Studying. Estudiando.

Sitting shirtless at my computer, working feverishly, and dripping sweat. A cup of strong, black coffee at hand. Birds singing raucously outside. Sunlight streaming through the window. Suddenly, I am transported back to Madrid.

Me siento en frente de mi ordenador, sin camisa, trabajando locamente. El sudor corre por la espalda y se gotea de las piernas. Una taza de cafe muy fuerte está lista para el trago ocasional. Afuera, los pájaros cantan ruidosamente. Los rayos de sol entran por la ventana abierta y rebotan por mi habitación. De repente, en mi espíritu, me traslado otra vez a Madrid.

Note to Self

Almost three years ago, I embarked on an incredible voyage of learning when I entered law school. As I looked forward to the experience that then lay before me, I imagined that I would learn something about myself as well as something about the law and, indeed, I did. Anticipating such an outcome, our professor, Steve Friedland, had each of us in my class write a letter from ourselves in orientation to ourselves at graduation. August 2007 Justin wrote the following to May 2010 Justin:

Dear Justin,

Congratulations! You've made it through what would appear from this end to be three of the most challenging years of your life!

What do the past three years look like from where you are now? From here, they are nebulous, expansive, and overwhelming. I'm unsure if I'm up to the challenge, if I'll be able to give my best all of the way through. What friendships that I'm now making will survive? What new friendships will I make? I've already formed opinions about many of my classmates; how will those change?

When I first walked in the doors here, I had notions of forming an investing club, an LGBT legal issues group (out of which might even grow a law review journal), and even had the notion that I'd introduce a motion to rename the SBA to the Litigating Christians. But right now, just after orientation and boot camp, at the threshold of my actual 1L classes, I wonder how much of that, if any, I'll have time to do. I wonder how much of [it] I'll feel free to do; I already see cliques forming among my classmates and see at work the same social pressures that I felt in high school.

I wonder, too, what will become of my relationship with Chris, given the time commitment that I fear law school will require me to make. We briefly discussed the matter yesterday after church, when I asked him how he felt when he was in seminary and was the one who had such demands on this time. He said that he just did it; that he and [his ex-spouse] had made the decision for him to enter into this and he was going to do the best that he could. He busied himself all afternoon reading, cleaning, baking, folding a load of laundry that I'd brought to his place, and ordering diner in. Later, when I'd been studying on his sofa for eight or nine hours, I felt my GERD flaring up and he went to the grocery store to fetch medicine for me. I do need to dispose of this guilt somehow so that I feel free to do my best without being distracted too much with thoughts of what I'm neglecting.

I hope that I graduate in the top third of my class. Did I? I hope that I'm able to join law review or become involved in at least one student organization in which I can demonstrate my abilities. I hope that I will be able to go to Madrid in summer 2008 and engage in some law-oriented work for the remainder of that summer (in Europe?). I hope that I get a good internship with a desirable firm in NC, preferably Raleigh or Greensboro, Asheville or Wilmington, or even Charlotte, which has charmed me on recent visits. (Remember whitewater rafting with Chris, Jenny, and the Debbies; Harry Potter with Chris, Christopher, Vanessa, and Josh?)

Donna's mom, Jan, is recovering from cancer surgery and Papaw has recently learned that he needs a heart valve replacement. I wonder how these situations will play out and how I might be called on to balance school and family life.

All of this and more will be known by the time that I read this letter again. Hopefully, this letter will help me to reflect on what I've accomplished and give me strength to face the bar review and exam with confidence and determination. After that? Well, who cares!? I'll have passed the bar exam! From that point, I can accomplish anything that I wish!

Best to you, future self!

Love, Justin

I remember thinking, when I wrote this letter, that I had high hopes for my academic achievement, but that I also wanted to set realistic expectations for myself. I didn't get on law review or moot court, due to a variety of SNAFUs that had nothing to do with my academic ability. I did, indeed, graduate in the top third of my class and exceeded the expectations that I memorialized in this writing, actually performing more in line with the expectations that I kept unwritten. I did form OutLaw, a social/educational organization for LGBT and allied law students. Although I am known for my puckish sense of humor, I never did pay homage to Elon's former mascot by proposing that we rename our SBA to the Litigating Christians. (Elon changed its mascot from the Fighting Christians to the Phoenix at about the same time that it transformed itself from a college to a university around 2000.) I did go to Madrid (and Beijing the next year) and accepted legal internships in both summers, including one in Charlotte during my second summer.

I am still friends and friendly with the same folks with whom I began developing those relationships during orientation. The depth and breadth of those and other relationships developed naturally over the three years of school. Those to whom I was friendly were and still are friendly in return; those to whom I was civil were and still are civil in return. I don't feel rejected by any of the folks with whom I graduated.

