You Lost Me at Jesus.....

I was recently invited to join a webgroup that advocates boycotting South Dakota because of its efforts to make abortion illegal. While I have always been pro-choice, it is people like the person who sent me the invite that make me feel uncomfortable with the sometimes hostile anti-christian overtones of the pro-choice movement. On his personal site, he had games where you could nail jesus to the cross or dress him up in a ballerina tutu. It is unfortunate that the very person asking for tolerance and understanding of other viewpoints is blatantly intolerant. I'm not saying the person should believe in Jesus, but a little respect for something many consider sacred would go a long way.

Motivate Me

Am I the only one completely unmotivated to read or do anything? I am on day three of the first week of school and I haven't read for my classes at all, nor have I made any attempt to start ranking slave drivers for OCIP. I don't know what it will take to get me back on track. If the thought of a big P hanging around my neck for the rest of my life or paying for my own lunch this summer doesn't do it, I don't know what will.

The Final Countdown

It is mere days before I begin my 2L year. I feel like I will have to be dragged back to school kicking and screaming. As much as I love Boalt (and I do genuinely love Boalt) I am just not ready to go back. My shoulders have enjoyed their freedom from heavy book bags and I haven't touched a hi-lighter in months. On top of not wanting to resume going to class, I also feel the specter of OCIP lying in wait for me. Although I am confident I will get a job somewhere, I am not looking forward to the rejection I will likely face during OCIP. In many ways, the OCIP process has inadvertently become a reminder of how much connections play a role in landing a job.

For me, making it to law school was a great accomplishment. As a high school graduate I had already beaten the odds, and as a college graduate I could do no wrong in my family’s eyes. I will never forget my father’s face the day I graduated from college because it looked like his heart was going to burst out of his chest with pride. My mother practically blinded me with camera flashes as she documented every second of my college graduation with disposable cameras. Consequently, it is impossible for my family to help me navigate my path toward a successful legal career. While it is pointless to focus on how disadvantaged I am compared to others who have parents or family in the legal profession, it is still worth noting how few Latinos there are in the legal world, and how each of us must still blaze our own trail despite all the inroads that have been made. We still have a long way to go.

You Aint Nothing But a Hoochie's Mama

As I searched for a power suit to divert attention away from the big P on my forehead, I couldn't help but notice all the back to school clothes on sale, and the pubescent teenagers squeezing themselves into this year's fashions. A girl who couldn’t have been more than 12 modeled a pair of super short shorts for her mother who groaned with disapproval at the selection. The girl replied that all the shorts were that short, and it was just the style kids wear now. Surprisingly the mother seemed to accept this and agreed to buy the shorts. This may make me sound like a prude, but I really don’t understand why parents allow their children to dress like little hoochies. I wouldn’t care if that was the style kids wear or not; I wouldn’t fork over my hard earned cash to make my daughter look like a streetwalker. I think its unfortunate how many parents feel like it is more important to be their child’s friend than their parent. There may have been times during my teenage years when I disliked the boundaries my mother set for me, but looking back I appreciate the way I was raised.

Summer Lovin', Had Me a Blast

In addition to working this summer, I kissed my share of toads to find a prince. I went to a salsa club one night and met a tall attractive Cubano who turned out to love George W. Bush. yikes! Given my prolonged dry spell I decided to give him a chance in the hopes of discovering he was just misguided, not a jackass. As I tried to ignore his beliefs I disagreed with long enough to eat my free dinner, he did something no one has ever done before. When I asked for one of his french fries, he said sure and pushed his entire plate toward me. As I gently pushed the plate back in front of him, he waved the plate away and said I could have his food because he was going to order more french fries. Apparently in addition to not believing in welfare, he also doesn't believe in EVER sharing food. Weird. I could go on about the other dates I went on, but in the interest in brevity, I’ll only do one nightmare date per post. In any event, I ended up meeting someone in the last place I ever expected to—church. We started talking over the coffee and donuts after service, and haven’t stopped talking since. So far I appreciate the fact that he isn’t a law student, but only time with tell if things will work out. Right now, I am having a lot of fun and enjoying my summer of love.

