places.  This is such an empowering realization- I'm not alone and there are people out there who would be willing to help me (I hope).  Yay!



20) We Can't Connect the Dots Forward- I should be honest that I just learned about this mantra yesterday as I was reading about the passing of Steve Jobs but I think it is epic enough for a blog mention.  In his commencement address to Stanford grads in 2005, Jobs pointed out that people frequently want to try and reason through the difficult and complex things that happen in their lives.   However, Jobs stresses, there is no way for us to understand the significance or meaning of things that are happening to us in the present.   We just have to realize that we can only connect the dots backwards- that we are not going to understand now how something will benefit or hurt us in the future.  Its not even funny how much his message is applicable to my life right now.

21) (Cue the Titanic Music) Your Heart Will Go On...  Over the last few years I've had some pretty big heart breaks.   I broke up with my first serious boyfriend who I had dated for several years and then a year later had to leave behind my home and friends back at Notre Dame.  In both cases I really felt like the best years of my life had ended and I was never going to find anything as special ever again.  But of course, as everyone told me, my life did not get worse and in fact has in so many ways only gotten better.  I love law school and living in D.C. and I have met a wonderful guy who makes me very happy.     

22) I feel very loved.  On my birthday this year I received so many kind messages, calls and cards.  I can't not express how much those gestures meant to me and feel so lucky to be connected with so many amazing and loving people.  Birthdays are definitely a special reminder of how God has blessed us with a network of loving and beautiful people.

I love waking up and seeing these cards- thank you to everyone for your kind messages!!!

And that's it!  If there is anything you would like to see me do a blog post about PLEASE let me know!!!   Cooking, apartment pictures, law school advice for those applying, favorite beauty/fashion products, politics... I love getting constructive feedback about the blog (:  Hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend!!!

22 Ramblings

 Yesterday the era of fun and exciting birthdays officially came to an end because... I turned 22.  Don't get me wrong- I had an absolutely wonderful day and feel incredibly grateful for the numerous blessings in my life.   However, after 21, birthdays just don't seem as exciting anymore!  So maybe I can't rent a car yet but at this point I am fully supporting myself financially, am able to legally vote, can drive whatever car my parents are brave enough to lend me and can drink whatever my little heart desires.  But as has become the theme of my previous blog posts, I thought maybe a post about things I have learned/discovered/experienced this year will teach me that with each year comes important changes and milestones.... Cheesy?  Yes... but it's my birthday and I'll write if I want to (:  WARNING- the order is so random and I go from one topic to another with no semblance of reasoning.   But I am going to divide this into 2 parts so its not so overwhelming....

1) Missing Notre Dame comes in waves- I love being a grown up but I would give anything to march on that field, sit on the quads, and be in a community with my best friends one more time.

One of my few freshmen year band pics- I miss this so much ):

2) Going to Church post-Notre Dame is not as easy as I thought it would be.  I consider myself to be a strong Catholic but when Church is not accessible to me on Sunday nights and does not appreciate pajama attire it takes a whole lot more willpower to go.  

3) After being a cat person my whole life, I'm falling in love with dogs and want a puppy so bad- specifically a chocolate lab.

Santa- Please???  Well maybe not this year but sometime soon...

 4) I have become obsessed with the blog College Prepster. This may produce an eyeroll from some of my friends but I love her style and taste and think she is such an incredible business woman and entrepreneur-and she's only a senior in college!  I just wish I had access to the funds she does to buy all those pretty things.  

Example of a College Prepster look- I think this is so polished and pretty!

5) I love reading blogs generally now too- particularly those written by my friends.  My favorite would definitely have to be my friend Katie's blog.  She is so talented and so insightful- a great read for young professionals.

6) Politically (in a whispered tone) I'm finding myself to be more and more conservatively-leaning.  I know this is a shocker- law student, Catholic, living in D.C..... I don't know why but this is just where my head has been recently.

7) I love to cook!!! I have actually been making more complicated things the past couple weeks- I find it to be so relaxing and love seeing the happy look on my friend's faces as they enjoy something a tad better than our typical lean cuisines.

My first Pecan Pie with no corn syrup- YUM!!!!

8) Paying for groceries is a gift and a curse- it has made me eat so much healthier and I love picking out new and interesting foods (Indian food=yum) but $100 dollars every 2 weeks kind of sucks..

9) I have a confession- I'M A PROCRASTINATOR.  While I have denied it my whole life, my law school habits have shown that I can't deny this identity any longer.  I work best under pressure.

10) As much as I thought I would give up my dream of helping schools and students after undergoing the pressure to be a corporate rich lawyer, I'm still finding myself to be very excited about this type of job.  I hope I can sustain this as long as my heart feels called to it!

11) Law is school is so HARD.  I know this is probably not a surprise to anyone but  I don't think you can ever really know this until you are in it.  The work load is manageable but the level of thinking we are expected to do or asked to do can either make so much sense or feel so over my head.  Prayers are appreciated (:

I seriously wish I could be as carefree and put together as her!!  Legally Blonde is actually not that far off from how law school actually works in my opinion...

Part 2 will come in the next couple of days... Have a wonderful weekend and GO IRISH BEAT BOILERS!!!