Blue Digit Democracy
I was reading an article about the Iraqi elections and saw that each voter didn't receive one of those "I Voted!" stickers, but instead had their index finger dipped into an indigo paint to mark them as a participant in democracy. To show solidarity with our fellow voters, I propose that we mark our finger in blue as well. I first saw this idea on andrewsullivan.com's blog, so I can't take credit but I can take action! I hope you do too!
Regardless of your position on the war in Iraq, I think it's important that we support the Iraqi citizens in taking back their own country. The sooner they take over, the sooner our troops can come home for a well-deserved rest. I think we can all agree that that's a good thing.
By the way, check out http://www.daybydaycartoon.com/ feature on January 30th- it's hilarious!
Photo credit courtesy of the Associated Press.
Division
Every so often, an event can introduce new externalities, emotions, and reactions that affect a population. In English, this means that grades were just released. It's strange, because over Christmas break everyone was asking "How did you do?" and you could just shrug and confidently say "I won't know until early February" and duck out to enjoy the sunset while inwardly hoping to find out to satisfy your own curiosity as well as to quell any doubts that you're in the wrong line of work.
After the announcement went out over the wires courtesy of my friend James, it seemed like nearly everyone was diving in to look at their grades, after taking an enormous breath. You see, law school grades in this first semester are supposed to be "vitally important" to our future careers. "These are the only grades that matter," some say. "The first semester is the most important," say others. I needed to muster my strength. I resisted. I hemmed. I hawed. I checked to see generally how my study group reacted. I prayed.
Then I looked.
It's a strange experience, looking at three letters that are the culmination of sleepless nights and the product of numerous caffeine binges. Three letters that decide in large part whether you are a person of interest to the legal community, either because you're a stellar ace or someone who was a victim of the curve. No, I looked and saw three letters that would make me breathe again. They weren't the best, but to quote my classmates' most repeated comments, "I wish I had done better." Of course I do, we all do. We're all used to success (some more than others) and abandoning our fates to the mystical curve and anonymous, cold, calculating math seems inevitable, if a little nerve-wracking.
It's times like these when having great friends (aka "support network") helps. I went ice-skating Saturday with a few friends and realized how much I missed the freedom one finds gliding on the ice. I thought, this is like law school. You never realize what fun you would have until you lace up your skates and get onto the ice. You can't skate without falling, and you just keep getting up. Nothing profound, mind you, just an analogy because that's how I think.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first semester of law school. Meeting some of the most intelligent, funny, and real people who are similarly in wonder and awe at attending an institution of higher learning dedicated to studying old rules has been a great experience. There's some satisfaction in knowing that I wouldn't do all that much different, academics aside.
Well, time to return to the "real world." On my plate are internship applications, preparations for Core interviews tomorrow, and masive amounts of reading. I haven't even gotten to the appetizers yet...