OCIP Induced Blindness

Since there is less than two weeks left before school starts, I figured it was time to start researching firms to prepare for the OCIP process. I am practically going blind from trying to compile a list of firms that I would even be interested in working at. It is amazing how much they all start to sound alike. I wish they all had a school specific tab where I could find out just how many Ps they are willing to put up with. Needless to say, I am not looking forward to the OCIP process.

In all honesty, I haven't even fully committed to doing the firm thing. However, I will admit the potential money to be made has been singing its siren song to me. Working for a non-profit organization this summer was rewarding, but it didn't really pay my bills. It is very tempting to work for a firm next summer and make enough to pay almost all of my tuition. My biggest fear is that I will either be painfully bored doing firm work, or will be used to do evil in my community. Granted, as a summer associate I doubt I would be given any real substantive work, but in general I didn't go to law school to end up working for corporations who don't really need my help. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with working for a firm; it’s just not where I ultimately want to use my law degree.

School Year Resolutions

I feel like the beginning of a new school year is similar to the beginning of a new year. As such, I like to make promises to myself that I'll study more, surf the internet in class less, and actually go to the gym. In an effort to motivate myself to actually go to the gym, I am trying to cobble together good workout music. Maybe trying to put this collection will just be another excuse to delay going to the gym, but I figure it is worth a try. Any suggestions?

CLR Angst

So I am one of the many rising 2Ls waiting for a phone call from CLR to tell me my fate. I absolutely hate that every time the phone rings I jump. Since people have started to receive calls, it makes me a little nervous that those horrible days spent working on that packet were made in vain. I think I can manage remaining optimistic for the rest of the day, but I will have to resign myself to the inevitable if I don't hear by the end of the day. How long can it really take to make 50+ calls? To preserve my anonymity, I am not going to say whether I made it or not. That said, I definitely sympathize with those in my situation who are waiting for the call. Ugh.

Long Time, No See

So I have to admit, I have neglected this blog since school wrapped in May. Needless to say, it has been a busy summer. In any event, I am resurfacing after a nice chunk of time off from law school. I have been working in the real world, which has been great. I have been able to help actual clients AND improve my writing skills. Also, I feel like I could write a couple books based on the lives of some of the people I have met while working. I think the lives of some of my clients have definitely been stranger than fiction. Anyway, I will pop in and write more later, but for now I just wanted to reassure my 2 or 3 readers that I am in fact, still alive.

Free To Be

I wanted to give an exhaustive description of my 1L year and what I learned, but given that I have still not recovered from finals, I am not up to it just yet. I have spent the last few days filling my head with junk. I'm talking American Idol, Desperate Housewives, Law & Order marathons, anything tawdry and low brow. It has been great. I also want to pick up a few books to read. (suggestions are welcome) I don't actually start working until the first week of June so I am enjoying a rare respite from the chaos that has enveloped my life since I started law school. I can't even begin to explain how great it is to not have a reading assignment, WOA brief, or something equally oppressive hanging over my head. For at least a few weeks I will get to be the old La Mitotera again, which is priceless.

My Man Neil

I should be studying but I wanted to quickly mention this funny LA Times article that talks about my favorite fourth of July song "America" by Neil Diamond. Apparently it is becoming the new anthem for Latino immigrants. I just have to say I loved that song since Cheech used it as background music for their march on the border in Born in the East LA. My man Neil may be a little cheesy in his rhinestone studded apparel, but he sure can sing. "Everywhere around the world..they're coming to America...got a dream they come to share, they're coming to America...They're coming to America today!!" Ok, I got that out of my system. Back to work.

Red Bull IV Drip Anyone?

With one more take home exam due by noon tomorrow I am literally about to start holding my eyelids open with toothpicks. Summer starts tomorrow. I can't wait. I will officially have survived my first year and will be a 2L in less than 24 hours. It is about damn time.

Jimmy Smits Is My President

Ok...so I am on yet another study break. I wonder if you can really call them study breaks when they constitute the majority of your time. Anyway, although I should be studying I am watching a west wing marathon. I have never actually never sat through a full episode of west wing and now realize I have been missing out. All this time I could have watched west wing and pretended that there is a Democratic president for an hour at a time. Hey, according to west wing there is a democratic Latino president. I could get used to that alternative reality. I have to say the only drawback to living in west wing fantasyland is that it makes reality that much worse. It may sound ridiculous, but the day Senator Kerry lost the election was one of the worst days of my life. Everyday that I see another soldier dead, news about Guantanamo Bay, or the countless other things being done in the name of all Americans I truly wish things had worked out differently. In short, Jimmy Smits is my president. Too bad west wing was cancelled.

