Lots of updates since last we met:

Classes: Finals are a week away and I’m in a study frenzy.  Please wish me lots of luck that I get better grades than last semester!

Extracurriculars: Wigmore Follies (our school’s parody show) was fantastic!  I had a lot of fun working with a bunch of talented individuals.  It was definitely one of the highlights of my law school experience thus far.  I am also getting heavily involved with other groups: I am the incoming co-president of OUTLaw, the community outreach chair of the Latino Law Students Association, and treasurer of our acapella group, Habeas Chorus.  Next year will be BUSY.

Spring Break: Was phenomenal!  I had a great time in Puerto Rico with Jason and his friends.  The second half of my break was spent in Cambridge with Jason, catching up on school work and living out my fantasy of what it would be like if Jason and I went to law school together…  That’s all I’ll say on that for now…

Summer: A last minute offer from the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division means that I will be splitting my summer, spending the first half in DC (with Jason, who will also be in the Civil Rights Division) and the second half in NY working for the ACLU LGBT & AIDS Project (the first place that offered me a summer job).  I will pretty much have no time off as I will be leaving Chicago right after I complete the Law Review writing competition after finals and return right before classes start at the end of August.  But I am super excited to see all my DC and NY friends this summer, woot! =)

This will probably be it until after finals so, again, wish me luck and I’ll catch you on the flip side!

The view departing from paradise - Puerto Rico... happy thoughts...

Classes : This semester I am being blinded by the Constitution (but not in the Tea Party kind of way).  I’m taking Constitutional Law and a class on the First Amendment, and the first major topic we covered in my Civil Procedure II class was the 7th Amendment right to trial by jury.  Thankfully I really enjoy studying all these constitutional issues, but it can certainly make my head spin sometimes trying to keep it all straight.  My Criminal Law class offers a good break from all this, as well as my legal writing class where we are dealing with copyright issues for some briefs we’re working on the entire semester.

Grades: Let’s not talk about them.  No really, they were a little disappointing, and I chalk it up mostly to my first time dealing with the intense time pressures of law school final exams (I’m realizing that I’d much prefer doing written assignments that I can work on thoroughly at my own pace than 3-hour final exams).  So moving on.

Extracurriculars: A couple of weeks ago I auditioned for Wigmore Follies, my school’s annual parody show that takes place in April during Admit Weekend.  I heard a lot of great things about the group so I decided to audition and I made it onto the cast!  The script is great and rehearsals are well on their way now.  Thankfully the group is a pretty well-oiled machine and everything is planned out leading all the way up to the show, which makes it easy to plan for in my schedule.  I can’t wait till showtime!  (For those of you keeping track at home: yes, both Jason and I are involved in our respective school’s parody show.  But my group made the winning video for Above the Law’s Law Revue Video Contest last year. =P)

There’s also a bunch of upcoming events that I’m involved with and really looking forward to: 1) Hosting an OUTLaw potluck at my place this weekend; 2) Participating in a Q&A session with Justice Sotomayor, who is visiting my school on Tuesday; 3) Attending the Equality Illinois Justice for All black tie gala in February, courtesy of one of OUTLaw’s sponsoring firms; 4) Getting my dance on at my school’s Barrister’s Ball (think prom, for law students, lol), for which Jason will be flying out to be my date =); and, 5) Volunteering during my school’s Diverse Admit Day, which is what I attended last year when I got admitted and convinced me that I wanted to come to this school.

And saving the best for last: I will be spending Spring Break in Puerto Rico with Jason and a couple of his buddies from school!  I am super excited for this and looking forward to a fun and relaxing (not to mention warm) time on the island.  I can’t wait!

Summer: Last but not least, both Jason and I finally figured out our summer job plans this week.  In the running was an offer that was extended to both of us to work at Lambda Legal’s Chicago office.  This would have been a great gig and would have allowed us to spend the summer together in the same city.  At the last minute, however, Jason’s dream job of working for the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division this summer came through so he had to accept.  Unfortunately nothing that I wanted materialized for me in DC, which is where Jason will be, but miraculously an offer came through just yesterday for a fantastic internship with the ACLU’s LGBT & AIDS Project at their national headquarters in New York City.  This at least puts me closer to DC (just a Megabus ride away!) and I’ve always wanted to experience living in New York!

New York, here I come!

