2014 is off to a mind-blowing start!
1. The Good.
As I posted last week, I was accepted to Duke Law! I still can't get over my excitement! This was closely followed by two more acceptances, which I will get into in #3.
2. The Bad.
We're just two weeks into 2014 and I've been sick twice already. I got a cold at the beginning of the year (which thankfully went away within a few days) and then came down with strep throat this weekend. I started antibiotics yesterday so hopefully I'll be better soon... but for now my throat is killing me, and I've missed too much class and work for my liking.
3. The Wow.
Now that I'm no longer contagious, I went to all of my classes today. I was about ten minutes into my History of Psychology lecture when I got an email from George Washington Law - I got in! I had to sit there for the rest of class trying to pay attention but too distracted and happy to take great notes. I went to my Earthquakes & Natural Disasters class afterwards and was sort of taking notes (but in reality, I was still distracted) when I got a phone call from a 310 number. Los Angeles. Wait... what if it's UCLA? I thought. Do I dash out of lecture and answer the phone? For some silly reason I decided to stay in my seat for the rest of lecture (longest 17 minutes ever), even though I don't think I took any decent notes on the Richter scale or surface waves. My little - also in the class with me - kept laughing at me and gave me a preemptive congrats, although I kept telling myself that maybe UCLA just had a question about my application. Fast forward to 4:00pm. I listen to the voice mail, call back the Dean, and find out that A) I'd been accepted to UCLA Law and B) they were offering me a scholarship! I think I just barely kept myself from squealing on the phone and from crying in front of my little. UCLA Law wants me.
This puts me at 3 for 3 so far, with a T-14 acceptance and a scholarship from an amazing school. I'm sure the denials will come in eventually, but for now I can't get over how fortunate I am to have this track record so far. Looks like I'll be in law school seven months from now!
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Friday, January 10, 2014
First Acceptance
Quick update to say that I was just accepted to Duke Law! I'm incredibly excited and can't believe it, since I was sure I was going to be waitlisted or denied!
I've finished my first week of winter classes and have turned in 11 out of 12 law school apps - only Berkeley left to do, unless I throw in an app to Harvard.
Go Blue Devils!
I've finished my first week of winter classes and have turned in 11 out of 12 law school apps - only Berkeley left to do, unless I throw in an app to Harvard.
Go Blue Devils!
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Batch 1 = Done
I spent most of yesterday A) watching HGTV (who knew there were entire shows about people buying islands or Caribbean property?!) and B) working on law school applications. 2014 is off to a great start!
I'm pleased to report that after years of planning and hard work (as well as heavy doses of stress and procrastination), my first batch of apps are submitted. So far I've applied to the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown, Duke, Columbia, and New York University. I still have seven more schools to go before I'm done... and even then, I have a few safety schools I'm keeping on reserve to apply to in case I don't have any early acceptances before MLK weekend (Duke in particular will let me know within 10 days). Still, this is a huge accomplishment and it feels amazing to have even part of my applications done and out of my hands.
The wait will be agonizing, but at least I have a full schedule in winter quarter to keep my mind off things! The only bright side of having way too much to do is having no free time to eat/sleep/breathe, let alone stress out while waiting for decisions. For winter, I'll be finishing up my honors theses (by the end of this month, inshallah), working too many jobs as usual, planning a huge pre-law week for my fraternity as well as prepping for spring rush, and taking a few too many units (but that's normal for me at this point). I'm technically registered for 22 units for winter quarter. Technically. But 4 units of that are for my lab managing position, which I'd be doing even without course credit, so I'm still going to pretend that I just have 18 units' worth of classes to worry about. Besides the lab managing credits, I'm taking Advanced Arabic, History of Modern India, International Politics of the Middle East, History of Psychology, and Earthquakes - a 2-unit seminar that I'm taking with one of my littles for fun. I mean, why not?
Update: I'm now up to nine schools - I just submitted my applications to Stanford, UCLA, and Chicago!
