Hello from That 1L You Used to Know

I keep drafting posts and giving up partway through. Part of the problem is that I'm busy; the rest of the problem is that law school changes everything. I experienced a lot of growth in college (especially senior year), but I feel like I'm walking into 1L fall semester finals as a different person yet again.

Before I came to NYU, I was excited and nervous. Would I like New York? Would I make friends? Would I like law school? Was I smart enough to be there at all?

The answer to the first three questions is YES, but I can't really answer that last question until after finals. I'm used to being intelligent and to doing well in school, but everyone else here is used to the same things too. I am surrounded by people who are more talented, experienced, hardworking, and brilliant than I will ever be. It's scary but thrilling at the same time. Some people came straight through from undergrad like me, where they were the top of their class. Many others took time off before law school and worked (paralegals, government employees, journalists, teachers, the list goes on), traveled, or earned advanced degrees. It just reminds me how young I am and how little I've really done (despite part-time jobs, internships, leadership positions, and travel of my own). Being a law student at NYU is certainly humbling, but it's such an honor to have these people as my friends and peers. Even the gunners!

So what exactly have I been doing, you might ask? The short answer is reading cases. So many cases. But more than that, I've been struggling to figure out what's going on in law school and what I'm supposed to be learning, getting way too involved in student activities (I'm already the Communications Director of the International Arbitration Association and a student advocate with the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project), and prepping for finals. Lately it's been nothing but outlining, problem sets, practice exams, and E&Es. I've come to find that I really love Contracts and may never understand Civil Procedure. But beyond academics, I've been having a surprising amount of fun. I've been able to explore New York a lot (and meet up with friends who came to visit!) and I have to say that the city has really drawn me in, despite the promise of brutal winter weather. I've made friends and had fun with my 1L section. I've done way too much online shopping - everyone in my section seems to dress up for class and I needed a new wardrobe for the weather anyway! I've eaten some amazing food. I've listened to too much Taylor Swift. I've broken in many new pairs of heels and pretended to be 5'9" for probably two months straight (since New York has given me some kind of height complex). I've read books - seriously, 35 new books since starting law school, which is probably not a good thing. I've cooked, A LOT, and spent way too much time in line at Trader Joe's. I've been frustrated, dismayed, and outraged respectively by the Ebola pan(dem)ic, law school battles about the Israel-Palestine conflict, and outcome of Officer Wilson's trial. I've (thankfully) only spent a few nights homesick and missing my family and friends in California. All in all, I really can't imagine going to law school anywhere else.

Pic Credit: My amazing little, Shaida!

I'm going to cut myself off now, before I start babbling about promissory estoppel, res judicata, or how law school has only made me more determined to make a difference in the world. I hope everyone reading this has a happy Thanksgiving (I'm spending mine in New Hampshire with family)! You'll hear from me again sometime after finals are over and the madness ends.

There and Back Again: A Graduate's Tale by Christine

I'm back! My blog needs some massive renovation before I start law school next month, but I wanted to give you an update on how I've been these past two months.

First of all, I graduated in June! Somehow I got through finals week and earned an A on my honors thesis (the one I never thought would get done). I didn't do quite as well as I would have liked academically, but still ended strong and held onto my 3.8. Right after graduation, I worked for a few days and then moved out. I'm back in Davis for a bit this summer to work, but mostly I'll be at home until I move out east for law school.

I headed off to Europe just a week after graduation and it was the trip of a lifetime - yet hopefully not the only time I'll see Europe in my lifetime! So many cappuccinos, so much wine, so much history, so much art, and so much good (vegetarian) food! Quick overview of the trip:

Ireland - I started in Dublin and absolutely loved the city, as well as Ireland as a whole. Clean city, friendly people, gorgeous architecture, and some amazing revolutionary history. I got to spend a good bit of time in the Irish countryside and even made it to the Cliffs of Moher, which was one of the highlights of the entire trip for me.

A view to literally die for at the Cliffs of Moher

Beautiful Dublin!

United Kingdom - We took a ferry to Wales, spent the day visiting villages and checking out castles, and then spent the night in Liverpool before moving onto London the next day (with a stop in Stratford-upon-Avon). London was my favorite city of the trip and the one place I could 100% see myself living. I loved the history, culture, and fast pace of life. I could have easily spent two weeks in London and never gotten bored! I took day trips to Stonehenge, Oxford, and the Warner Brothers Studio (for the Harry Potter Experience). 

Castle at Beaumaris

Stonehenge with Nicole

St. Paul's Cathedral in London

Harry Potter love!