Our New Year’s celebrations in DC the last two years consisted of going to JR’s, a gay bar, to countdown to the end of the year.  Part of the festivities that take place there include a countdown of the top 10 TV moments and the top 10 songs of the year during the last hour before clock strikes midnight.  Well, to make up for the fact that Jason and I will not be there to take part in their countdown, I will do a little countdown of my own of what I think were the top 15 songs of the year for me (I’m not even going to attempt a countdown of TV moments due to my lackluster TV watching habits this year).  So here we go, the songs that made 2010 a memorable year!

15. Empire State of Mind – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys

This was a great song to kick off the year and on repeat while I was in the Big Apple early spring.  As I was applying to law schools and getting ready for the next chapter in my life, this song seemed to appropriately reflect my big hopes and dreams for the future.  And I loved belting out Alicia’s parts!

14. Like a Prayer – Glee Cast

The much anticipated Madonna episode on Glee was fabulous, and so was their rendition of one of my favorite songs by the Material Girl.  I’d definitely put this rendition up there with UCLA Awaken Acapella’s version from my college years.

13. Only Girl (In the World) – Rihanna

This song and the next have only recently made it on my list of “Songs That Keep Getting Stuck In My Head,” but with a great beat and make-me-feel-sexy lyrics it was really only a matter of time before it became a part of my repertoire.  Definitely one of those songs that makes me shout “Get it gurrrl!”

12. Like A G6 – Far*East Movement

Like the previous song, this song does a great job of getting party started and booty shakin’ to the awesome beats.  Always guaranteed to cause some turbulence!

11. DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love – Usher

Of all the Usher songs that came out this year this is by far the one I liked the most.  This disturbingly weird yet funny viral video helped ingrain this song in my head as well (sort of a throwback to the “Numa numa” video from back in the day haha).

10. Love the Way You Lie – Eminem

This quickly became my go-to angry song whenever I started feeling frustrated about something and needed to vent.  Leave it to Eminem to put out a great song that just makes you want to punch someone in the face and feel good about it haha.  The music video is just as visceral and powerful:

9. Magic – B.O.B.

Rivers certainly still has the golden touch and is not afraid to use it.  The first time I heard this song I couldn’t help but grin as I found myself uncontrollably tapping my feet and bopping my head.  Nothing like a catchy feel-good song to melt my worries away, well done B.O.B. and Rivers!

8. Firework- Katy Perry

This song quickly became a favorite of both Jason and me and instrumental in keeping us motivated through the ups and downs of our first semester in law school.  The song was also especially inspirational for the fact that Miss Perry dedicated the music video to the Trevor Project in response to the several tragic suicides committed by LGBT youth this past summer.  Way to raise awareness Ms. Perry =)

7. Just the Way You Are – Bruno Mars

With his sweet and melodious voice, Bruno Mars was certainly a great newcomer onto the music scene this year.  This lyrics in this song are lovely as is but the harmonies he uses make it that much better. Can’t wait to hear what he puts out in future albums!

6. Telephone – Lady Gaga

Miss Gaga struck again this year after her fabulous break out in 2009.  For awhile, this was my go-to pre-party song whenever I was getting ready for a night of debauchery in DC.  The music video was done in true Lady Gaga fashion and one of my favorites this year.  Check out the full version:

5. Teenage Dream – Katy Perry

As fun as California Gurls was, Miss Perry followed it up with another great song that took us back to the days of young, uninhibited love in Teenage Dream.  Passionate and carefree, the song captures that special rush you feel after experiencing all those great firsts: first crush, first kiss, first fill-in-the-blank, etc.  Take a peek under that fort built out of sheets :

4. Your Love is My Drug – Ke$ha

Hey!  Haaaaaay.  Although Tik Tok is officially the number one song of 2010 according to the Billboard charts and produced a great Simpsons intro video, it was this whimsical song that got me giggling like a little girl at the end.  This song and California Gurls battled it out between Jason and I for our favorite song of the summer, with Jason on Team Perry and me on Team Ke$ha based on which song we each grew to favor first.  The winner?  An undisputed tie =).  P.S.  I like your beard.

