After printing out eight copies of my fifty page comment on No Child Left Behind (seven for my editors, one for my advisor), timestamping and submitting those copies, and doing a little victory dance, I am done.
The reading for class can wait until tomorrow, Alex is arriving on Monday, and next week will be full of bbqs and birthday parties. So now I am off to take advantage of my one free night to do nothing except relax.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Hanging Up on Long Distance
Next week, Alex and I will be going from a long-distance relationship to a same-district relationship. Yup, Alex accepted a job at George Washington University and will be living on their campus starting on Monday.
Even though I know that we will both busy, I am still ecstatic. Syracuse is only an hour plane ride away, but traveling time adds up and so does plane prices. No more spending $200 on a roundtrip ticket planned months in advance, only to arrive in Syracuse's biggest snowstorm in years. Now I can take a 20 minute metro ride over to Foggy Bottom.
Although I will miss Dinosaur BBQ, the one and only Syracuse landmark, I cannot wait to watch UCLA games together, hang out after a long week of classes, and explore the rest of DC.
Even though I know that we will both busy, I am still ecstatic. Syracuse is only an hour plane ride away, but traveling time adds up and so does plane prices. No more spending $200 on a roundtrip ticket planned months in advance, only to arrive in Syracuse's biggest snowstorm in years. Now I can take a 20 minute metro ride over to Foggy Bottom.
Although I will miss Dinosaur BBQ, the one and only Syracuse landmark, I cannot wait to watch UCLA games together, hang out after a long week of classes, and explore the rest of DC.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Orientation
I have discovered that working at orientation can be, well, disorienting. Despite the fact that I am on campus sitting on panels and dispensing advice to 1L students about how to prepare for classes, it did not hit me until yesterday that I am also starting my own classes on Monday.
I can also probably attribute my disorientation to 1) the fact that I have been on campus all summer long for my externship class and to write my comment, so it does not feel like I am coming back to school because I never left, and 2) after your first year of high school, college, or law school, we are a lot more laid back about starting classes because we know what to expect (remember how our first year of college we would order books months in advance, and by fourth year, we were buying them weeks into the quarter?)
Tomorrow I am hopefully finishing my comment and some job stuff, and then taking the rest of the weekend off. Being the orienter can be just as exhausting as being the orientee. But I think we are more happy exhausted than confused-afraid exahusted like the first years.
I can also probably attribute my disorientation to 1) the fact that I have been on campus all summer long for my externship class and to write my comment, so it does not feel like I am coming back to school because I never left, and 2) after your first year of high school, college, or law school, we are a lot more laid back about starting classes because we know what to expect (remember how our first year of college we would order books months in advance, and by fourth year, we were buying them weeks into the quarter?)
Tomorrow I am hopefully finishing my comment and some job stuff, and then taking the rest of the weekend off. Being the orienter can be just as exhausting as being the orientee. But I think we are more happy exhausted than confused-afraid exahusted like the first years.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Vostro!
The upside of having your laptop die is getting a new one. Meet Vostro, my new laptop. Vostro is actually a new line of durable and easy to use Dell computers marketed for small businesses. Since I work and travel probably as much as many business people, my uncle thought this laptop would be a good fit for me.Though setting up everything again has been laborious, I enjoy getting a fresh start. I love purging things I do not need anymore and reorganizing things; it's very therapeutic.
I think one of the reasons why I always looked forward to starting a new school year is that everything is a fresh start. This year I have a new apartment, laptop, classmates (we have been released from our sections), activities, and more.
It is going to be very strange for me when I graduate and the beginning of the year is no longer in August/September/October (UCLA starts very late), but rather January. Where almost everything stays the same except for the year number and resolutions. I shall enjoy my second to last of school beginnings, or I could just become a professor.
So It Begins
Tonight at my meeting, I received a fortune cookie that said, "You are a bundle of energy, always on the go." Then when I got home, I read my magazine horoscope that said, "With a plate this full, most would feel maxed out, but you're in heaven."
Well they hit the nail on the head. I am back in DC a week before classes start because I have a lot to do. My inbox's activity has grown exponentially in the past few days, with emails for class from professors and for the activities that I am in. I will be on campus almost everyday this week for orientation stuff and to finish my comment. Oh, and I need to finish job stuff.
Even though I read horoscopes for fun, the advice that the magazine gave underneath the horoscope was a good reminder, "Don't get caught up in a self-made tornado! Schedule downtime, or even you will burn out."
As I tell incoming 1L students to balance school and life, to take breaks, and to take care of themselves, I have to remember to do that as well for my second year. So I started today. After I got home from my meeting and waited for my computer to transfer over materials, I went to the gym. My new gym has individual tvs on each machine, which is amazing. Watching Top Model makes an hour on the elliptical machine go by so much faster.
