work # three

The internship continues. I've officially completed 8 days and I’m still learning my way around. I really want to do well, which leaves me vulnerable to criticism. It seems like the more I try to do a good job, the more I realize what I do not know. This leaves me feeling frustrated. It's an interesting balance -- between caring too much, which inherently leads to disappointment when things do not go as well as planned, and not caring enough, which undoubtedly leads to failure.

Today, I was thrown off guard when a fellow intern mentioned that a man was angry with a judge. This man was at least 300 pounds and confined to a very large wheel chair, and was in court due to criminal menacing and assault charges allegedly perpetrated against his elderly mother. His mother, who required a walker to walk, was with him in court. He insulted her in front of me.

When my co-intern said this, I misheard her, and thought that she said the judge was angry with me. I spent the rest of the afternoon (an hour or so) waiting to be summoned by the judge. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what I'd done. I had mentioned her re-election campaign once, which technically isn't proper, but it wasn't done so in a way that broke any laws. I figured that it was related to that. Later, when I had the chance, I asked my fellow intern about her comment. She cleared things up and I felt slightly foolish.

The larger question here is, why did I let myself care so much. Why I did I let myself take on the mentality of an elementary school student summoned to the principal's office. I'm going to have to work on building a greater degree of self-confidence. I hadn’t realized that I was so lacking until it smacked me in the face. At least I’ve had a wake up call, before it was too late.

pictures # two

Work # two

I've started my internship. I'm working in (what I consider to be) a large courthouse, which is about 45 miles (65 minutes) from my house. The drive sucks, but the work is really neat. Basically, I wear a pager, and bailiffs, prosecutors, and sometimes judges page me to bring them files or to escort defendants and the recently convicted to their respective places.

What's neat about the job is the interaction with attorneys. In the four days since I've started, I've solidified my opinion about *not* practicing criminal law. I definitely do not want to prosecute people, I think the risks involved in that are too great. On the other side of the spectrum, I do not want to be responsible for keeping criminals on the street. There's an inherent negative duality to being a good defense attorney (and I do want to be a good attorney) -- you can win your case and someone whose likely to be guilty goes free or you can lose the case and not do your job well. Even in winning, I would feel like I’m at least partly on the losing side.

I'm still not entirely sold on this internship. I'm not making nearly enough money to make it worth my while. However, I'm meeting a lot of neat people, and getting to watch a lot of neat things (e.g., jury trials, arraignments). For the time being, though, I’m staying put and learning as much as I possibly can.

Pictures # one

School # four

Spring semester is finally over. It's been a terribly long and difficult semester, and i'm glad to finally be done with it. It's weird coming home though, it's as if i'm entering into an entirely different world. Things at home don't operate like they do at school -- there's a huge element of independence that is missing. Also, being at home means focusing on different things, such as finding work, scholarships, and helping my parents with things around the house.

So, this post is for saying goodbye to the 10:00 AM to 4:00 AM schedule, the drunken nights (and the afternoon drinking), the tests and quizzes, and the friends that i've made.

As much as I disliked school initially, I find myself sad at the prospect of facing three months without it. It's funny how things change so rapidly. Two years of my college education are finished, and although I feel like I've learned a tremendous amount of information, I still don't feel like it's enough. And, when did I get so old?

I'm going to make a conscious effort to meet up with old friends and make this one "helluva" summer.

Work # one

I'm being recommended by the local political director as an intern for the Akron Municipal Court. So far, my understanding is that I'll work for a judge, preparing and organizing his or her files and making sure that they are prepared to hear a case -- that all the relevant information is in front of them. I'm really excited about this opportunity. Should I get the job (i've sent out a resume, i'm waiting for a return e-mail about an interview) then i'm going to work as hard as I can. I hope I can get a law school reference out of this.

The basic draw back to the job is that I live a little over an hour away. The drive is entirely highway, which i'm not used to driving on. I'm also not used to large urban environments. So, everything about this job, assuming that I get it, will be an adventure.