3. Dynamite – Taio Cruz

Usually I don’t appreciate when a song tries to tell me what to do, but I couldn’t help but throw my hands up in the air not sometimes but every time this song came on.  Thus, for personal safety reasons, I had to take this song off my workout playlist. =P  But seriously, I couldn’t have asked for a better song that could guarantee to get everyone up on their feet and having a good time without having to tell them twice!

2. California Gurls – Katy Perry

Nothing like a good song that gratuitously proclaims its gurls (as the Beach Boys would surely agree) as California’s greatest commodity to get any west coaster hootin’ and hollerin’ proudly.  Or at the very least you were guaranteed to see this uprooted California native do just that at venues in DC and Chi-town whenever this song came on.  One of the leading ladies of pop, Miss Perry certainly left her mark on this year (and with the gays) with this fabulous song.  West Coast, REPRESENT!

1. Bad Romance – Lady Gaga

Yes, 2010 was once again the year of the Gaga with plenty of hits to keep us dancing all night long.  But she didn’t just stop there.  Lady Gaga took her popularity to the road and became a fierce advocate of the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell–among the many other LGBT causes she has spoken out for–earning her a tweet from the most powerful person in the Senate, Majority Leader Harry Reid.  For that and all her talent, Lady Gaga earns my top spot this year.

Happy New Year everyone!  Here’s to a fabulous 2011! =)

After my last post everything pretty much was a blur.  I feel like we went through a lot of material in class in very little time.  And then, all of a sudden, we had to study for finals.  It was nuts.  There was a lot of studying and a lot of outlining to get done, and unfortunately it felt like everything came down to the wire.  I had a lot of time to prepare for my first exam, Civ Pro, but after that I was rushing to learn everything as I only had 2 or 3 days in between exams.  I think that is definitely one thing I want to work on for next semester, which is to do a lot more studying and exam prep ahead of finals to make sure I give myself the best shot to do well on all my exams.

On the bright side, it was great to have all my section-mates down in the trenches with me as we all struggled to stay on top of all the studying we had to get done.  We became, really, a band of brothers and helped each other out the entire way.  It’s a good feeling to know that I’m going to school with a great group of people that want to see everyone else succeed and not just themselves.

It’s an even better feeling being able to celebrate with all of them after the madness of finals finally ended.  After our last final the school hosted a champagne celebration for us, which was followed by festivities at various classmates’ apartments.  The entire evening was a lot of fun and I was glad we got to let off some steam before people parted ways for the holidays.  However, that was only the beginning of my post-finals celebrations.

The next day I hopped on a plane to Boston to meet up with Jason as he finished his last final of his first semester at Harvard Law.  We promptly headed over to his section’s celebration at one of the bars in Cambridge.  The drinks were freely flowing and the ambiance was jovial as I joined in their celebrations.  It was fun to compare our finals’ experiences, though we were all just glad to be done and (rightfully) wanted very little to reminisce on the exams themselves.

I also got to reunite with Jason’s core group of friends at school—they’ve been amusingly dubbed “The Gay Caucus” haha—after last seeing them at the beginning of the semester.  After the bar our group headed over to one of their places for pizza and wine, and among the topics of discussion was our plans for spring break (yeah, we’re already thinking about that!).  As of now, it looks like we’ll probably be heading to Key West, which I think is much better (and warmer) than our previous plans of trekking out to a cabin in Vermont of New Hampshire.  After getting a preliminary taste of winter in Chicago this month I am praising God that we’re going somewhere warm!

The rest of the week was spent doing lots of fun stuff with the boyfriend.  Saturday we went to the market to buy lots of food to cook some good meals at home, something neither of has really had time to do because we were so busy with school.  That evening we met up with Jason’s friends again for desserts at a little restaurant called Finale in Cambridge.

I spent most of Sunday working on applications for summer internships.  I had previously submitted applications for internships at the Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, on December 1^st, the first day 1Ls everywhere are allowed to start applying.  DOJ is Jason and mine’s number one choice for an internship this summer, but we’re also applying to other places like the ACLU and Lambda Legal.  While Jason submitted all of his applications on December 1^st, I postponed working on these additional applications until after finals.  Well, I finished up and sent out a bunch on Sunday and have already heard back from two places (Immigration Equality and the ACLU of NY) that have offered me interviews for next week.  Fingers crossed that those interviews go well and that I hear back from more!

