Apartment Tour

I just posted photos of the rest of my apartment, completing my tour as promised. Check out the Facebook album:

Studies... Biblical and Legal

I went to a meeting for the Catholic Forum yesterday evening, the Catholic student organization for the law school. Their philosophy is to cater to the desires of the students attending, such that the group differs year by year depending on what people want to do. I am definitely going to be involved, and am excited by the group's potential, especially in the formation of some sort of weekly small group Bible study. For the past few years, I had been attending two to three Bible studies each week between ADX and Newman, so the adjustment to absolutely no spiritual accountability other than Mass thus far has been a bit jarring. I can already see that there is a real danger in letting the workload interfere with my desire to grow in my relationship with Christ. I am glad that the Catholic Forum is explicitly interested in helping students to understand the melding of spirituality and the law, and to take advantage of our unique position at a Jesuit university.

I didn't study very much this weekend. Quite frankly, I was a little disappointed in the amount of time I spent on my work, having started the weekend with eternal optimism about getting ahead in my reading. However, rather than dwelling upon it, I decided that I had set myself up for disappointment by not giving myself any sort of structure or parameters for my studies... I was lacking in tangible goals for my work. So, I sat down and wrote out an ideal weekly schedule that is helping me to better visualize how much studying I want to do on a daily basis, resplendent with time at the library, studying at home, trips to the gym, and--gasp--even breaks. I hope that this schedule will help me to achieve balance, rather than yo-yoing between studying for hours on end all week, and then being burnt out when the weekend comes. Thankfully, today has been very productive, thus far.

I've learned a couple of truths about the law, so far. For one thing, it is a faulty assumption that the law is based on logic. Oh, sad day. Speaking of sadness... another thing I've learned is that it does not matter how you feel about anything (e.g., "I feel like the judge's opinion is biased towards federalism"). No one cares how you feel. In a similar vein, lawyers (and, by extension, law students) must never accept a purported fact without proof, which results in lawyers being highly skeptical of all unsubstantiated claims. As you can see, I'm trying to take this to heart:



See? I don't look like I trust that book as far as I could throw it--which, incidentally, isn't very far, because that thing weighs a ton. In case you're wondering: I'm in the library.

Unrelenting

I have a fortune cookie fortune taped above my desk. It reads, "With perseverance, one can succeed in the most difficult tasks." I think this will prove to be apt advice for law school.

This week has been a lesson in vigilant time management. It would seem that the work is not so much incomprehensible as unrelenting. I can see that I have shed some of the naïveté that I possessed a mere four days ago, but there is still much to learn about law school. Above all else, I am still burning with excitement about being at Georgetown, bolstered by my similarly passionate classmates. Every time I catch sight of the Capitol, I cannot help but to stare in wonderment at my good fortune.

I am taking four classes this semester: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Legal Research and Writing, and Torts. Civ Pro and Con Law are with my entire section of 120 students, and LRW and Torts are in smaller subsections of 30. There is an emphasis on the Socratic method, which I expected, but I did not realize that this meant that when a person was called upon in class, they were put on the spot for the entire hour-and-a-half of the lecture. Again, unrelenting. I have yet to experience cold-calling, but I did volunteer a couple of times, which was exhilirating.

I did some research in the library today. It felt very official to have an actual reason to look up something in the U.S. Code. During orientation, the deans, professors, and upperclassmen kept emphasizing that our legal careers begin not when we graduate, but from the moment we enter law school. At first, I sort of dismissed the statement as a platitude, but the professionalism and legal analysis that I have seen this week is persuading me to the contrary.

I find myself here in D.C.,
A casebook rests on my knee.
I long to explore,
Yet, the reading's hardcore...
Perhaps, at week's end, I'll be free?

Vindication

So, here I am, reading State v. Mallett, 2003 WL 22901008 (Iowa App.) for my Legal Research and Writing course. Halfway through the case, I reach these paragraphs:

Mallett contends this instruction is inconsistent with Iowa Code section 715A.8(2), which provides:

[HN1] A person commits the offense of identity theft if the person with the intent to obtain a benefit fraudulently obtains identification information of another person and uses or attempts to use that information to obtain credit, property, or services without the authorization of that other person."

In her view, the district court erroneously determined that the term "fraudulently" modified the clause before it ("obtain a benefit") rather than the clause after it ("obtains identification information").

Oh, my goodness! This case went to the Iowa Court of Appeals on the basis of a misplaced modifier! Finally, vindication for my English degree.

Orientation Recap

This week has been great! I've met tons of people, started to get a feel for my neighborhood, and have a better understanding of what to expect in this coming year. If I went into the details of everything that happened, it would probably be a bit tedious to read, so I'll give you a highlight of the day instead...

Monday: My dorm had a luau-themed party on the Tower Green, which is our grassy quad in the middle of the law school. It was delightfully dorky, in a middle school dance sort of way, resplendent with plastic leis (and the obligatory jokes that follow), fruity drinks with absurd straws, kebabs, and a limbo competition. I got to check out the bar scene a bit with a bunch of people I had met, and was a particular fan of Rocket Bar, which reminded me somewhat of Albatross, albeit a little--no, a lot--less nerdy.

Tuesday: The 1L class is divided up into four sections to make class sizes more wieldy, and I am in §2. On Tuesday, students within each section had the opportunity to sign up to do community service projects together, which I thought was an awesome idea. I went to Food and Friends, an organization that prepares and delivers meals to more than 1,400 people living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-challenging illnesses in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. It was a good way to get to know some of my peers while promoting the spirit of pro bono (lit., for good) work that is at the heart of Georgetown Law's mission as a Jesuit institution.

