Murphy's Law Exam

Murphy's Law: If anything can go wrong, it will.

Today was my last exam of the semester, and I was glad that it was a 9:00 am test because I was ready to get it over with. Little did I know that everything that could go wrong this morning, did.

I was planning on catching the 7:40am bus so that I could set-up my stuff and review my notes one last time. Somehow I miscalculated the time and left the apartment at 7:40 instead of getting to the bus stop then. I missed the bus, but was was fine because another one would in less than 20 minutes, except . . .

There was a crazy woman sitting under the bus stop who lit a cigarette, started coughing up a lung, and hocked several loogies. (note: this would have been the perfect image for a no smoking ad) As I was slowly moving away to avoid the second-hand smoke in my face and the grossness of the coughing and spitting, a girl asked me about a bus line. Crazy woman thought we were talking about her so she started yelling at us about how we wouldn't catch her disases, how the mafia is going to come after us, and all of these other things for a good five minutes. Then she threw her burnt out cigarette in her direction. In my head all I could think about was: please just let me get to school to take my test.

The bus finally came and there seemed to be more traffic than usual. Then our bus made a strange turn and started going down a new road. Um, where are we going, please just let me get to school to take my test. Turns out that all of the traffic lights at the six-way intersection en route to school had died, hence the traffic, hence the rerouted bus. At this point, I wondered if it would have been better to take the metro but it turns out that there was a fire inside the next metro station, which delayed all the lines this morning. Basically a mass transit meltdown.

I finally got to school, and was relieved to get a seat in my lucky room. Despite some people having computer issues with the testing software, we started the exam without a problem. And then, 20 minutes into the test, the FIRE ALARM WENT OFF. Just let me take my test! We all sat there looking at each other. Do we stay or do we go. Between the flashing strobe lights, piercing alarm sounds, and intercom saying evacuate, we just decided to leave because none of us could focus anyway. Funnily, no one in the second testing room even budged. After we all grabbed our jackets and started heading out, security came in to tell us that it was a false alarm.

In the end, the test was fine, I am so glad to be done with exams, and now I have a story I can laugh at. Plus, it could have been worse; I could have been taking the bar exam and there could have been an earthquake.

Finals Winners & Losers

On my last day of studying before my final final, here are my winners and losers of this semester:

Winners:

• Bus drivers who go out of their way to make sure that all the passengers know to get onto the bus even when the sign is broken.
  
• Friends who bring gingerbread cupcakes, an instant cure to a long day of studying, to the journal office.
• A boyfriend who deals with you when you are acting crazy.
  
• Hometown girl Carla on Top Chef (Hootie Hoo) and Homestate boy Fabio ("Colicchio is for me, is like, if you're a priest and there is the pope in the room") for bringing positive attitudes. Yes, I am claiming DC and CA as mine.
• Fishbowl crew for making finals as entertaining as it could be.
  

Losers:

• Cars that speed down residential areas during downpour, thus splashing eco-conscious pedestrians on the sidewalk waiting for public transportation.
• Self-righteous law students who belittle people who take "easier" professors. Hey, you knew what you were getting into. (note: no one said this directly to me, it was just annoying to listen to)
• Yoda, Dilbert, Tass, Rocky (the names of our law school printers who decided to go on strike against us during finals)
• Opposing counsel who decides that things must be done right now, even though he was the one who ignored us for 3 weeks.
  

One Down . . .

One final to go. One more day of studying until one more semester of law school. Then one more test after that (just the Bar).

Instead of studying for my Evidence final this morning, I read all about the Illinois Governor Corruption Scandal. The whole situation seems so unremarkable, you would not believe it if it came out of a movie or even post-1920s. Trying to sell off the Presdient-Elect's Senate seat, attempting to extort the Chicago Tribune, soliciting millions of dollars from businesses, and more.

All this from a guy who thought he had a chance of President in 2016 even though he has 14% approval ratings, and from a guy ran on reform after the former governor, George Ryan, was indicted on corruption. So bad and delusional. He's like William Jefferson, Ted Stevens, and Larry Craig all put together.