Sunday evening Jason’s friends Brian and Igor took us out to dinner as a thank you for cat-sitting their cat Judy while they were out of town.  We checked in on Judy throughout the week, also taking advantage of the fact that their place has cable so we could watch Top Chef All Stars Wednesday night.  On Monday Jason and I went Christmas gift shopping, but somehow it turned into shopping for me—I bought a new overcoat and some clothes that were on sale, teehee.  But to be fair, I did reveal to Jason my Christmas/birthday gift to him: his first ever brand new suit that he got to pick out from the Macy’s in downtown Boston later in the week.  I can’t wait to see it on him after he gets it back from the tailor!

Jason tries on Old Navy's "Techno Hoodie", yeah it was a little ridiculous...

The week was also filled with food.  We cooked two of our classic dishes: roasted chicken with veggies, and lasagna, mmmmm.  We also baked a batch of cookies from a recipe we got from Dan Savage, one of Jason’s most favorite people ever and the person who launched the “It Gets Better” campaign.  We got to eat out as well at a yummy ramen place in nearby Porter Square and a super delicious French restaurant called Petit Robert Bistro in Boston.

Roasted Chicken, mmmmm

In addition, we got to watch a ton of movies: Groundhog Day, The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Monsters Inc., and Black Swan at the movie theater.  After that incredibly fun week with the boyfriend it was very hard to leave Boston, but I’m at home now with my family and looking forward to some more fun in sunny (well, dark and rainy at the moment) Southern California!  More on the rest of my break later!  Best holiday wishes to everyone! =)

Merry Christmas from me, Jason and Sox! =)

1. Habeas Chorus – I auditioned for my school’s acapella group–cleverly named “Habeas Chorus”–and made it in!  I have been itching to join a singing group for a while now and sort of regretted not having tried out for one during undergrad (I was way too busy anyway).  I have no real “professional” vocal experience whatsoever, though I did tell them that I was in my elementary school’s choir (lol) and also my high school’s musical my senior year.  I impressed them by singing a snippet from “Cabaret” and doing some pitch-matching exercises.  We had our first mini-performance two weeks ago for a Northwestern alumni reunion dinner which went pretty well, considering we had only practiced less than two weeks at that point.  Overall, I’m excited to have this fun diversion that helps me relieve the stress of law school.  Plus it gives me a legitimate excuse to be singing everywhere I go (not that I was ever really hindered before…).

2. OUTLaw – I applied to be the 1L Representative for our OUTLaw group and was selected to be co-rep with a fellow 1L from another section, which is great.  I’m excited to be more involved with this group and keep a pulse on ways I can help out in the community.  Fighting for LGBT rights was one of the main forces driving me to go to law school after all, and I’ve already had the opportunity to meet the attorney at the Department of Justice appointed to oversee the implementation of the recently enacted Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Act, as well as various community leaders from the Chicago area.  Last week was OUTLaw’s turn to put on student org programming at the school, which purposefully coincided with National Coming Out Week.  The LGBT population at our school is by no means massive so it was great to see all our allies come out and support us at our events, especially at Thursday night’s bar review which we hosted at one of the gay bars in Boystown.  I was particularly proud of my section for making an excellent showing at the bar, far outnumbering those from other sections.  I think my cleverly written email to my section earlier in the week may have played a role in producing the fabulous turn out, if I do say so myself:

“While you have your social calendars out, allow me to be really flamboyantly gay for a minute and put in a plug for next week’s bar review at Spin that will be sponsored by none other than OUTLaw!

That’s right, next week is National Coming Out Week so that means it’s OUTLaw’s turn to shine (we’re talking sequins, glitter and glamor here, baby)!  I’ve been told that this is consistently one of the best bar reviews of the year, which should be of no surprise to you because really who doesn’t love a big fat gay party?!  Best of all, it’ll be right after our Property midterm so you’ll have NO EXCUSE not to let your hair down (careful with your weaves girls!) and “come out”!

Perhaps you’ve been meaning to check out Boystown but have been afraid to go at it alone (why haven’t you been blowin’ up my phone?! hrmph.), or you don’t want to make it seem like you’re cheating on your gay bff from back home (he’s already cheating on you.).  Well, no more excuses.  Ladies, it’s time to find your new gay husband, and guys, it’s time to boost your ego and get the looks and attention you’ve always thought you deserve (it’s a compliment, really).