My relationship with Chris did undergo a radical change during law school. The change didn't have so much to do with law school itself; he was always very understanding of my need to devote time to my studies and I think that I struck a good balance between spending time with my books and with my spouse. Our break-up was about the path that I am travelling, on which law school was a vehicle. Our paths were parallel for a while and we enjoyed that time a great deal. When it became clear that our paths would diverge, we dealt with the inevitable as best as we could and set each other free.

Jan continues to fight and to survive and travelled from Kansas to North Carolina to visit friends and family at Christmas. Papaw has since had two heart surgeries and is doing well in that arena, though other health challenges have emerged.

This process of learning and growing isn't over yet. This summer and even the coming year promise many more challenges as well as opportunities. All I can do is stay positive, expect from the universe the goodness that I know that I deserve, and do something every day to move me closer to my goals.

"He's at the forty, the thirty, the twenty ... score!"

Ni hao!

Greetings from Beijing, where I'm doing another study-abroad. I'm at the Law School of Renmin University of China, studying Chinese business law through a program sponsored by Indiana U/Purdue U-Indianapolis. I arrived on 20 May and will be abroad until 30 June.

Unfortunately, I can't access my blog from China, except through Elon's VPN, which is a bit of a cumbersome process. Never fear, though! I've been keeping a blog/journal by posting notes on my Facebook profile, so have a look over there. As always, photos are on Flickr, at the following URL.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrervin/

Huitou jian!

Juxtaposition du jour

The following is the actual title and subtitle of an item in the Monthly Update that I receive today in e-mail from the American Bar Association Law Student Division.

Commission on Homelessness and Poverty
Welcome Law Students

What a great Friday chuckle! :J

Get Out, already!

Wow... nothing for nearly two months and now two posts in one day! What's next, parity of the dollar with the euro?

I'm Founding President of OutLaw, an organization of students at Elon University School of Law who are interested in legal issues affecting the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender community. OutLaw is open to all Elon Law students.

On Wendesday of this week, OutLaw hosted its inaugural programming event, the Out Lawyer Forum. Three local attorneys came to the law school and spoke to about two dozen students, faculty, and staff about practicing law as an openly-gay or -lesbian lawyer in Greensboro. Panelists included Ron Johnson (partner in the law firm of Johnson, Peddrick, and McDonald who has practiced in Greensboro since 1974 and is a Board Certified Specialist in estate planning and probate law), Rebecca Perry (who has practiced family law as a solo practitioner in Greensboro since 2002, is a Board Certified Specialist in family law, and is an active member of the State Bars of North Carolina and Texas), and Andrew Spainhour (who worked as a lobbyist's assistant in Washington DC before turning down job offers in New York to become corporate counsel of Replacements Ltd). Law school Dean Leary Davis and his guest, David Campbell, a scholar of the role that diversity plays in leadership, welcomed the panelists and audience as the program began.

All in all, the program was a great success. Read all about it!

http://www.elon.edu/e-web/academics/law/outlaw_forum_3_08.xhtml

:J

My Day in Court

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. Everyone has their day in court for one reason or another and yesterday was mine. I emptied my pockets and walked through the metal detector and into the court house. I took the elevator up to the fourth floor and checked with the prosecutor's office to find out where I should go. Down two floors and into the packed criminal court room. A second-year classmate interning with the prosecutor's office saw me come in; her mouth flew open and she grabbed the docket sheet to see where my name was on it. I found a seat and took it quietly, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

I had had enough continuances and it was time to face the fact that I had to spend a day observing criminal court for my criminal law class. The prosecutor's office told me where I should go to see the most action. Luckily and to her relief, my classmate didn't find my name on the docket sheet. There were plenty of others, though! It took about twenty minutes just for docket call--reading all of the names from the list of cases to be heard. Probably one-third to one-half of the cases were continued to another day. Probably a fifth were dismissed and another third were deferred pending payment of restitution or completion of an alternative sentencing program. Several people plead guilty, so I saw the process that follows that. A few people were released after time served in the county jail since arrest and agreeing to pay court costs. It looked as if there would be two or three bench trials that afternoon, but I couldn't stick around that long. My accompanying classmate, Jon, and I left at lunch recess. It was, indeed, an interesting experience and one that excites me for what's to come this summer.

So... this summer. It looks like I'll be interning in the prosecutor's office in the county where my grandparents live during the second half of the summer! It's an unpaid position, but I look forward to soaking up some rich experiences in the courtroom and spending some quality time with my grandparents during my six weeks there. I came to law school with the thought of practicing estate planning; I never imagined that I'd go into criminal law and I'm still not committing myself to anything. However, my IT career put me nearly half-way through the thirty years of State service required to retire with full benefits, so the thought of going back into State service after law school, finishing my thirty years, and walking out the door with pension and health insurance at age 55 is very attractive. I wouldn't be limited to working as a prosecutor, either. Several (but not all) of NC's judicial districts have public defenders. All of NC's public universities have a University Counsel, and tons of attorneys work in the NC Department of Justice, as that department handles litigation for all state agencies. It's quite likely that a return to State service is in my future.