I'm pleased to report that after years of planning and hard work (as well as heavy doses of stress and procrastination), my first batch of apps are submitted. So far I've applied to the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown, Duke, Columbia, and New York University. I still have seven more schools to go before I'm done... and even then, I have a few safety schools I'm keeping on reserve to apply to in case I don't have any early acceptances before MLK weekend (Duke in particular will let me know within 10 days). Still, this is a huge accomplishment and it feels amazing to have even part of my applications done and out of my hands.
The wait will be agonizing, but at least I have a full schedule in winter quarter to keep my mind off things! The only bright side of having way too much to do is having no free time to eat/sleep/breathe, let alone stress out while waiting for decisions. For winter, I'll be finishing up my honors theses (by the end of this month, inshallah), working too many jobs as usual, planning a huge pre-law week for my fraternity as well as prepping for spring rush, and taking a few too many units (but that's normal for me at this point). I'm technically registered for 22 units for winter quarter. Technically. But 4 units of that are for my lab managing position, which I'd be doing even without course credit, so I'm still going to pretend that I just have 18 units' worth of classes to worry about. Besides the lab managing credits, I'm taking Advanced Arabic, History of Modern India, International Politics of the Middle East, History of Psychology, and Earthquakes - a 2-unit seminar that I'm taking with one of my littles for fun. I mean, why not?
Update: I'm now up to nine schools - I just submitted my applications to Stanford, UCLA, and Chicago!
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
2014 Resolutions
Happy New Year! I'm excited that it's finally 2014 and I can leave the hot mess that was 2013 behind me.
Like just about everyone ever, I make a list of New Year's resolutions each December and then promptly break most of them by the end of January. Some of my 2012 resolutions included laugh every day (hard to break this one at least), tone abs (oops), read 75 books (I only made it to 65), and be accepted to UCDC for fall (yesss!) and 2013 had become fraternity president (nope), tone abs (again, oops), work out twice a week (nope), lose 10 pounds (this one actually happened!), and go to the Middle East over the summer (another yesss!).
Here are several of this year's resolutions... we'll see how this batch fares!
1. Blog twice a week
I blogged regularly in middle and high school, but also had long sprees without a single blog entry. College has been kind of rough on my blogging "career" so it would be great to get back into the habit of posting regularly, especially with how fun it is to go back and re-read old posts. (I was very good about blogging in DC and Egypt, though!)
2. Go to church monthly
I'd love to get back in touch with my faith this year, since it really took a hit in 2013. I work at the Mondavi Center a lot of Sundays but I think I can at least make it to church once a month. Now to go back to church-shopping in Davis, which was such a nightmare my freshman year...
3. Tone abs
Yes, this resolution is back. No, I haven't had nice abs since high school... I can still dream!
4. Go to all classes
I was great about going to all of my classes until my apartment burned down last February... and once you lose the habit of always going to class, it can be way too easy to justify missing a lecture here and there. Realistically I don't think I'll make it to every single class in winter and spring quarter (especially if I spend a weekend visiting law schools and have to miss my 2-3pm Friday lecture), but I can at least try!
5. Have a one-on-one meal with a friend each week
Being in a fraternity and having such an enormous fraternity family spoils me - there are always people who are down to grab lunch or dinner with you! But this gets a little harder when we aren't in the middle of a rush quarter, and I can't limit myself to just fraternity friends, so I'd like to spend time getting to know as many people as possible while I'm still at Davis. I know that I most enjoy one-on-one conversations (and can be a bit too quiet in larger groups), so I think this is an amazing way to really connect with people that I might otherwise miss out on!
6. Go to Europe over summer
I've been dying to go to Europe for years and have always wanted to do a post-grad trip. I'm doing whatever I can to ensure that I can spend at least a couple of weeks traveling in Europe this year! It might be with another Davis summer abroad program (like Egypt, minus being evacuated). It might be backpacking with friends. It might even be through a tour company like EF College Break. I'll just have to wait and see how everything plays out!