Netherlands - We took the ferry to the Netherlands and headed to Amsterdam for the next leg of our trip. Amsterdam had stunning views - cobblestone streets, picturesque (and narrow!) houses, and very clean canals. The countryside was also gorgeous - we did a bike tour through the city and surrounding area. At the same time, I wasn't as excited as some of my tour-mates for the coffee shop scene and the city was a bit too laid back for me.

Beautiful canals everywhere 

The narrowest house in Amsterdam



France - From the Netherlands we moved onto France (with a quick stop in Belgium on the way). We spent four days in Paris and it was nothing like I'd imagined or expected. The bad: we were staying in a very dangerous part of the city and Paris overall was very dirty and crowded. The good: the food was amazing, the artwork and museums were to die for, and even the tourist traps (Notre Dame, Eiffel Tour, Louvre, etc.) were some of the highlights of the trip for me. I would go back to Paris in a heartbeat, but I'd stay in a nicer and more central part of the city for sure. I'd also want to learn a bit more French before traveling again. I knew some basic conversational phrases and had decent reading comprehension, but it would have been wonderful to carry on a full conversation with a Parisian.

One of my favorite parts of the Louvre

Notre Dame was gorgeous inside! I got to sit in on mass for a bit

View from the top of the Eiffel Tower

I'll never get tired of this view...

Very hot day at Versailles

Switzerland - From Paris we moved onto the Swiss Alps for about a day and a half. We stayed in a small ski resort town (Engelberg) and did a day trip to Lucerne. Most of our group went up to Mt. Pilatus, but Nicole and I spent a relaxing day in the town eating fondue, paddle-boating on the lake, and exploring in general. Our time in Switzerland was very relaxing, with great food/views/wine, but I think I'd go stir-crazy if I spent more than a week or two up in the Alps.

Lion Monument for the Swiss Guard

Chapel Bridge

Lovely Lake Lucerne!

Pic credit goes to Nicole for this fun fondue photo

Italy - From the Swiss Alps we moved into Italy and Florence. Oh, Florence. I would have happily spent another week here. The food was to die for. I had the absolute best pasta of my entire life and so much gelato, all crammed into a day and a half. I'm devastated that I didn't get to spend more time exploring the beautiful Renaissance artwork and architecture, as well as seeing the lovely Tuscan countryside. First thing on my travel to-do list is going back to Italy so I can spend more time in Florence (and see Venice and Rome as well!). 

Beautiful bridges and water everywhere

The Neptune Fountain - would have loved to spend more time in this square

We spent an afternoon in San Gimignano eating the best gelato in the world and went wine tasting that evening as well!

Dusk in Florence, looking out over the hillside

Duomo, I miss you <3

We stopped in Pisa on our way out of Italy

French Riviera - After a way-too-short time in Italy, we headed back to France to spend a little time on the lovely French Riviera. This was my first time on the Mediterranean, which has been a lifelong dream for me, and the sparkling azure water certainly didn't disappoint. We stayed in Nice and spent an evening in Monaco (Monte Carlo, anyone?), which was gorgeous but also reminded me just how wealthy people could be.

Night out in Monaco

Gorgeous sunset over the Mediterranean

Photo credit goes to Nicole for this stunning shot at midnight in Nice - gotta love those rocky beaches!

Spain - We ended the trip in Barcelona, which was another one of my favorite cities. Even though our tiny and disgusting hostel could have ruined the city for us, it was impossible not to love Barcelona and all of its fun architecture. I adored all of Gaudi's works - Parque Guell, Casa Batllo, Sagrada Familia - and fell in love with the gothic quarter that we stayed in. I came home with an obsession for tapas and sangria (which I'll have to satisfy in New York), and a longing for some crazy city nightlife (which I'll, again, have to satisfy in New York since I was too exhausted at this point in the trip to spend much time going out). The only downer for Spain was losing my favorite pair of flats in the Mediterranean - oops - and not having another day to spend in Barcelona!

The city is so fun at night!

Crazy yet stunning skyline

Oh, Parque Guell. Oh, Gaudi.

Again... Oh, Gaudi. How did you  make Casa Batllo so fun?!

Photo credit again goes to Nicole! Loving the roof of Casa Batllo

There you have it... 25 days in Europe, gone. I definitely need to head back there. But as you know, my  next adventure lies in New York City! I start orientation in mid-August and am both excited and nervous. Law school is such a big step in my life and one I've been planning for the past eight years. I can't believe it's finally here!



Big News

I can't believe it's been two months since I last blogged... time has flown by. I have so much to announce! The "big news" is essentially my law school pick, so feel free to skip to section 2.

1. Graduation
I'm graduating in less than three weeks. I still have to finish my classes (and that incomplete honors thesis, yikes!) but soon it will all be over. I've already attended an awards ceremony for my major and my fraternity's spring banquet is coming up next weekend. I'm starting to say things like, "I need to go to Crepeville/DeVere's/insert-favorite-place-here every day since I'm leaving them forever in a few weeks!" and "How soon exactly can I sell my bed/desk/dresser?"

