So, I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but the academic side of this blog is slowly slipping away, mostly because my entire life is academic. I am constantly learning, I am constantly reading, and I am constantly writing. Well I wouldn’t say constantly. I have work, but it’s not harder than my old job, but it is one step closer to getting where I want to be.
As an update to my oh so fabulous law school journey where I’m meeting excellent people and paying lots of money to have random people tell me how to think like a lawyer, I thought I would share a particularly inspiring day of law school that happened last Wednesday.
Last Wednesday, I started the day like usual. My alarm interrupted my dream about Tim Lincecum Taylor Kitsch promptly at 7am and I reluctantly rolled over on my side from my face down star shaped sleeping position to turn off my alarm (groaning the whole way). There’s drool on my face, there’s crust in my eyes and if our air conditioning wasn’t working properly, there is probably sweaty hair mashed on my face. I know what you’re thinking right now and I just want you to know that Tim Lincecum or Taylor Kitsch would be lucky to have me.
Anyway, then I get up, make lunch and leave for school. But this was not just any day. This was the day we actually got to see nuisance law in action during our property class. Property nowadays can be a bit dull, so it was a nice change of pace to see a boring topic come alive in the court room. We watched oral arguments before the Tejas Supreme Court (at least I think it was) about a nuisance case.
Side Note: I never shared this with you people when I was working at Keesal, but going to arbitration and trial was my favorite thing of all time. I would literally lose sleep at night thinking through the issues and I wasn’t even the freakin’ lawyer. In fact, I was the low class idiot clicking next slide on cue or bringing up exhibits like it was my job (…it was my job). But there is nothing like watching a case be tried and nothing other than competitive sports gets my adrenaline pumping more. I sweat the entire time. My heartbeat races. I get so nervous because I think it’s so cool that I have to hold back giggling. In fact, at this very moment, I’m typing with one hand and holding an L for “loser” to my forehead with the other.
Anyway, we watched the court proceedings live and it was awesome. And I loved it and I thought about how cool it would be to be an appellate lawyer versus a trial lawyer.
Fast forward 1 hour: I’m eating a delicious free sandwich for lunch. I’m sitting in one of those squeaky plastic fold out chairs and Judge Lee Rosenthal (Federal District Court Judge in Houston) is sitting one table away from me. She talked to us about the joys of being a Federal judge, being on the federal rules of civil procedure committee (or something like that) and all of these other fabulous things. She talked about her typical day (that doesn’t exist apparently), the types of cases she hears, and how much she values and keeps up with her clerks. This was all music to my ears as I am dying to do a clerkship after graduating and was thrilled to hear a judge say how much she loves having clerks.
I know that this may seem lame to some of you; like I know big wup right? But for some reason, I care about this crap and so I got really excited. Like more excited than I was when I met William Perry also known as the bad ass Secretary of Defense under Clinton. Ya, I met that guy and listened to him talk about working in the White House and being a really awesome engineer who thought about nuclear weapons all the time. And while I was impressed with his accomplishments, all I could think in my head was: “This is not for me. I will never have that feeling. Why am I studying policy?” I had the same feeling my entire undergrad while studying the annoying subject that is International Relations. I had the exact opposite feeling last Wednesday: “This is for me. Everything I do from here on out could mean something. I can change someone’s life for better or for worse and I don’t have to marry them to do it. I might love rules more than I love a perfectly cooked scallop.” It’s a nice feeling to know you’re in the right place and to feel like you might finally be on the right track to to getting where you were always trying to go before.
These little nuggets or highlights of real people doing real things help you to remember that you are a real person and you can also do real things. It’s the first time I’ve felt really sure about anything in my life and it’s pretty freaking awesome.
sk and more sk,
Bri
p.s. If you figured out what sk stands for, we are true friends.
Tags: career, inspiration, law school