Wednesday: Our formal orientation sessions started on Wednesday, with information on registration, financial aid, legal ethics, professionalism, etc., but my favorite part of the day was the Dean's Reception, which was held in the 2nd floor atrium of our main building, McDonough Hall. It was a pretty standard reception, with buffets of finger foods, an open bar, and hoards of people getting to know one another while balancing plates and glasses in their hands precariously, but one table stood out from the rest. It featured humongous piles of jelly beans, sorted by flavor, with scoops available to serve oneself, and buckets of enormous lollypops, literally the size of my face (like the ones you see little kids eating at Disneyland). It was such a non sequitur! It set the mood for the entertainment we got to watch after the reception, the Capitol Steps, a comedy musical troupe with a penchant for political humor. My favorite song was Obama Mia, a parody of Mama Mia addressing the media's obsession with Obama.

Thursday: There was quite a bit going on, including some faculty talks and meetings with our peer advisors, but my favorite part of the day was the faculty-led moot court of Supreme Court case FCC v. Fox Television Stations, Inc., which is about the first amendment and federal obscenity law, and is on the docket for next month. The professors were eloquent, clever, humorous, and impressive, and really got me excited about my own upcoming opportunities to participate in moot court, which brings me back to my high school debating days.

Friday: We got our formal introduction to law school, by section, including myths about the first year, co-curricular activities, and library resources, and then hopped on charter buses over to the main Georgetown campus a few miles away to be welcomed by the President of the university. A reception followed, not unlike the Dean's Reception (minus the giant lollypops), and then buses were available to head back to the main campus around 8:30 pm. I would venture to say that about 75% of the entering class stayed in Georgetown, which is an awesome district filled with shopping, restaurants, and bars catering not only to the Georgetown undergrads, but also to the area's seeming aspiration to be the 5th Avenue of D.C. I really enjoyed bar-hopping with my roommates, because it was our first opportunity to all hang out together and socialize in a non-structured environment. Heather and Betsy are very cool; I'm so fortunate to be living with them!

This weekend will be pretty busy, between working on my assignments for the first day of class on Tuesday, and visiting with Dorcas, who happens to be in town this week. I'm looking forward to everything coming my way, even if I am a bit nervous about the Socratic method. I think the main task at hand is to keep things in perspective, and not lose sight of the reasons that I am here by getting caught up in the drama and obsession that seems likely to plague the 1L class. It shall be interesting...

Greetings from Georgetown!

I moved into my dorm apartment at Georgetown Law on Saturday, with the gracious help of Grandpa after visiting in North Carolina for the week. It was a very easy move-in process (student staff members from the dorm even carted my boxes for me). After an adventure to the grocery store and some lunch with Grandpa, I started setting up my room, which was refreshing, after living essentially out of a suitcase for two weeks (since I had to ship my things cross-country ahead of time to NC).

That night, Georgetown put on a moonlight bus tour of DC! We hopped on a couple of chartered buses, and the resident fellows narrated over the bus intercom. We got to get off at the Iwo Jima Memorial and the Lincoln Memorial, but, to be honest, I was far too busy meeting my classmates to pay too much attention to the tour. Everyone I have met has been very pleasant, especially my roommates! A bunch of us went out for beer at the Goat's Head (a nearby pub) after the tour and chatted a while longer, which was a lot of fun.

On Sunday, I finished up unpacking, which was aided by a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond for some essential additions, including a delightful rug with owls. I also went to the law school's bookstore, and got my books! They're very heavy, official-looking, and expensive, and I cannot wait to start using them. I attended the 5 pm Mass at the little St. Thomas More chapel located in the middle of the main law school building, McDonough Hall, which was intimate, yet informal. That evening, there was a Welcome Reception, followed by an outdoor showing of Ironman on the grassy area in the middle of the small campus. Again, as with the tour the previous evening, I spent about five minutes watching the movie, and the rest of the time meeting classmates.

Here's a Facebook album "tour" of my room: http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2354618&l=7a783&id=1207914. We're still setting up the rest of the apartment, but I'll share more photos once we get settled in.

Stempson's Index

Boxes shipped cross-country: 12

Days it took to pack: 2

Old episodes of House, M.D. watched while packing: 8

Cute owl things given by Erin packed: 4

Hours left before my flight to North Carolina: 53

Days until I meet my law school dorm-mates: 6

Days until I turn 22: 14

Points to be given to whomever can correctly name the magazine that I'm referencing: 5

Although my boxes have shipped, I continue to pack. I am approximately halfway done tearing apart my room and then reassembling it in 16 x 16 x 10-inch boxes to be stored here in Sunnyvale whilst I am away. It's been rather interesting to go through my old stuff, especially the random journals and other writing I've unearthed. Looking back on my middle school and high school self affirms for me how much I have grown--socially, spiritually, and scholastically--over these past four years in college. I am a little embarrassed by the hubris I tended to demonstrate in my writing before college... I will strive against such conceit here.

It's difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I will be traveling so far away, won't see my family again until Christmas, and will be starting the most challenging academic year of my life. Ridiculous. The concept of going back East is so proverbial, so charged with expectation. I am filled with excitement at the prospect, have read countless books about law school, check the Georgetown Admitted Students website every day--and yet, at some level, I really have no idea what I'm getting myself into.

Ultimately, it's in God's hands. After going to Mass for the Assumption, my mom and I read a few Bible passages about Mary together. Mary's faith is an inspiration. As Elizabeth says in Luke 1:45, "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

Blessed Mary, graceful Mother, I ask that you might pray for all of us embarking on new journeys this fall, that we will trust in God for our guidance and our strength. Amen.