My internship is the second half of the summer. During the first half, I'm going to Europe to take UNCG's culture and conversation course in Madrid for a month and then spend a couple of weeks visiting friends in France and Italy. Of course, I'm looking forward to my trip to Europe, but I also can't wait to return to my internship!

For better or worse, Chris will be working in Maryland all summer. That'll be good because he'll be away from home himself, which might keep his mind off of the fact that I'm away, too. He'll also be able to spend time with and become better acquainted with some of our friends in that area and the area itself, which has always held some appeal for me. His being away could be bad because he might get bored living in a hotel room for months. But, we've survived his previous travels for work and it has real benefits, so we'll get through it this summer, too.

So, there's a nutshell update. There's no rest for the weary, as I have a 15-page Motion for Summary Judgment to crank out this weekend. For those not in the law, summary judgment is a decision about the case based on the facts as presented to the court in pre-trial documents; the facts are undisputed and so clear that a trial is not necessary. (It's the job of the jury in a jury trial or of the judge in a bench trial to decide the facts -- basically, who has the more compelling story or who's telling the truth.) The movant (party making the motion) is asking the court to rule as a matter of law; the only question to be resolved is how the law applies to the facts, which is always the job of the judge. Summary judgment is much quicker and much less expensive than a trial, so is often viewed as a preferred method of resolving cases. Woo-hoo!

So, I'm off to summary judgment land! Don't worry; I won't send a postcard. :J

Computer Blue

Note: I wrote this entry shortly before Christmas, but waited until now (a month later) to post it so that revealing the details of my computer SNAFU during exams wouldn't violate my school's honor code, which requires anonymity in exam grading. :J

Exams actually got off to a quite exciting start. As I rebooted my computer to take my very first law school exam, Windows flaked out on me and I had to hand-write my exam! For some unknown reason, Windows Vista had suddenly decided that my license was no longer valid and locked me out of most functionality, generously allowing me into my Web browser where I could buy a new license for $215. After four hours on the phone with Costco and HP, a crying fit, several nights of fitful sleep, and worrying at least an hour or two off of the end of my life, I was no closer to a solution. With a functional browser, I was able to send my crucial documents to myself in e-mail and download them onto a flash drive via my desktop computer, which allowed me to continue studying at home and in the lab at school. I borrowed a computer from school for my second exam. I finally faced reality and hit the virtual reset button, restoring my hard drive to its factory condition. I took my other exams on my own computer, but spent two full days reinstalling all of my software and readjusting my configurations.

Through all of this trauma, Costco (which offers limited support for computers that it sells and whose staff was great) and HP were very helpful. I got bubkes from Miscrosoft, though. Even HP got from Microsoft the same run-around as I and I never spoke to anyone at Miscrosoft whom I felt could have helped me with my problem, if they understood what it was. To add insult to injury, I would have had to pay $59 to speak to anyone beyond the guy that could only take my credit card information in exchange for a new license key.

All's well now, but I wonder... when it comes time for me to buy a new computer, will I join the ranks of the millions of Mac users and housekeeper that declare, "I don't do Windows?" :J

And That's Final!

Exams are over, at last, and my first semester of law school is history, but a relaxing winter break is hardly in the cards for me.

To celebrate the end of exams, Chris and I went to Asheville for the weekend, dined at one of the restaurants on Biltmore Estate (The Bistro), and took a candle-light tour of Biltmore House. The food was excellent and it was fun to see the House in its full holiday finery, but I had car trouble on the trip. My car, Diego, decided to help me to develop an appreciation for irony and chose one of the coldest days of the year, in Asheville, in the snow even, to fry his water pump and overheat. He is now convalescing at the mechanic's while I get a work-out on the bus.

Right after all the family visits and festivities, I'll be consumed with packing and moving, since my roommate bought a new house a few weeks ago and will close the deal just before New Year. My cat, Cilantro, displeased with my scarcity around the house since I entered law school, has taken to urinating in a few choice spots around our current house. He can't do that in the new house, so as part of the move, he's going to Virginia to live with Jeff. I'm sure that I'll enjoy the brief visit with Jeff and his family, but I'll for sure miss Cilantro's rich personality and his antics. (Yes, it was just over a year ago that my other cat, Curry, passed away of complications from diabetes.)

On the brighter side, Chris has kitted out his condo with a doggie bed, kennel, and bowls in anticipation of my dog, Pepper, spending more time there. The ability to bring Pepper with me to Chris' along with Cilantro's move will give me a lot more flexibility with regard to traveling with Pepper and staying in Greensboro without feeling guilty about leaving her behind and imposing on my roommate to look after her.