So mark your calendars for next Thursday, October 14, and plan on a post-midterm, pre-bar review happy hour as always, wherever you guys prefer.  And then get ready for mayhem.

-Isidro ‘I heard Regina George is going to OUTLaw’s Bar Review, so I’m going to OUTLaw’s Bar Review’ Mariscal”

3. The Boyfriend – Being in a long distance relationship sucks in many ways, but Jason and I seem to be accommodating and dealing with it pretty well for the most part.  And surprise visits certainly don’t hurt the cause either.  This time it was Jason’s turn who, out of nowhere and much to my shock and utter confusion, turned up in my Property class a week and a half ago.  He had conspired with our friend Rooney to lead me to believe that Rooney was planning on paying me a visit, when in reality it was Jason who flew out!  After surprising me right before class started, he sat in the back of the room as I (unsuccessfully) tried to focus on what was going on in class, still incredulous to the fact that he was here.  (Mainly I was searching for an explanation as to why his classes got canceled or, alternatively, why he was skipping class because that would have been EXTREMELY uncharacteristic of him–his love for me can only work so many wonders upon him, lol.)  You can read about his adventure to come out and surprise him here.

Although both he and I had to study and work on various assignments the entire time that he was here, it was nevertheless fantastic to have him around to study together and talk shop about interesting cases we’ve read for class.  We also took some time to have an AMAZING dinner at Frontera Grill, a Chicago landmark restaurant that I’ve been dying to go to ever since I saw Rick Bayless on Top Chef Masters.  As always, I was really sad to see Jason depart, but I got a good fill of cuddle time with him to get me by until I see him next for Thanksgiving. =)

4. The Morrison Tort – One of the best moments I’ve had thus far in any of my classes was a couple of weeks in my Torts class.  Our professor has a habit of instigating what amounts to a round-robin guessing game with the entire class in an attempt to elicit a very specific answer from us that at times seems to be known only to himself, hidden away from us in the deepest abyss of his mind.  This round-robin sometimes carries on for more than 10 minutes, as contestant after contestant attempts and utterly fails to divine the magical phrase that Professor Shapo so desperately wants but refuses to divulge, much to our lament and frustration.  This time, Shapo was looking for a particular tort, which should have been easy because all we had to do was rattle off all the torts we have learned so far.  So you could imagine our dismay as we started running out of torts to proffer, forcing everyone to furiously flip through notes, books, Hornbooks, secret Bible codes, anything to decipher what the hell Shapo was looking for.

By luck, I came across what I thought could be the answer, essentially a hypothetical tort from a case we had studied the day before but one that was not legally recognized.  I timidly raised my hand, figuring I (or the rest of the class for that matter) had nothing to lose at this point.  “MARISCAL!” Shapo exclaimed, requesting my response.  I gulped.  “I think we’re looking for the ‘Morrison tort,’ maybe?”  I wanted to run and hide somewhere after I said it because it just sounded so ridiculous to me.  The entire class held it’s breath.  Slowly, Shapo’s eyes went wide open and a big grin spread across his face.  “Yes!” he shouted.  The classroom erupted into thunderous applause–everyone was overjoyed and relieved that the tortuous exercise had finally been extinguished.  It was an incredible feeling of heroic proportions, everyone cheering for me, and one that I will not soon forget.

It’s these small victories that make it all worth it. =)

Section 4 Rocks!

After week two and now three, still no major breakdowns or Elle Woods moments in class where I have completely no idea what is being discussed–though I think I may be getting to that point in my Contracts class.  We’re dealing with a lot of gray area issues, which makes me and many classmates queasy (much to the professor’s delight), so it seems inevitable that the day will come where I will get called on and just completely blank, crash and burn.  But so far, so… okay.

My favorite class is one that I was not expecting: Civil Procedure.  The subject matter seems so dry, learning the rules for how to bring a lawsuit to court, but it has been anything but boring.  Much credit must be given to my professor for what amounts to really a performance everyday in lecture of the material at hand, complete with anecdotes and jokes to make you laugh out loud and roll your eyes.  But more than just that, he takes you behind the scenes of the rules, diving into the politics of how they’re formulated, implemented and interpreted by federal judges at all levels.  It’s a highly interesting landscape, one that I might not mind further exploring in future classes–as long as Professor Redish is teaching haha.

