Taking a Break

I've been home for a week. I flew out last Tuesday, in spite of the fact that I overslept and missed my flight! I am still in disbelief that I did such a thing. However, Delta was extremely helpful. I woke up at 6 a.m., 40 minutes before my flight was scheduled to depart, and, after freaking out for about five minutes, called Delta to see if I could reschedule. When I called, an automated system asked me for my frequent flyer number, and then connected me to an operator who said, "Hello, Ms. Stempson, I see that you are going to miss your flight..." and proceeded to tell me that there was another flight I could catch at 8:25. I was amazed that she did all of this instantaneously without even asking me why I was calling. Plus, they only charged me a $50 fee, which I thought was very reasonable. I've been very impressed with Delta during my transcontinental flights over the past couple of years, and this is yet another example of their excellent service.

The first few days home were not quite vacation time, as I had a paper due on Friday. I decided that I preferred to finish editing my paper at home, rather than sticking around in D.C. In light of the crazy snowstorm that dumped 20.5 inches on Arlington and shut down the airports, I am very thankful that I decided to fly out early. I am pleased with how my paper turned out. I wrote it for my Transnational Law seminar, but got it to overlap with my Poverty Law Journal note. The topic was "Child Support and Indigence: How the Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance Will Help Poor Creditor Parents."

Once I submitted my paper online, vacation officially began--not only for me, but also for my family! We've been hanging around the house, baking Christmas cookies, doing some shopping, and getting ready for our Christmas Eve gathering with my uncle and grandmother. Our family tradition is to eat crab on Christmas Eve, yum!

Also, I wanted to share some internship news. First, I am excited to say that I was offered--and accepted--a spring internship with the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless! So, next semester, I will be interning with the Legal Clinic 10 hours per week, which will involve direct client casework, researching legal questions, coalition work, and community education work.

I am still searching for a summer legal internship in the Bay Area. Yesterday, I had an in-person interview with the Santa Clara County office of Bay Area Legal Aid, for a summer internship position. (I had a screening interview with them in D.C. back in October.) The office is right in downtown San Jose, which would be a very easy commute from Sunnyvale. (I plan to live with my family again this summer to save money.) I enjoyed meeting the attorneys who interviewed me... They were both friendly and enthusiastic about their work. BayLegal provides legal services to low-income people living in the Bay Area. Law clerks get to work in one of three fields: domestic violence, housing, or public benefits.

Not sure if I'll post again before Christmas, so:

Merry Christmas!

(Doesn't that photo make my three-foot tree look enormous?)