I'm keeping my spirits up during all of this with feeling good about exams (grades in February), thinking about how much worse some of these scenarios could have turned out, and looking forward to my trip to Spain this summer!

Let's wrap things up with a random thought... Is it any wonder that two-thirds of personal bankruptcies in the United States are because of medical bills? My grandpa had heart surgery to replace a valve a few months ago and the bills have started to roll in. The first one was an eye-popper. For two weeks of hospitalization, two days of which were in intensive care, the bill was $110,000. Where I live, that's a modest house! Yes, his insurance will pay much of that, but can you imagine his reaction if he didn't have insurance? I dare say that his heart surgery would have been for naught at that point.

¡Feliz Navidad y prospero año nuevo! :J

Black's Friday

If I were more conscientious, I'd probably write in my blog more often. Then again, since I'm in law school, if I were more conscientious, I might have put my blog on hiatus while classes were in session. As with most anything, both perspectives are equally valid and could be convincingly argued by a skilled orator (or oratrix). Classes ended yesterday, I handed in the last project for my skills classes today, and the two-week final exam period for my substantive law classes begins Monday!

I have learned much cool vocabulary in my first semester of law school, some of which I will endeavor to incorporate in a more or less puckish way into my daily patois, including the following.

vexatious delay:

Black's Law Dictionary (8th edition, 2004) defines this as "An insurance company's unjustifiable refusal to satisfy an insurance claim, esp. based on a mere suspicion but no hard facts that the claim is ill-founded." I define this as spiteful dawdling.

prolixity (n.):

Black's defines this as "The unnecessary and superfluous stating of facts and arguments in pleading or evidence." I define it as argumentative, redundant, and irrelevant. The adjective form is prolix, which sounds like a medication for sexual dysfunction or a mechanical aid for such a condition.

frolic:

Black's calls this an employee's significant deviation from the employer's business for personal reasons; a frolic is outside the scope of employment, and thus the employer is not vicariously liable for the employee's actions.

detour:

Blacks' says that this is an employee's minor deviation from the employer's business for personal reasons; because a detour falls within the scope of employment, the employer is still vicariously liable for the employee's actions.

frolic and detour:

going off-course to do something unrelated to the original errand

So, in an effort to avoid the vexatious delay of my studies, I shall avoid prolixity and defer any frolic and detour until after my exams conclude on 13 December. :J

Fall Break

Oh, merde! I forgot that I have a blog!

No, I didn't really forget, but sometimes it would seem that way. The truth is that a combination of school and what many bloggers suffer (call it burnout, block, or what have you) have conspired to both prevent me from writing and keep me unmotivated to write.

I will note that law school is going well. It is certainly challenging, but I feel that I have a hold on things. (We'll see if that feeling lasts past Thanksgiving or, for that matter, very far into November.) There is endless reading, but it's not like reading a novel or even reading a college textbook, it's like reading a refrigerator warranty, a credit card agreement, or a mortgage promissory note. It's dense, detailed, and, quite often, dull. To continue the alliteration, it requires a good dose of diligence, too. I often get a page or two into my nightly reading and begin to think about how dry it is and how much of it yet lies ahead. My mind drifts and suddenly it's two pages later and I can't recall a word from from those two pages, so I have to go back to what I do remember and pick it up there. Right on cue, my brain drifts at the same point as if triggered to do so by a particular word (no doubt a Latin word). I repeat the process, staying alert for the trigger word, and force myself past the blockade.

Not all of the reading is dull. Earlier this week, I knew that things were going to be interesting when a case began, "An unfortunate combination of gasoline, matches, and a seven-year-old boy resulted in the lawsuit which underlies this appeal." (Peterson v. Taylor, 316 NW 2d 869, Iowa 1982). Then there was the case that even my case book referred to as "The Nitroglycerin Case" (Parrot v. Wells-Fargo, 82 US 524, 21 L Ed 206, 1872). Ahh, if only all of life were as blazingly gratifying as torts class!

Fortunately, fall break gave me a reprieve from school earlier this week and I was able to enjoy a bit of life as I once knew it. Chris and I rented a cabin in Grayson County, Virginia, and spent a weekend on the side of a mountain, 20 miles from the nearest grocery store, in the middle of the pasture of a sanctuary farm for rescued animals. Rugby Creek Farm is home to horses, goats, dogs, cats, chickens, donkeys, and guinea hens that have been rescued from a variety of sad situations. Cabin rentals help to fund their full-time animal rescue operation, which recently achieved 501(c)3 non-profit status. We toured the farm and met all of the animals, enjoyed a short but scenic hike in Grayson Highlands State Park, and attended a molasses festival at the Mount Rogers Volunteer Fire Department and Rescue Squad. I also seized the opportunity to do something that I've not had the time to do since I've been in school -- I cooked! Bringing some ingredients from home and gathering more provisions from the Food City in Independence (where the local newspaper is called The Declaration), I made a pot of vegetarian chili on Saturday evening. See photos from the weekend in my Flickr.