The best way to describe my Torts class right now is a philosophical, touchy-feely (insert bad torts joke about unconsented contact) exercise on what someone can sue for.  My professor here is really old and likes to read stories out of what I’m sure are first edition prints of articles and books from the 1950s onward.  The class has been moving at glacial speeds for the past two weeks, but I think we’re finally getting around to discussing some concrete ideas and cases instead of positing abstract concepts.  But I appreciate the light reading at the moment.

My Property class, however, more than makes up for the lack of reading in Torts.  My professor flies through cases every class, but so far its nothing too crazy or too difficult to understand.  This and Communication and Legal Reasoning are the only two classes I have on Thursday and Friday, which makes it easy to try to put off reading until Wednesday but I’ve been trying to avoid that because of the volume.

Otherwise, life is going pretty well.  I attended an OUTLaw event over the weekend, and the weekend prior (as I had mentioned in my previous post) I flew to Boston to surprise Jason for our 2 year anniversary. =)  I really can’t believe it’s only been two years, it feels much longer than that.  But we’ve just been through so much in such a relatively short amount of time.  We celebrated by going out to dinner to the restaurant at the top of the Prudential building that overlooks the Boston skyline (I had made reservations =), not to mention also spending a lot of time studying together for our classes.  Overall, I’m glad I planned the trip and got some good quality time with him before school got really crazy.

As for this weekend, I’m looking forward to spending time with some friends in town, a trip to the zoo on Sunday, and my roommate Ryan returning from his summer internship.  Not to mention reading.  And reading and reading and reading…

Law school is hard. Law school is intimidating. Law school is boot camp and it will kick your ass.

Thankfully, I quickly realized this from the get go during orientation, even before classes started. I should praise the Northwestern staff and faculty for preparing us for this during orientation, which was a week long but well worth the time. I should also commend them for putting together a great group of incoming 1L students. There are about 240 of us, divided into 4 sections (I’m in section 4), and we all readily acknowledge to each other that it is great to be surrounded by people who have real work experience as well as the maturity and respect that comes along with that. (For those unfamiliar with Northwestern’s admissions policy, they really make an effort to admit candidates that have at least some post-undergrad work experience and only accept a small percentage of students coming straight from college.) It certainly makes the grueling  academic schedule and law school environment here a bit more pleasant.

Nevertheless, my experience so far has been very challenging, forcing me to go back to basics on some of the skills and habits I’ve developed over the years. We’re talking everyday things like what I eat, how I study, what I do with my free time, how much I interact with people, etc. Essentially I have the opportunity to start off with a clean slate, something that doesn’t come along too often in life, so I want to make the most of it. I’m forcing myself to really scrutinize the things I do day to day and figure out if there is anything that could use some changing or improvement. I could go into more depth about this but then I would start sounding like a self-help book (boooo-ring). Suffice it to say, I feel good about being able to start off my law school experience with these improvements and I’m glad I can set these habits now before classes get REALLY crazy.

Though arguably, the madness has already begun. My classes begin at 8:45am, Monday through Thursday, and I get to sleep in a little on Friday before my 10:25am class. There has already been a ton of reading this week and lots of substantive discussion everyday. We really hit the ground running here, forcing me to stay up late every night just so I can stay on top of the readings. My classes this semester are assigned (as they are for all 1Ls) and include: Contracts, Torts, Civil Procedure, Property, and Communication and Legal Research, or CLR for short (basically the class that teaches you how to research and write like a lawyer).

In confronting the academic demands of law school, I have adopted a pretty simple attitude: I really don’t know anything, so I have everything to learn. I want to rid myself of the pressure of trying to sound like I know what I’m doing, because chances are I probably don’t.  It’s okay if I don’t know the answer to something; I certainly want to try to offer as much as I can in and out of class, but I want to be corrected as well.  I just want to learn as much as I can because really that’s what I’m paying up the wazoo in tuition for, practically speaking.

Beyond just keeping this academic focus in my life a constant, I have to do things that keep me sane as well.  And in the theme of going back to basics, I decided (a long time ago in mid-July when I bought my plane ticket) to go back to the boyfriend and get a good dose of quality time with him before we both get into the thick of things in school.  So that is where I find myself this weekend, back at “home” with Jason in Boston as a surprise to him from me for our two year anniversary coming up this week.  More on that later =)

My life is spent at airports.

