Ok, so about finals...that was stressful! My finals went on for two weeks. Thankfully, the hardest final of the semester (and my life) was the first one. It was evidence and I was able to get it out of the way; however, I am so worried about my grade. I studied for this test only the whole week before finals began and I know the law perfectly but the test was so hard. I’m praying that I did okish… The rest of the tests went ok. It was what I expected...really stressful. My last final was for my night class so the test was of course at night. It was Professional Responsibility and the exam started at 6:00 p.m. I had a bit of a fiasco prior to this exam. First, the backstory though.
A few weeks before finals, my car started making a strange noise. Being a girl, I somehow managed to convince myself that the noise was nothing and would go away soon. (Yes, I know that this is not reasonable). I finally brought the car to the shop and was told that the power steering rack (whatever that is) is broken and the power steering pump (again, whatever that is) is busted. Ultimately, the work would cost over $2K. Being a law student, debt is high and funds are low, so I could not have it repaired at this time. Luckily, my dad has been out of the country and allowed me to use one of his cars so I could focus on my finals. This is where the story ties back to my final.
On the morning of my last final, I decided to head to school early and study all day until that night when my final was. I got on the road and headed towards school. I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts when the car began to slow down. I pressed the gas and the car continued to slow down. I panicked and pulled over to the side of the road and it came to a stop. It was still running so I turned it off and tried to start it again and nothing. In panic, I continued to try to start it for what seemed like an eternity. It just would not start. Then panic really set in. My dad was not here to help and I had no idea what to do. Then it finally dawned on me...The car ran out of gas! Due to the stress of finals and not being familiar with this car, I had forgotten to put gas in it. After a while, I calmed myself enough to remember that I have roadside assistance. I called them and the lady proceeded to remind me that I have it on my car and not my dad’s car… Back to square one, panic. I eventually called the police because I had no idea what to do.They sent out a DOTD truck who gave me free gas. Whew, that was solved easily enough and I was back on the road to school. This is probably the stupidest thing that has ever happened to me. Thus far, my time in law school is proving to quite eventful if nothing else. HA!
A few days after final ended, I attended the Animal Law CLE like I did last year and it was great. Since I started a chapter of Animal Legal Defense Fund at my school, I invited my members to come along. I initially has a decent little group that was going to come; however, many of them had an exam on the day that the CLE was to be held. It ended up being just myself and another member of the group which was still great! One person can change the world so I am so happy that she got to come and learn about animal law.
I booked a room for the CLE because last year it was too much to drive home such a long distance (3 hours) late at night. When I got to the hotel, I sent my car with valet, checked in to my room, put my things in the room, and headed back downstairs for vegan pastries and the CLE. There, I met up with one of the girls I had met last year. She is an attorney and we have kept in touch ever since. We made plans to go out that night for dinner and drinks. After plans were made we settled in to listen to the presenters. There were presentations on how to build an animal law case and case studies of existing abuse and the horrible murder of animals. I also had the chance to network with some of the amazing attorneys who presented.
After the CLE was over I headed to my room where I had a snack and rested for a few minutes. After a while, my friend and her husband called me and we met up for dinner. We walked to the restaurant and I loved seeing the Christmas lights all over the city! It was beautiful and peaceful. After dinner we walked to a nearby bar. It was funky and quaint. We stayed there for a while. I had a bit if a headache so I didn’t drink anything for a while. I eventually had a frozen irish cream coffee which was amazing. After a while we left and walked to a jazz club. I love jazz! The bad was playing really beautiful music which I really enjoyed. After the jazz club we decided it was time to call it a night. Weall headed back in the direction of my hotel. We did walk by the supreme court of the state which I found amazing, of course! We finally got to my hotel, I hugged my friends goodbye and I headed up to my room.
Once in my room, I anticipated a nice hot shower, snacks, and tv watching. That’s not what happened. My shower was filthy and my sheets had blood stains on them. I was grossed out. I called down to the front desk and the attendant was rude and unhelpful. Eventually, I got more sheets, took a quick shower, and tried to sleep the best I could. When morning came, I got the hell out of there. Such a disappointment. The hotel looked ok but it turned out to be horrible. I did get a portion of my room refunded which was ok I guess. After leaving the hotel, I got some lunch and headed home for real sleep.
One other thing that has kept me busy is preparing for my dad’s return. He has been out of the country since the beginning of the semester and he returned home last night just before midnight. I cleaned his house and went shopping for groceries for him. It was so nice to see him after not seeing him for months! I waited for him at the airport last night and hung out with him for a while after. Today, he was jetlagged and was catching up on rest so it allowed me some time to finally Christmas shop. I got almost everything I need to get although I don’t have a long list to shop for.
One thing I am excited to do this year is a “gratitude gift”. I really dislike how I always feel obligated to get people gifts. It makes me miserable and stressed out. I know I can’t really cut out those obligatory gifts but I decided to add in one special gift this year called a “gratitude gift”. This gift is the one gift that I am not obligated to give. It is a gift that I give just because I want to. The person that I choose to give this gift to will be a person that has contributed substantively to my life this year. A person who in some way has given me so much love. This gift will be for me to send gratitude and love into the world. I do not expect anything in return for this gift, it is just a thing that I want to do. This year is the first year that I am doing this and I will continue to do this for years to come. I have picked a very special person to give this gift to. This person will forever be my friend. She has believed in me and loved me just the way I am. She never expected me to be anything other than me. She pushed me to be fearless. She taught me the meaning of gratitude by her own grateful heart. She is one of the most wonderful people that I know and no matter where either of us end up in life she will always be considered one of my dearest friends. I don’t think she even knows how she has touched my life. So this year I just want to send her some of the love back that she has sent me. I can’t say who it is because she might read this. :)
Anyway, that’s what’s been up in a nutshell. Over the next few weeks I do want to rest but I have to do internship apps, buy books, and plan activities for my SALDF group for this coming semester. Thankfully, I’ll get to update my blog regularly again. I’ll end this one here but keep an eye out for a new post soon. Thanks for all the love and prayers that you all sent to me during finals. Merry Christmas to you all! Talk soon!
XOXO
Stay Fabulous,
LawGirl.