We returned home on Sunday evening. I had grand plans to catch up and get ahead by reading supplements and getting my outlines in order, but so much stuff that I've put off during school (filing, laundry, software updates, etc) stood up and demanded attention and it was all that I could do on Tuesday evening to finish my reading for Wednesday. Ugh.

I'm already looking forward to the summer and how I'm going to fill my time without school. I'd like to get an internship in a law office or working for a judge for part of the summer, but I'm making plans to go to Madrid for another part of the summer to work on my language skills. I've applied to UNCG's program in Madrid (which focuses on language and culture) and am looking at William and Mary's program (which focuses on European law).

For now, I'm paddling along until Christmas, by which time I'll be looking festive with my red eyes and green complexion. :J

Life Happens

Yep, life goes on, even when you've built a fort of Aspen case books around yourself. I found out yesterday that Papaw will have open-heart surgery tomorrow (Fri, 21 Sep) to replace a faulty valve. I knew from a doctor visit that he had several weeks ago that the procedure was inevitable, but found out just yesterday that the blackouts that he's been having are a result of this faulty valve and that the next blackout could be his last. So, he and Mamaw are headed to Charlotte today for pre-operative tests. He'll likely be in the hospital for a week and could have another week in a rehabilitation center after that. Though it's a major event, I'm not unduly concerned about the procedure itself; it's the recovery that concerns me. I'm afraid that Papaw will go stir-crazy not being able to move about freely and that the added responsibility of intensely caring for someone will wear on Mamaw. I hope that their financial situation and their pride will allow them to hire a home health-care worker.

It's been almost a month since my last blog entry. Some topics have crossed my mind, but I've not had time to develop my thoughts on them or commit them to writing. I miss my daily walks around UNCG; I occasionally walk around downtown, but it's not as enjoyable. There are many conservative people around me, but I have found that most of them are quite cool; "conservative" seems to have different implications for my many classmates who are 12-14 years younger than me. When I've visited UNCG, I've experienced something akin to culture shock at observing how people dress on that campus (hip, trendy, casual) compared to how folks dress at Elon Law (stylish, dressy, casually/comfortably conservative). Those are just a few of the things that have been crossing my mind lately (besides elements of intent, personal jurisdiction, bargain for consideration, and adverse possession). :J

Whitewater, take me away!

Shorty entry tonight.

Roomie Leslie heard about a man-made white-water facility in Charlotte, so on Saturday, several of us headed down to the US National Whitewater Center. Chris; my cousin, Jenny; two of Leslie's work friends, both named Debbie; and I piled into a rubber boat with helmets and flotation vests with a guide and two other tourists and spent two hours on rapids in classes 2-4. It was awesome! I was quite anxious about the whole affair, not knowing what to expect and wondering what I'd do if I went overboard. Fortunately, the facility gave us a good run-down of basic paddling techniques and safety procedures, so I felt fairly well prepared before I got in the boat. Our boat did tip twice, but my feet stayed wedged fast under the inflated cross-braces, so I stayed in, though the womon in front of me went for a dip. Our biggest mishap was arriving a few minutes late for our appointed time and having to wait for 90 minutes until they could squeeze us in. If you go, DO make a reservation and DO check-in at the training pavilions early! Leslie; Christopher; and another of Leslie's work friends, also named Debbie (I'm beginning to think that all of Leslie's work friends are named Debbie, even the guys.) went flat-water kayaking due to Christopher's age. Debbie's boyfriend elected to bring his bike and he enjoyed the several miles of trails that meander around the facility. We'd entertained notions of stopping at Northlake Mall or Concord Mills on the way home, but we were so beat that we headed directly home, stopping only after we arrived in Kernersville for a yummy dinner at Don Juan's.

Law school orientation starts Thursday, just 3.5 days from now. I'm excited, but I'm also a bit bummed because I've scarcely made a dent in the list of projects that I wanted to work on between leaving work and starting school. I'm going to Rockingham to visit Mamaw and Papaw for a few days this week, but I'd also like to visit Mum if only I had a bit more time. If I were to be realistic about it, I could lay out until Christmas and still not get everything done! You'll recall that I have to wear a suit to the first two days of orientation (the first day for photos and the second day to look presentable for big-wigs). Well, I had a look at the forecast for Thursday and it's calling for a high temperature of ONE HUNDRED degrees F (38 C)! Yikes! I guess it's all in a day's work. Er... :J

It hasn't yet registered, though I have.