7. Be accepted to 4+ T-14 law schools
This one is out of my control, but I'm really hoping for options when my acceptances (or waitlists/denials) come and it's time to decide where I'm going to law school. I'm applying to 9 T-14 schools (10 if I add in Cornell later in January), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best here.
8. Figure out who I am and who I want to become
November 2013 was a month of losing myself. December 2013 was a month of realizing how lost I was and trying to find myself. While I'm slowly starting to learn who I am again, I really want to spend 2014 figuring out who Christine is and who I want her to be. I used to be a girl with dreams, passion, and too much ambition for her own good. Now I'm a young woman who has seen some of these dreams fulfilled and others destroyed, and who questions her passion and if her ambition is enough to carry her or will lead to her downfall. In the words of e. e. cummings, "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." Hopefully 2014 will be a year of courage and self-discovery for me.
Like just about everyone ever, I make a list of New Year's resolutions each December and then promptly break most of them by the end of January. Some of my 2012 resolutions included laugh every day (hard to break this one at least), tone abs (oops), read 75 books (I only made it to 65), and be accepted to UCDC for fall (yesss!) and 2013 had become fraternity president (nope), tone abs (again, oops), work out twice a week (nope), lose 10 pounds (this one actually happened!), and go to the Middle East over the summer (another yesss!).
Here are several of this year's resolutions... we'll see how this batch fares!
1. Blog twice a week
I blogged regularly in middle and high school, but also had long sprees without a single blog entry. College has been kind of rough on my blogging "career" so it would be great to get back into the habit of posting regularly, especially with how fun it is to go back and re-read old posts. (I was very good about blogging in DC and Egypt, though!)
2. Go to church monthly
I'd love to get back in touch with my faith this year, since it really took a hit in 2013. I work at the Mondavi Center a lot of Sundays but I think I can at least make it to church once a month. Now to go back to church-shopping in Davis, which was such a nightmare my freshman year...
3. Tone abs
Yes, this resolution is back. No, I haven't had nice abs since high school... I can still dream!
4. Go to all classes
I was great about going to all of my classes until my apartment burned down last February... and once you lose the habit of always going to class, it can be way too easy to justify missing a lecture here and there. Realistically I don't think I'll make it to every single class in winter and spring quarter (especially if I spend a weekend visiting law schools and have to miss my 2-3pm Friday lecture), but I can at least try!
5. Have a one-on-one meal with a friend each week
Being in a fraternity and having such an enormous fraternity family spoils me - there are always people who are down to grab lunch or dinner with you! But this gets a little harder when we aren't in the middle of a rush quarter, and I can't limit myself to just fraternity friends, so I'd like to spend time getting to know as many people as possible while I'm still at Davis. I know that I most enjoy one-on-one conversations (and can be a bit too quiet in larger groups), so I think this is an amazing way to really connect with people that I might otherwise miss out on!
6. Go to Europe over summer
I've been dying to go to Europe for years and have always wanted to do a post-grad trip. I'm doing whatever I can to ensure that I can spend at least a couple of weeks traveling in Europe this year! It might be with another Davis summer abroad program (like Egypt, minus being evacuated). It might be backpacking with friends. It might even be through a tour company like EF College Break. I'll just have to wait and see how everything plays out!
7. Be accepted to 4+ T-14 law schools
This one is out of my control, but I'm really hoping for options when my acceptances (or waitlists/denials) come and it's time to decide where I'm going to law school. I'm applying to 9 T-14 schools (10 if I add in Cornell later in January), so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best here.
8. Figure out who I am and who I want to become
November 2013 was a month of losing myself. December 2013 was a month of realizing how lost I was and trying to find myself. While I'm slowly starting to learn who I am again, I really want to spend 2014 figuring out who Christine is and who I want her to be. I used to be a girl with dreams, passion, and too much ambition for her own good. Now I'm a young woman who has seen some of these dreams fulfilled and others destroyed, and who questions her passion and if her ambition is enough to carry her or will lead to her downfall. In the words of e. e. cummings, "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are." Hopefully 2014 will be a year of courage and self-discovery for me.
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