2. Law School
As of the beginning of April, I was in at Georgetown/Duke/UCLA/UW/George Washington, waitlisted at Columbia/NYU/Penn/Michigan/Berkeley, and rejected at a few schools that will remain nameless. So, story time. As you know, I went to visit Georgetown, Duke, and UCLA back in March (with Duke over spring break). I really enjoyed visiting Duke but in the end, it just wasn't quite the right fit. In mid-April, I ended up deciding on Georgetown after weighing my scholarship offers and overall opportunities for international law.

Beginning of May hits and I get home one evening to find a letter waiting for me. I open it expecting to find my travel stipend from Duke's Admitted Students Weekend, and instead I pull out an acceptance letter from NYU Law (admitted off the waitlist)! I screamed and cried and called my family/friends to celebrate. In the end, it really was a no brainer - I withdrew from Georgetown and deposited at NYU. Am I scared about going to a school that I've never visited before and living in a city that I barely know? Yes. Am I absolutely terrified of the massive debt I'll be in? Completely. Yet at the same time, I couldn't be more excited for the future. I never thought I'd get into NYU, the #6 law school in America and the top school for international law. The opportunities will be unparalleled and it's going to be an incredible next three years.

3. Europe
I leave for Europe in four weeks - 25 days of adventure and too-little sleep in cities that I've only dreamed of visiting! I'm slowly adding onto the tour's itinerary (Warner Brothers Studio Tour and Cliffs of Moher so far!) and I know this will be a trip I'll never forget. I'm sure my bank account won't forget it for a while either...

I'll leave off here since I have that little thing called a thesis to work on, plus a couple other papers that are due this week. I'll definitely blog again before graduation, and you can be sure I'll be keeping you updated over the summer as I count down to NYU!

March (Winter) Madness

Long overdue post! Winter quarter flew by since I was busy as ever (possibly more busy, since I had extra fraternity duties to juggle and missed almost a week of school for law school visits)!

The updates:
1. Law School
I still have 4 schools left to hear back from, but so far I'm in at Duke, Georgetown, UCLA, George Washington, and University of Washington (as well as waitlisted at University of Pennsylvania and Berkeley). I'm stuck between Duke and Georgetown at the moment, which are both amazing schools. I'll let you know which school I ultimately decide on!

2. Travel
I flew to DC at the beginning of March to go to Georgetown's Admit Day (and to spend some time with one of my littles and other friends doing the UCDC Program currently), and then after three days there I flew to Los Angeles for the UCLA Admit Day! I'm going to Durham this week to finally visit Duke, and then my biggest adventure is coming up in June... I booked a trip to Europe!!! I'll be spending over three weeks traveling to Dublin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Florence, Barcelona, and more! I couldn't be more excited, especially since I'll be traveling with one of my littles and other college students.

3. Academics
I really enjoyed my classes this quarter but I'm pretty sure my grades won't be as good as I'd hoped. Finals week as a nightmare, with five finals and a paper (as well as celebrating my 22nd birthday that week)! International Politics of the Middle East and History of Modern India were among my favorite classes, although I actually really enjoyed Arabic as well - third year Arabic was ridiculously difficult but it's amazing how much I've improved, even this quarter! Next quarter I'll have my lightest load ever - only 16 units! - and my classes should hopefully all be enjoyable. I'm taking Human Rights, Politics of Global Inequality, Health Psychology, and Comparative Perspectives in Middle East/South Asia.

4. Work
My peer advising boss just went on maternity leave so I had to increase my advising hours - at least my paychecks were big this quarter! I was also working a crazy number of hours at the Mondavi Center, especially in February, but I'll be working a lot fewer shows for spring quarter so I'll have time to breathe. I finally resigned from my tour guide job, which is sad, and also stopped lab managing at the end of this quarter. My work schedule is beginning to resemble a normal person's again!

5. Fraternity
I was busier than ever in my pre-law fraternity. I organized a Pre-Law Week at the end of February and a cupcake sale earlier that month since we were between Fundraising Chairs. Spring rush is coming up very soon, so I'm frantically trying to get ready for that as well as some new duties that I'll have in spring. Hopefully I'll have enough time to also enjoy my last quarter in Phi Alpha Delta before I graduate!

And that, essentially, was winter quarter...  I'm nervous but excited to be graduating in June and heading off to law school - I just wish I knew where I would be going! Either way it'll be an incredible spring quarter and summer, and my law school journey should be exciting as well (even if I'll be stressed out of my mind).

Here are a couple of DC photos for you to enjoy!

The Good, the Bad, and the WOW

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!

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!

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!

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.