I received in the mail last week my class schedule for my first semester of law school and it looks crazy! It includes six classes that represent fairly standard 1L fare: Civil Procedure, Contracts, Property, Torts, Legal Writing and Research, and Issues in Lawyering and Leadership. This adds up to 15 credit hours, quite a heavy load for graduate-level work! (Fifteen hours was my normal load in undergrad and most graduate students would tell you that 9 hours is normal and 12 hours is pushing it.) On the bright side, only four of my classes have final exams and they're spread out over a two-week period. The craziest thing about the schedule is how the classes are "arranged". Some meet on Tuesday and Thursday; one meets Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday; one meets only on Monday; one meets on Wednesday and Friday; another meets at different times on Wednesday and Friday. This bit of paper will be well-worn by the time I get the hang of that schedule.

With my list of courses in hand, I went shopping for books today, comparing prices and trying to balance cost with the condition of used textbooks. I ended up buying from amazon.com and independent sellers on half.com and amazon.com and spent a total of $479, including shipping. I fell confident that I saved a bit over buying used texts from the campus shop and probably would've spent about $1,000 had I purchased all new texts.

Along with my class schedule came other information explaining that our first couple of days would be half-days filled with normal registration and orientation activities: ID cards, parking registration, gym passes, locker assignments, laptop computer wireless configuration, etc. Notably, I'll have to wear a suit on my first day for my a portrait that will appear in a jobs placement booklet. The following full days will include more orientation, a skills and personality assessment (DISC profile, Myers-Briggs inventory), a tour of the main campus, a reception a the University President's house, a service project, and three days of "boot camp" meant to "introduce students to the rigors of law school and the differences between legal education and undergraduate learning."

An interesting side-note to the above mention of personality assessments is that I took the Myers-Briggs inventory in undergrad and turned out as ENFP; when I took it a few years later, I turned out ISTJ. Upon reading the linked descriptions of these personality types, I see little relevant to my own personality in the ENFP type, but the ISTJ type reads like the report of a private investigator that has followed me for the past ten years!

Besides preparations for a new beginning in school, I'm also winding things down at work by finishing projects, documenting my procedures, answering colleagues' questions, and exchanging goodbyes with co-workers that I've know as long as 18 years! I've also had more than one party thrown in my honor, which featured amazing food (sushi, hummus, shrimp, scallops, smoked salmon, salsa, bean dip, brownies, cookies -- all of my favorites!), good drink (Yuengling), and brief speakers. My colleagues in ERIT chipped-in and gave me an iPod as a going-away gift, which was a wonderful surprise!

One of my colleagues asked me what I'd miss most about working in the Libraries and in ERIT. I glibly gave a few obvious answers: the free health insurance, the regular hours, seeing the same folks every day. Honestly, though, I don't know that I'm able to say what I'll miss. Having been where I am for so long and having work become such a part of me and me of it, I don't know that I can distinguish enough between the people, places, and activities of work and those of other parts of my life to think about missing them. It's as if someone were to ask you what you'd miss about breathing air or living with gravity. I'm going into something so different and exciting that I imagine that my new environment and experiences will handily fill many of the voids left behind my current routines. :J

Kernersvegas

By now, I should've closed on and moved into my condo in Greensboro. Negotiations with the seller were quite brief and the inspection turned up little of concern. I knew when I made the offer that I was buying the most expensive unit in the community of about 200 condos, but I figured that it was worth it since there's steady demand for housing in that area and my unit would have a brand new kitchen, furnace, water heater, and even a gas stove for back-up heat. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.

Bad news came back with the appraisal, which valued the unit at about 5% less than what I'd agreed to pay. The seller, who was not using an agent, had made noises that he wasn't willing to lower the price since he'd accounted for his renovations and a buyer's agent's commission in the price. At the same time, the mortgage company wouldn't lend me all of the money that I'd need to buy the place. I had a few options before me if I really wanted the place. I could pay for another appraisal, but that seemed pointless. The appraisal looked reasonable enough to me and my realtor's research revealed it to be so; it even appeared that the appraiser had tried to help me out a bit by using comparables at the higher end of the scale and looking at a very similar community about a mile away (Whilden Place) where units sell at consistently higher prices. Other options involved even more money coming out of my pocket and none of them were at all appealing; some even seemed ethically questionable, though legal. I decided to let the condo go on the grounds that it didn't appraise and I couldn't get satisfactory financing. It took about a week of my realtor's arm-twisting and my own hand-wringing to convince the sellers to sign termination papers on the sales contract, but they finally did and I look forward to picking up a check for my earnest money before the weekend.

During this drama, Leslie, my friend with whom I was staying in Kernersville, made me a very good offer to rent space in her house. A bit of budget forecasting showed that this would be a very good move, even after accounting for the additional fuel and car maintenance costs, and would provide each of us with a built-in pet-sitter.

I've spent the past week settling into my new digs, the large bonus room above Leslie's garage. She installed ceiling fans and a closet system and I've been dragging things out from storage to make the place homey. I brought Cilly to his new home and he is acclimating well and becoming acquainted with his new canine cousin, Leslie's dog, Emma.