They say that during 2L year, they work you to death. Here's to not just surviving, but enjoying my second year.
Well they hit the nail on the head. I am back in DC a week before classes start because I have a lot to do. My inbox's activity has grown exponentially in the past few days, with emails for class from professors and for the activities that I am in. I will be on campus almost everyday this week for orientation stuff and to finish my comment. Oh, and I need to finish job stuff.
Even though I read horoscopes for fun, the advice that the magazine gave underneath the horoscope was a good reminder, "Don't get caught up in a self-made tornado! Schedule downtime, or even you will burn out."
As I tell incoming 1L students to balance school and life, to take breaks, and to take care of themselves, I have to remember to do that as well for my second year. So I started today. After I got home from my meeting and waited for my computer to transfer over materials, I went to the gym. My new gym has individual tvs on each machine, which is amazing. Watching Top Model makes an hour on the elliptical machine go by so much faster.
They say that during 2L year, they work you to death. Here's to not just surviving, but enjoying my second year.
Monday, August 13, 2007
State of Affairs
Since I have been back to California, I have heard of many extra-marital affairs in my town. Coincidentally, the topic came up again as I watched episodes about cheating on Sex & the City and Top Model. The more I know this place, the more it really does seem like two other shows: Desperate Housewives (a show that wanted to film on our street) and The OC. Some of the stories are even crazier than television plots.
For someone who usually tries to understand things and tries to think logically, extra-marital affairs boggle my mind. I know that I am not one to pass judgment on anything but it is difficult, especially now that I know people who are hurt in the situations: wives, husbands, their children, etc. I will probably never understand why people do it, but all the situations just seem selfish on the part of the person having the affair because of the potential of hurting so many people.
Affairs, of course, are not limited to us hippie and heathens California. For one thing, Santa Clarita is conservative and religious. And tonight, I am flying back to Washington, DC. A place with politicians that demonstrate that cheating cuts across the country and across the entire political spectrum. So much for the sanctity of marriage.
For someone who usually tries to understand things and tries to think logically, extra-marital affairs boggle my mind. I know that I am not one to pass judgment on anything but it is difficult, especially now that I know people who are hurt in the situations: wives, husbands, their children, etc. I will probably never understand why people do it, but all the situations just seem selfish on the part of the person having the affair because of the potential of hurting so many people.
Affairs, of course, are not limited to us hippie and heathens California. For one thing, Santa Clarita is conservative and religious. And tonight, I am flying back to Washington, DC. A place with politicians that demonstrate that cheating cuts across the country and across the entire political spectrum. So much for the sanctity of marriage.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
I'll Be Back
No one believes that I am coming back to California after I graduate law school, at least not right after graduation. They all assume that I have fallen in love with DC, that my personality fits in more with the East Coast, or that I will go get a job in the government. Although I do love DC, my personity does fit better on the East Coast, and I would love a job with the government, I swear I am returning.
In fact, I just bought my plane tickets to come back next month for my school's West Coast Interview Program. I do not find out for a few weeks yet if the employers have accepted my bids and want to interview me, but tickets are very inexpensive right now. At worst, I do not get interviews, I pay a $100 cancellation fee, use the ticket for Thanksgiving, and cry because no one wants to hire me.
This plane ticket home is symbolic of my "exit plan" out of DC. I am only applying for jobs in California for next summer, which in turn, will hopefully turn in will lead to an offer after graduation or connections to other California firms. Just like most other things I do in life, everything is part of thought out plan.
So even though I am flying back to tomorrow, cross your fingers that I get interviews and come back next month. Really, how could I leave California permanantly? When I return after graduation, I can still have a whole good year left with the Governator who inspired the title of today's entry.
In fact, I just bought my plane tickets to come back next month for my school's West Coast Interview Program. I do not find out for a few weeks yet if the employers have accepted my bids and want to interview me, but tickets are very inexpensive right now. At worst, I do not get interviews, I pay a $100 cancellation fee, use the ticket for Thanksgiving, and cry because no one wants to hire me.
This plane ticket home is symbolic of my "exit plan" out of DC. I am only applying for jobs in California for next summer, which in turn, will hopefully turn in will lead to an offer after graduation or connections to other California firms. Just like most other things I do in life, everything is part of thought out plan.
So even though I am flying back to tomorrow, cross your fingers that I get interviews and come back next month. Really, how could I leave California permanantly? When I return after graduation, I can still have a whole good year left with the Governator who inspired the title of today's entry.
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