There's An Update Around Here Somewhere...

Oh, I found it! It's over on the other blog. ;)

Internship: The First Week

Alright, time for a weekend update! I'm back in Phoenix now for the long weekend and it's great to be back. The place I'm staying at in Yuma is nice, but nothing is quite like home. I will say that, from the perspective of a small town Wyoming girl, Yuma is not as small as everyone in Phoenix thinks it is!

My first week of work was amazing! I feel like I've learned so much in this first week alone. I was the first intern to arrive at the office. The others are not coming until after Memorial Day. I'm living out of town at the house of a Federal Public Defender. He's putting up three interns for free over the summer, which is part of what makes this internship possible for all of us.

So far this week I've written a memorandum for a judge, I'm working on a motion for a new trial that needs to be submitted next week, I've got a longer term project on collateral consequences of criminal convictions to work on, and a legal question concerning the admissibility of some evidence. On top of that, I've sat in on conflict of interest meetings, conferences on the capital cases that the office has, and gone on jail visits. All of my details will be really vague, but at least you get an idea of what I've been up to.

Then some of the attorneys from the office took us out to the lake on Thursday afternoon. The secretaries were there and we played around in the water, on the tube behind the boat, and on jet skis. It was so much fun! Where else would you get an internship where your bosses take you out to the lake? And we're going again later this summer, once all of the interns are here. On Friday we had an office birthday party for all of the May birthdays, complete with cupcakes and icecream. Next Tuesday, once all the interns are here, we'll have a BBQ at one of the attorney's homes. We're also planning on a full moon float down the river, going bowling, and maybe starting up a softball team over the summer. So we'll definitely be busy!

For now, it's nice to be home. I'm recovering from my time at the lake (so sore! But I didn't fly off that tube behind the boat easily!). Todd and I are going out with some friends tonight for dinner and then to the Tempe Improv Comedy Show. So it should be a good time!

I think more than anything else, this little blog serves to sort of keep everyone on the same page. And really, it would do a good job at that...if only I updated it. I can't promise a lot of updates, especially during the school year. But I can promise some updates during the summer at least.

Finals ended in a haze of studying, outlining, and stress. I can't say how I did on my finals because my opinion doesn't matter. If I thought it was easy, then the rest of the class thought it was easy too. That means that the curve gets tighter. So it's hard to say. I'll let you know how I did once grades come out. So far I've only gotten back my Legal Advocacy grade, which was an A. I'm very pleased about that! Rumor has it that our Property grades will be published tomorrow...so keep your fingers crossed for me. (Of course, after I heard that rumor, I started thinking about the final, stressed out, and promptly cursed at myself for forgetting to spot a twist in an issue I highlighted).

Right now I'm in Yuma. I start my summer internship with the Yuma County Public Defender's Office tomorrow. I'm very excited about the opportunity and it sounds like things will be very hands-on. I've heard that it's an excellent experience and I can't wait to get started! I was lucky enough to receive a scholarship from the Pro Bono Board at ASU for my work, so that will help to cover some of the cost of driving between Yuma and Phoenix. It's only about a three and a half hour drive, so that's not too bad. And it will be much better once I'm able to drive our new Prius back and forth! Right now, Todd and I are still waiting on some of the paperwork for that.

Later this summer, Todd and I will be flying off to Germany for his brother's wedding (Congratulations again, Eric!). I've never left the country before and I'm so excited for this trip! I think it will be a lot of fun! After we get back, I'll likely try to spend a little time in Sheridan for the summer before I head back to school for my second year of law school.

If this year was busy, next year is absolutely crazy. But I can't wait. I think that the challenge of balancing everything will really invigorate me and I'm so excited to participate in numerous organizations more fully! I'll be the Treasurer in the Women's Law Student Association and the Tribune (think PR person) in Delta Theta Phi, my law fraternity. I'll also be doing an externship with Community Legal Services in their housing/family division.  I will have Saturday sessions for the Spirit of Service Scholarship that I received, plus I'll be mentoring a high school student as a part of that scholarship's commitment to service. I recently finished an application to the Law Journal for Social Justice, so I'm hoping that I'll have the opportunity to write for them next year as well. On top of all of that, I'll be taking my classes! There's so much to do next semester but that's fine with me! This is what I've wanted to do my whole life and I'm loving every minute of it ...Well, okay, most of the minutes, at least. Finals get a little bit stressful.

Off for now! I'd like to get to bed early so that I wake up refreshed and ready for the morning!

Random Update

Someday I'll remember that I have a blog that I should occasionally update to keep people aware of what I'm doing.

Yeah, I know that likely won't happen. But we'll do periodic updates and mark it as a step forward.

I've been extremely busy with law school, volunteer activities, and interviews.

So far, I've been interviewed for the Yuma County Legal Defender's Office, Community Legal Services -Employment/Education department, Community Legal Services - Family Law department. I've also put in my resume to other organizations, such as the Maricopa County Attorney's Office (juvenile division and the child welfare division). I'm also looking at opportunities at the courthouse, in the juvenile department and with child advocacy organizations.

My interests seem to be in criminal law and family/juvenile law for the moment. I'm always open to that changing and I'm doing other things (such as helping create a Social Media pro-bono group that helps businesses understand issues with their business and social media) to introduce myself to different types of law.

Along with all of that comes extra-curricular activities. There are Bar Reviews (where we, as law students, go around and enjoy a night out), Fajita - cookoffs, with all-you-can-eat fajitas (Todd is super excited for that), a Barrister's Ball (Formal dinner/dance for law students), AZ Supreme Court arguments, lunch workshops, and so much more! I've started using Google Calendar in order to keep a schedule because blocks of time are filling up quickly. I'm really looking forward to Spring Break, some rest and relaxation, and some time with my mom!

And right now, I'm off to enter the wonderful world of Property Law and the Rule Against Perpetuities.

Idle Thought

Several of my classmates had blogs, Twitter accounts, or Facebook accounts that they've stopped using, just in case future employers find them.

Hmm....

Fall Break is Over: So Far, So Good

Hello everyone!

I thought that I would add a bit of an update here on how law school is going. As you can tell for my occasional updates, I've been extremely busy! At the same time, I'm in love with the opportunities and exciting things going on around the law school. So, there are a couple of quick updates that I thought I would share with everyone.

First of all, we just finished with our Fall Break. Everyone in my class had the intention of doing a lot of work over done over the break. None of us did. I think we spent our time relaxing and catching up on sleep instead. It was really nice to have a little bit of extra time over the past week. I went to some Happy Hours with classmates, a pool party, a hiking trip to a natural waterfall/pool that Todd and I swam in, and spent a day down at the courthouse with the judge who is mentoring me. Overall, it was a truly excellent week!

Now I'm back in the midst of classes, volunteer work, organization meetings, and study groups. I'm starting to look at some online study aids and my classmates are sharing resources to help us all study for finals. I'm still having a lot of fun with things, though the busy-ness of things is a little overwhelming.

I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving. Then again, it's turkey, naps, and football....who doesn't look forward to that?

My First Business Card

Ta-da!