I love following the play-by-play news stories, the interactive graphs tracing the wrongdoing, and the legal analysis of what happens to Obama's seat.

I always get so easily immersed in stories of government corruption, crime and punishment, deceit, etc. Maybe it was reading too may Agatha Christie novels as a kid or watching too much Law & Order. If you're the same, I highly recommend the LA Times' mini-series on an Aryan Brotherhood Leader and his lawyer-wife. Fascinating story in a 3-part installment (still waiting on the last).

Final Rituals

When I was a kid, I played a softball and soccer and was not very good at either. But my real competitive side came out when I did 4-H speech competitions and speech contests at school. That was like my sport and before each competition, I had my ritual: drink water and eat wintergreen altoids. Good luck and good breath.

Nowadays, law school final exams are like game days. And while I have my pack of wintergreen altoids still in my bag, I have added a list of rituals before every exam. Here are just some:

• I have at least one bottle of Vitawater on my desk-- the only time of the year I buy those things.
• Get my brain blessed at church the weekend before finals commence.
  
• For afternoon finals, I have to eat a Wagshals West Coaster Sandwich for lunch.
  
• When testing on the first floor, I have to be in Room 101, not 100.
• I must listen to my ipod before the exam starts.

I am extremely superstitious, and am afraid that if I alter from what I do on good test days, things will go very wrong. It sounds silly but Michael Jordan always wore his North Carolina Tar Heels shorts under his Chicago Bulls uniform for good luck, Winston Churchill petted black cats for good luck, and Barack Obama played basketball for basketball on election days for good luck. People do what they have to do. I am just hoping there is no one in my exam tomorrow that is like James Carville, who wore lucky underwear for days at a time.

Asian Political Invasion

Well my dream of being the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress died today as Ahn "Joseph" Cao upset 9-term Congressman William Jefferson. For those of you who do not remember, Jefferson is the Louisiana Congressman who faces charges of money laundering, racketeering, and bribery, and is the person who had $90,000 of cash in his freezer.

Even though Cao is Republican and is firmly anti-choice, I would much rather have a man who, from what I have read, seems to be an honest and dedicated servant than a corrupt politician. (See, I'm not that partisan, nor am I a one-issue voter.) New Orleans, especially, deserves better.

Like my parents, Cao is a refugee who came over during the war. He was going to be a priest but decided to use his legal services to help immigrants. I was impressed that he worked as a lawyer and was a board member for Boat People SOS, an advocacy group for refugees that is very respected. He is also a community organizer, who fought a landfill in the community after Hurricane Katrina. What did Sarah Palin say about community organizers having no responsibilities?

Something that Cao said that really hit home with me was when he explained, "When I [was] 9 years old, I received a letter from my father while he was in the re-education camp . . . He told me to study hard, to work hard and to give back to your country and to your community. So I hope to do that in Congress."

Today, Barack Obama also appointed General Eric Shinseki as secretary of Veteran's Affairs, which will make him the third Asian-American to serve in a cabinet position. General Shinseki is best known for testifying infront of the Senate Armed Services Committee and challenging Pentagon officials by saying that more troops were needed in the original Iraq invasion.

My favorite part of his biography was his speech he gave when the US Army Museum opened a gallary in his honor: "I asked my Grandma Shinseki what I should say before I came here," he said at the time. "She told me, 'tell them you come from a good family . . . and tell them you're a good American soldier.' " Totally something an Asian grandma would say.

Seeing as how Asian-Americans are one of the most underrepresented groups in politics, it's great to see more Asian-Americans in a variety of positions. Maybe this will quell the fears of many Asian-American parents who only want their children to be doctors and engineers because they think its the only way to succeed. Now there are faces and stories in government that they can relate to as well.

As for me, there are still a variety of positions I can be the first to take. Supreme Court Justice, Attorney General, President, etc.