Although I'm very excited about my grades, my heart hurts as well. I lost a friend and a comrade in this fight against pretentiousness and the upper echelons of the law school elite. It was a dirty rotten thing that happened when the Property grades were messed up, giving someone hope and then ripping it all away. It hurts the most for this person, but it hurts those of us who were friends with this person who wanted very much for this person to succeed and keep fighting the good fight with us. You will be missed.
Moving on to a different area of my life, I finally have been able to ride my horses. I got to show Friday, Saturday and Tuesday. Winning money at the two out of the three shows was a great feeling. Both my horses and myself are completely out of shape and out of practice, but we still managed to give em hell.
Although the Saturday show lasted from 7:00 P.M. till 5:00 A.M.(no joke), I was very happy to be at that one. It was a benefit show where money raised went to a family whose child was having medical problems. I never got the full details but the basics are all you really need to know. Young child very ill, family can't afford medical costs. There were probably about 150 to 200 people at the show, and through a silent auction, a portion of the entry fees, and a live auction of homemade cakes that went for $400 to $500 a piece, the show was a HUGE success raising over $15,000 for the family. It made me so proud and happy to be apart of a community(horsemen and women). The generosity shown by so many was astounding, and I'm glad to know that what little I was able to contribute was going to a very good cause.
I begin my internship with the Department of Public Advocacy next week and I am so looking forward to it. I know that if I head in this direction I'll basically be working for beans(maybe I'll get a magic one some day), but I really feel like this is my calling in the law. It helps those who can't afford to help themselves and it's stable. I'm nervous and excited all at the same time about this internship. I really want to impress the people I'll be working for, but I worry that I won't be able to meet the high standards set. I'm willing and able to work my ass off to do it, but it goes back to that whole hard to believe in my abilities bit.
After going through my first year of law school I can safely say that other than for writing a couple of memos and a brief(all of which I learned how to do on my own and not from the professor) I learned Zippo about how to actually BE an attorney. For all those out there considering it(if I have readers who aren't in law school...hell if I have readers at all), just know that you will be dealing with heavy amounts of bullshit, but if you can survive it, it can be the most rewarding thing you've ever done.
Assess quickly who you want to stick with and who you want to remain acquaintances with during school. I have met some extraordinary people this year during law school and I've met some real jackasses, but the latter doesn't really matter. Find your niche, find your power rangers group and stick with them. You need this support system. I have such a wonderful one and I couldn't have made it through without them every step of the way. We'll be getting our 5th Power Ranger back next year and it will be glorious victory for all. But remember, if this were Survivor you always want that one person that you know would take you to the final. Lean on that person the most, so you can return the favor when they need it.
Although I'm so happy about grades, grades aren't everything. Just ask my friend Red. She's got an amazing job this summer with a bitching pay and she's not in the top 1/3 of our class. However, she's a go get em tiger kind of gal, who never meets a stranger and is able to network like no other. So grades can matter, but they can usually only get you the interview, you have to be the winning personality that gets you the job, otherwise you're a just shooting blanks. As one interviewer told me, "grades aren't everything, not everyone wants to work at a huge firm" He's right, and I'm one of those people. So many people are wanting that big time firm job, with the big time salary, but I wonder if they realize the cost of health and happiness that it will take on them. Long hours and weekends? No thank you. I like Monday through Friday and coming home after that.
And as the immortal song says, "Don't stop believing..."