With the housing question answered, I turned my attention to other law school housekeeping matters -- applying for student loans and purchasing a laptop. The loan applications are in and I hope to hear something soon. I'd assumed that I'd buy a Dell laptop, but I don't care for the looks of their current line. I'd seen some nice Hewlett-Packard laptops at Costco, so I compared prices around town. Costco's prices were about the best around (bested by Sam's by a few pennies, but beating hp.com by a few hundred dollars). I was still nervous about shelling out so much money for a computer with an operating system that I'd never used (Windows Vista) from a manufacturer with whose products I had little experience, but Costco has a good return policy for computers, offers technical support, and extends the manufacturer's warranty on computers that it sells, so I finally settled on configuring a system myself on costco.com and expect it to arrive soon.

Meanwhile, Chris has been having his own housing drama, but I can hear the fat lady warming up so a climax seems to be drawing near; he'll move into his new condo this weekend.

Though I've heard the -vegas suffix applied with varying degrees of admiration and derision to many -villes (particularly Nashville, to become Nashvegas), Kernersvegas is a particularly apt moniker for Kernersville for me, since Leslie moved here about a year ago from Las Vegas AND the fact that I'm about to roll the dice in the crap-shoot of life in a quite fabulous way. :J

Law School News

On Thursday of last week (29 March), I arrived home to find in the mail a thin envelope from the law school at Wake Forest University. My heart sank before I even opened it, but I did open it and read the letter that said what I'd guessed that it said. The law school here in the town where I live did not choose to offer me a spot in this fall's entering class. That means that I'll need to sell my house and move to wherever I do end up going to school.

WFU's decision did surprise and disappoint me, but I'm certainly not without options. Elon's new law school is already making a name for itself with its robust program and is forging strong and close ties with the Greensboro legal community. Campbell is well-known in North Carolina for its comprehensive lawyering skills and trial advocacy preparation, as well as its graduates' high passage rates on the bar exam.

Though I've not yet heard from the law schools at UNC Chapel Hill or NCCU, things do seem to be gelling around Elon for me. Just days after I received WFU's rejection, Elon notified me that they'd increased the amount of my scholarship. I also have a lead on a new condominium building in Greensboro that I could afford while in school and that would be an easy drive to Elon's law school in downtown. It doesn't hurt that Chris just bought a unit in that very building!

Another interesting turn of events happened today. Two work colleagues approached my desk with a man that I didn't recognize. He introduced himself, "Hi, I'm Mitchell Counts, Elon's law librarian." Wow! My colleague, Kathy, knew that I'd applied to Elon Law and wanted for me to meet Mitchell while he was visiting our library. Mitchell mentioned that he's on the admissions committee and had probably seen my application. I explained that I was the one that used the tasteless Mary Jo Kopechne and Ted Kennedy metaphor in my personal statement, to which he replied, "Oh, yes! I remember!" And that was the point! My personal statement had stood out from the pack! And they STILL let me in! So, I feel better and better about Elon Law every day and part of me wonders if the decisions from UNC Chapel Hill and NCCU will even matter by the time that they arrive.

I'm sad about selling my house, but I do realize that it's something that I need to do. I think that the time and money spent commuting between Winston-Salem and Greensboro would be far better spent otherwise while I'm in law school. This house was my home with Jeff, but for almost a year, I've come to love it as my home and mine alone. If I were to stay in my house while in law school, I'd have to get a roommate and that would drastically alter the dynamics. I might not want to do it, but I think that it's just best to sell my house and move on. :J

Knoxed Out

First, forgive the pun. More on that in a second.

Second, I received yesterday a letter from the College of Law at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK) in which they wrote that they were unable to offer to me a spot in this fall's entering class. Oh, well; c'est la vie.

UTK wasn't on my original short list of law schools, but they became a contender when I spoke with Karen Britton, the school's Director of Admissions, Financial Aid, and Career Services, at the law school expo at WFU back in November. My friend, Kim, did her PhD work in industrial psychology at UTK and was awarded a sweet assistantship during her time there that included a tuition waiver as well as a stipend, so I was interested to find out that the College of Law has a similar program. UTK's application fee is bargain-basement cheap (only $15!), so I figured that I had little to lose and much to gain.

When I opened my mailbox and found the very thin envelope, I did feel a bit of disappointment, but I'm far from crushed. If enrollment management at Tennessee's public universities works anything like it does at North Carolina's, then quotas mean that out-of-state students must have significantly better qualifications than in-state students for admission to the same programs. So, while my LSAT score was right around UTK's median, it's the average for all students and I suspect that the out-of-state median is quite a bit higher than the in-state median.

So, the title... yea. I wanted to come up with something fun based on the state song like I did when I received my decision letter from UVa. For that entry, I used the title of the former commonwealth song. Interestingly, Virginia currently has no official commonwealth song. By contrast, Tennessee has seven official state songs (appropriate since its capital is known as Music City), none of which lent themselves to a quick literary perversion. Zut alors ! :J

Carry Me Back to Old Virginny -- Not

My letter from the law school at UVa did arrive today and it seems that I was not meant to be a Cavalier, as they wrote that they regrettably could not offer me a place in their Fall 2007 entering class.