Sex and Studying

Ok, it is no secret that La Mitotera has hit a dry spell in her quest for a companion at Boalt. It is also no secret that I am woefully behind in preparing for finals, so I am studying on a Friday night in the hopes of doing well in at least one or two classes. Well, to add insult to injury the people who live below me are um, having a lot more fun than I am. Sure, I could ignore the low moans and the occasional loud groan, but can they pull the f**king bed away from the wall already? *Thump * Thump * Thump* Thump* small pause* Thump* Sheesh... forced celibacy is one thing, but hearing my neighbors for the last 20 minutes is wholly another. I have hit yet another sad low as this is the closest I have gotten to sex in months. Damn Boalt and their sad selection.

Huelga (Strike) on MayDay

I have been watching all the debate on immigration and haven't said too much about it because I have been a little self absorbed with the impending doom of finals upon me. However, I have to say I was really surprised when Dean Ortiz sent out the email allowing people to join the MayDay strike in support of immigrant rights. Although I'm sure there are divergent opinions about her decision, ultimately I feel like her decision illustrates why I chose Boalt over other law schools I could have attended. The action on Monday is going to be historic and I am glad that I don't have to choose my final over showing my support for something I feel deeply about. While immigration is a complicated subject, I am tired of hearing people talk about our immigration laws as if there are objectively just and the people breaking the laws should just play by the rules. The truth is that our immigration laws are confusing, convoluted, and second only to tax law in their arbitrariness. It is time to talk about the system and fairness. I am willing to concede that the current system needs reform, but that reform should not be driven by many of the racist undertones I have seen in immigration debate. Latinos along with other immigrants just want a chance to be a valuable part of this country; they should be given this chance.

The Day of Reckoning Approaches

Ok, so I admit it. I am a bad student. After my experience last semester with finals I vowed to prepare in advance. I promised myself that my outlines would be done by the end of spring break, and I would be taking practice tests weeks in advance with all the intensity you would expect from a self proclaimed red hot. Yet here I am with little more than a week before my first final and I am utterly unprepared. Not one outline is done, nor have I even attempted to look at any practice exams for any of my classes. I don't think there is enough coffee in the word to keep me awake for the amount of work I have to do to catch up.

So my cyber friends I have to ask. Is it time to shed my overachieving tendencies and start chanting P=JD? Do I still have a chance at seeing the glimmer of an H or *gasp* even an HH?

New Boalties

With my first year rapidly coming to an end, I have not had much time to post but I wanted to say a few words about the 0Ls I met during admit week. I was pleasantly surprised with the new crop of students. In general the newbies I talked to seemed very chill and more fun than my class. (Sorry, but even I have to admit that my class is sometimes lacking in the fun personality department) I hope that most of the people I met accept their offers, especially the cuties I met. Maybe Boalt will have some eye candy to look at in class after all. I can only hope.

I *Heart* Deer

Funny...

Thanks Boalt!

So I finally got a summer job about a week ago and decided it was time to start tallying up my hours for the Edley grant. When I went in to make sure I had enough hours to qualify for the grant I found out that much of the hours I had served for various organizations no longer counted. Apparently they have changed the rules and almost everything you volunteer with must include being supervised by an attorney. Unfortunately I had been told by all the 2 & 3Ls that volunteering for certain student organizations would count and now I am screwed. How can I possibly cram 20 hours of attorney supervised volunteer work into the next few weeks? Although I am grateful for the Edley grants, they should have done a better job of informing 1Ls that the requirements have changed from last year. Thanks Boalt!

On a side note the proposed changes in LRAP look great, so I won't complain too much.

Meltdown

Although finals seem far off on the horizon I have nonetheless started to feel the squeeze. Between having to finish my WOA brief that is absolute crap, and juggling the reading for all my classes I have been feeling overwhelmed. For the first time I am starting to feel like law school is getting the best of me and that I just can’t handle all of my classes. Ironically, I did not feel this stressed during the first semester. Was a meltdown inevitable? Does anyone else have days when you feel like your destiny includes a transcript full of Ps?

Sage words of wisdom welcomed.