School # three

My first grade is in; a "B" in political methods. That's frustrating. I feel that I should have (and perhaps maybe I did) earn an "A" in that class. I'm currently taking it up with my professor. She was not in the political science "bullpen" when I checked, so I just finished e-mailing her.

I need to get every single point, and every single "A" that I possibly can. I had a really good feeling about this semester, but perhaps I was too confident, too optimistic, and it clouded the reality of the situation. I know that for most people, normal people, a "B" is nothing to be upset about. However, I'm very much worried about my GPA. If I really am going to make it into law school, then i'm going to need as high an average as I can possibly earn. Since i've been at this campus, i've already been academically discriminated against once, by a professor who disliked my opinions on Michel Moore. This isn't a post about politics, so i'll leave that for another time.

Recieving a grade that I didn't expect is making me wonder about the rest of my grades. Hopefully, I've earned "B" in either Legal Environment of Business or Microeconomics, and round out my average with "A's" in U.S. Formative and Argumentation (likely to happen). I'm still not offering a guess on my Philosophy of Law class, although I know that I earned either an "A" or a "B."

School # two

Well, my argumentation final went well today. This should be the second final that I've scored 100% on. I was a debater in high school, and have put all of this theory into practice at a high level. So, simply "learning" it for class has not been difficult. The most frustrating part is knowing that I would do things differently to more effectively teach the material.

The rest of my finals, I'm not so confident about. I still have yet to do anything substantive for my Microeconomic's final. Also, i'm behind where I should be for my Legal Environment of Business final. I've really enjoyed that class. It's solidified my aspirations of becoming a lawyer. I enjoy classes that make me feel like i'm learning something that will be useful in the real world, and Legal Environment has done exactly that.

When I first entered into the class, I knew so little about the "law" and how the legal system works. Now, while I'm still far from an attorney, I have a better than average understanding of most civil law procedures. From tort law, contract law, consumer protection law to product liability law, we covered a huge range of material. However, it was sensical, which makes me believe that it must have been an effective summation.

CRs # ONE

Much too early this morning myself and two of the other CRs walked in a parade for a local judicial candidate. Our shirts were much too large, and we looked a little goofy. Yours truly walked in front of the float (which happened to be a Dodge 3500 diesel truck, with the Judge on a seat in the bed) carrying a sign that read: "Here come's da Judge." The sign had gavels crossed on either side of the slogan.

The thing is, despite all of that, it was a good time. Angie seemed to have particularly enjoyed handing candy out to the youngsters who lined the street. Andrew was more quiet, but I think that he had a reasonable good time as well. Having a good time is important, it will make the times that are less fun more bearable and build good will amongst the group. I'm a little disappointed that not more members of the group came, but considering that we're in the middle of final's time, it is understandable.

After the parade, the local political director took us all out to lunch. This was the best part of the entire experience. He is a former member of the group and still bears a lot of ties to the university. So, getting advice from him proves valuable. Lunch was good and we all had several good discussions. In retrospect, the parade and lunch went better than I expected.

School - # ONE

Today was my U.S. formative period final exam day. Covered on the final exam were: The year’s 1844 through roughly 1860, including the Civil War, the Temperance Movement, Transcendentalism, the Kansas-Nebraska Act, The Mexican War, the creation of the state of Texas, the Second Great Awakening, the Compromise of 1850, and several other issues.

Ultimately, I chose to write my essay on the turbulent decade of the 1850's, citing eleven separate examples that increased sectionalism between the North and the South, highlighting each event's significance. The bonus essay was on Ohio's role in the Anti-Slavery, Underground Railroad movement.

I'm feeling very confident about this test. My writing came out exactly as I hoped that it would. Strong, decisive and persuasive. Hopefully the rest of my finals go this well.

Right now, I'm taking a study break from preparing my argumentation study guide. I also have good feeling about this class. My philosophy law of paper, microeconomic’s final and legal environment of business final, however, will be the true tests. This has been a very successful semester, I just hope that through studying enough I can do its end justice.