And that's fine. I always knew that UVa was a far reach for me and figured that if any school rejected me, that'd be the one. Though the thought of attending one of the country's top ten law schools was an amazing prospect, I had begun to wonder during the past week whether UVa really would be the best place for me. The most obvious concern was the cost; my tuition as an out-of-commonwealth student would've been upwards of $35,000 per year, nearly twice the annual limit for federal student aid loans. A secondary consideration was the orientation of the curriculum at such an elite school. Would it be too theoretical for my tastes and needs? Would I be able to acquire the practical skills necessary to practice law? Of course, all of that is a moot point now.

So, one more piece of the puzzle is complete. Hopefully, letters from UNC Chapel Hill and Wake Forest U will arrive in my mail box shortly and I will have occasion to shout "Yahoo!" instead of "Wahoo!" :J

The Reality Check is in the Mail

A couple of months ago, after sending my application to the University of Virginia School of Law, I received an e-mail with information on how to log in to their AdmitWeb system to check the status of my application, which I did occasionally at first and more frequently of late. AdmitWeb faithfully reported as my documents and credentials arrived. For the last several weeks, I've glared at the last line as it mutely reported Decision Mailed: Not Yet.

This evening, I received an e-mail message reporting that the status of my application had changed. I let out a little gasp and virtually rushed on over, logged in, and fumbled a bit as I spun the mouse wheel and read the following.

As of 3/2/07, a decision has been made on your application for admission to the University of Virginia School of Law. To protect the confidentiality of your decision, we will not release decision information over the phone. If you have not received your decision within 10 days of this date, please feel free to call the Admissions Office so that we can verify your contact information. If this does not represent a final decision on your application for admission, you will be notified when further decisions are posted on the status monitor later this season.

The decision is on its way. It might just be a notice that I've been put on a waiting list, but it could very well be a no. Or a yes. Who knows? :J

Campbell = Yes

I received today a letter from the Campbell Law admissions office extending to me an offer of admission for the Fall 2007 entering class! Yay!

Campbell Law is located in Buies Creek NC, 30 miles equidistant from Raleigh and Fayetteville. Their focus is educating lawyers for hometown practice in NC and they do their job very well -- their bar exam pass rate is regularly at the top of the scale, around 97% and 100% in some years. Campbell University is affiliated with the NC Southern Baptist State Convention; they established the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law in 1975. Their Alumni include Elaine Marshall, NC Secretary of State; Ann Marie Calabria, NC Court of Appeals; a friend of mine from undergrad; and the attorney that has handled personal litigation for my family.

I applied to Campbell Law on a lark because I had a fee waiver and Mamaw had pestered me to do so. What had I to lose? Very little. Shortly after I'd applied, I had a pleasant phone interview with James McLaughlin (professor of estate law) that went very well and, what do you know, I'm in! I'm pleased by this because, once again, it's affirming, but also because I now have options. Campbell's mission is in line with my goals, since I plan to remain and practice in North Carolina, and their high bar exam passage rate is certainly a point to their credit.

So, I'm two for two at this point with five schools yet to weigh in. Surely, word of my popularity will now spread and the other law schools will now be clamoring to my mailbox! :J

Life Update

Since completing my law school applications, I've spent a good bit of the past month gloriously vegetating at the computer, playing spider solitaire. (With four suits, nonetheless!) I figure that I deserve the break.

It's not all been fun and games, though. With applications out of the way, other projects have risen to the surface of the priority pool, but working on them has been a boon rather than something to bemoan. As I've made headway on projects at work and at home, my attitude and my outlook have improved. I had been quite frustrated at my slow progress in painting the trim in the master bedroom, so I finally inflicted the task on my handywomon for a few days. Thusly jump-started, I was able to tackle the rest of the project myself and have been gleefully taking down the blue tape that has lined the windows and doors for nearly six months. More home improvement projects await, of course, along with tax forms and law school financial aid applications. I'm also sitting-in on a civil liberties class, have visited a few law schools (UNC Chapel Hill, Wake Forest, and Elon), and have been helping out someone who's recovering from surgery.

Mum and Mamaw visited a few days ago. Mum proudly showed off her new car and I got to drive it around a bit as we had lunch and shopped. Mamaw bought me a vacuum cleaner as an early birthday gift and my rugs have been singing her praises ever since.

So, I've saved the best bit for last. I received a large envelope from Elon Law a couple of weeks ago. I opened it with great anticipation and found inside a pack of forms with a cover letter congratulating me on my admission! Yay! While also validating, it means that I do have a choice of what path my life will take later this year and well beyond. :J