The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

[smile_n_cuddle]

The Good
I received the second-highest grade in the entire law school class on my brief. It would have been a perfect score, except I went one page over. :-)

I went to speak with my civ pro professor (and also head of Law Review) about a possible law review topic. He was so excited he said that if for some weird reason I don't make law review, he'd want me to do independent research under him on the topic. :-)

Then I spoke with my Legal Writing professor. He called my brief "Exceptional" and spent an hour and a half trying to convince me to do Law Review AND Moot Court. I said I'd try out for both, and go with the one that takes me... he said "Unfortunately, odds are stacked against you that based on your writing skills and your oral argument, they will both accept you... well, maybe that's not unfortunate!" Then he worked with me on a schedule for the next year so I can do both Moot Court AND Law Review. :-)

Um, I'm also acting Vice-President of the International Human Rights Legal Society. Uh, I've also been offered an externship at the Inter-America Center for Human Rights... Um, and also at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (who takes only two applicants per semester)... Um, and I also think that I'll be offered a Research Assistantship with my professor in Human Rights ($15/hr, 20 hrs/wk). Um. Did I mention vice-president of the Women's Legal Society. Uh.

So... Professor told me to do Law Review and Moot Court during the semester and externships/internships during the summers along with two classes so I can reduce the number of class hours needed for the school year.

This summer, my plan is to do two courses (Immigration Law and Children and the Law Seminar) and the Research Assistant position (if I get it). I might also just volunteer at the InterAmerica Center for Human Rights to get a taste of what's going on there.

The Bad

Darfur Day isn't going quite as expected. Last week the President's office once again said they would be able to send the e-mail to all 1100 professors and actually, yesterday, added that they would send it to all 35,000 students as well. (When I heard that I thought it might be a good idea to remove my contact info!) Well, last night they called me to say it wouldn't work out ... no explanation given. :-( So now we just have a table for three days in the Graham Center, a zillion fliers, but no publicity - except perhaps through the newspaper who said they would but I haven't heard back from.)

Ah well...

The Ugly
Um, my house is a mess. It's ugly. I need to hire a housekeeper. Any Recs? :-)

Comments

[avivalasvegas.livejournal.com]

congrats on your accomplishments!!

I know quite a few people who do both Moot Court and law review or another journal here, and it's workable, mostly because the moot ct commitment is fairly compressed into about 2 months or so, maybe a little less (per team). Moot court will be more useful to you in your career (in a practical sense), but law review has the prestige factor. Getting published is good, though if you don't make law review, you can also submit your note elsewhere (to other topical journals) if you so desire. good luck with both!

[niff.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Just curious, how long was the note you did for Law Review?

[avivalasvegas.livejournal.com]

39 pp, 180-ish footnotes. It needs a lot of work, though, to actually be publishable! The minimum here is 25 pages, 125 footnotes.

[niff.livejournal.com]

Yeah, here min is 25 pages too.

[liveandinperson.livejournal.com]

nice

The Good
I'm 20 now

The Bad
I'm 20 now

The Ugly
I'm 20 now

HAHAHA!

[niff.livejournal.com]

LOL! How was your birthday???

[fl0werchylde.livejournal.com]

Man, you're awesome. That's got to make you feel spectacular. And such an active student! Looks like you've really found your niche.

Do you feel like you're still really helping people?

[niff.livejournal.com]

Yep, my law review article targets welfare people, and the legal research would be on legal aid and low income families. My classes will be civil rights, employment discrimination, human rights, immigration and the law and children and the law :-)

Additionally, the Inter-America int'l human rights work targets int'l human rights violations in south america, and the international human rights legal society tries to get money for various funds and educate people on campus re: things going on.

So I think I can really help people in the future, no matter which direction I take.

Am I convincing you yet? ;-) ...deadline is in June...

[fl0werchylde.livejournal.com]

Yes, actually. FIU did you say? Full scholarship? I suppose I should start practicing the LSAT. :)

A couple years ago when I was really down in the dumps and just desperate to hear something about a change in school or career, I had a dream about going to law school. I woke up with tears in my eyes and told my parents that God had spoken to me.

After my plan to change schools did not pan out, and after I graduated with my Engineering degree, I got stopped cold. I mean how in the world do you just wake up and say that God told you something? It's ridiculous! It's also scary, the presumptuousness of it. I went into full retreat on that, deciding that my desperation had manufactured a message out of nothing. Besides, we already have 1 lawyer in the family, an alum of both Columbia and NYU school of law. I have no wish to follow in her footsteps of working 80-hour weeks.

With that pushed aside, I've been looking and looking for the right path, trying to see what career might be a good fit. What should I do next? I'm totally lost. I've tried on the idea of Education, Psychology, Sociology, TOEFL, and Computer Science, along w/ every imaginable combination, and I can't figure out how to make any of it work. I don't have either the money or the undergraduate background, and what's worse, in my current location I don't even have access to decent universities which could help me make up the defecit, or even try out any of the grad programs I'm interested in.

So I went back to the drawing board, and came up with Communications (Speech or Interpersonal). And what's the application of that? Well only every person I know who's been a masters student in Comm has been using it as a stepping stone to law school. Right. And then I pick up this book (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0520223454/qid=1113160382/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-2909695-3230253) while browsing the Af. Am. section in B&N, and from the style of the writing and the content, swear this girl is me (she's now practicing international law in Paris).

So... what can I do? All roads seem to lead to Rome here. Once I finish doing my penance here, I might as well go for it. It may not be divine intervention, but all the other doors are closed.

[niff.livejournal.com]

If you're serious about law school, apply for the June LSAT. I studied for only 6 weeks and got a 157 or something on mine - I'm sure you can do a lot better.

I have no desire to work 80 hour weeks - so am looking at other options. I will not work in a firm :-)

A few ideas I have are working for the int'l human rights organization in Ft. Lauderdale or teaching at a college. I may also apply to the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - they investigate cases of employment discrimination (like the recent Wal-Mart ones) and take the cases all the way up through the fedearl court system. It sounds exciting, challenging, prestigious, yet excellent for the community, while not being a firm job AND being a GOOD, stable salary with execllent benefits.

Whatever I do, on the side I will write. I will use my pen to try to change the minds of judges and legislatures. :-)

If you're seriously interested, two schools you should consider: FIU and FAMU. Both are brand new, public universities so are more apt to give full scholarships. FIU is geared more toward getting more LAtin Americans into law, and FAMU (in Orlando) is more focused on African Americans.

That said, I'd love to have you around here so we could chill and study together!!! ;-) I could also help you out a lot and such. :-)

Here's the website to FIU:
law.fiu.edu

The other good thing about these two are that b/c they are new, they will make concessions. For instance, if you apply and then tell them your LSAT scores will be along as soon as they are out, they'll be fine with it, I'm sure.

I love FIU. :-)