Today, I start my first day of classes.  Today, I officially become a law student.

I think I’ll leave it at that for now, because even for me the gravitas of that statement is still sinking in.  It is simple, but the implications are vast: the experiences I will have, the emotions I will feel, the decisions I will have to make–these are all predicated now by the fact that I am a law student.  But I do not want to engage in a speculative exercise on what all of this means or what my life will be like from here on out.  Rather, I will try to document as much of it as I can, in snapshots of course, as it all unfolds.

For now, I simply mark this point in my life, this new chapter, and reflect on it quietly to myself.  Stay tuned.

P.S. I’m excited.

=)

After getting settled in Chicago I fly back home to enjoy some quality time with my family. I also took the opportunity to drive up to Fresno and the bay area to visit my BFF’s Christina and Danielle. I hadn’t seen them since at least last Christmas so it was definitely good times to catch up =).

A couple of days after returning from my trip up north, it was time for me to reunite with the boyfriend at where else but an airport (it seems like our relationship revolves around airports and flying =P), specifically LAX for our trip to Tokyo. I was super excited to see him and for the trip itself. He used his miles to purchase our roundtrip tickets, his 2-year anniversary gift to me and our mini-vacation together before the start of law school. I had an amazing week there and everyone was super friendly to me. It was great to see the sights and eat so much delicious food, though I would say that one of the highlights of my trip was sitting with a circle of Japanese baton twirler parents, trying to communicate with them without the help of Jason, Monica or anyone else that spoke English. It was a great cultural exchange moment, and it really touched me how genuine and eager their interest was to get to know me–a complete and total stranger–though the feeling was definitely mutual. I was even asked by the baton twirler kids to sign some autographs along with Jason and Monica! There are just so many moments that I will never forget, and hopefully Jason and I will be able to return there soon. (I am not done posting all the pictures from my trip, but there is a batch found on facebook here.)

As soon as I returned from my trip to Tokyo it was time for me to return to Chicago to get ready for the start of orientation at Northwestern and law school itself. Sunday was “Day 0″ of orientation, specifically for us diverse kids, designed to address some issues of diversity at the law school and the legal profession in general. It included a double-decker bus tour of the Chicago and a night of bowling at Lucky Strike. It was definitely a lot of fun and it was great to meet so many cool people in a smaller setting, as opposed to the general orientation for the entire incoming class of 1L’s, 240 in total.

And today, Monday, was “Day 1″ of orientation, where we took care of a lot of the nitty gritty of law school: ID cards, CTA UPass (free use of Chicago’s ENTIRE metropolitan transportation system, WOOT!), locker assignments (hey locker buddy Lindsay!), and sorting out my Communication and Legal Reasoning section (I had some confusion as to what books were assigned to my section when I went to the buy my books on Saturday; turns out that they ended up switching my section for a different one today, sheesh!). It’s been great meeting so many new people and finding out all the interesting things they’ve been up to since graduating undergrad. I have perfected telling the story of my life in under a minute (essentially an elevator pitch) to people that I meet. Some people know me as “the guy from Garden Grove” because I made a joke in my around-the-room introduction during diverse orientation, explaining that I was from Garden Grove where there is neither a garden nor a grove (a line that I actually stole from Garden Grove-native Steve Martin). The best part was running into a complete stranger to whom I did not have to make an introduction because she had read my blog a couple of times after I posted on the Northwestern Law Facebook group! She knew all about what I had been up to these past couple of months, crazy! (Thanks for reading! =)

I can honestly say that I am having a blast at Northwestern. I am glad I made the decision to move out here to Chicago and, as crazy as it may sound, I can’t wait to get back into full student mode start classes. But until then, orientation continues through Saturday and first day of class on Monday, oh boy! =)

View of the John Hancock building from our orientation bus tour

So first a little refresher: The apartment I’m living in is a two bedroom condo owned by this couple that Jason and I met at his Stanford reunion last fall, Brian and Byron.  In February, Brian and Byron had to move to London for work, leaving behind their condo and their roommate at the time, Ryan.  Ryan is an MBA student at the University of Chicago and is currently in London for the summer doing an internship.  In April, Brian and Byron generously offered to let me live at their place if I decided to attend Northwestern in the fall, which I immediately accepted.  Late June I finally met Ryan, who will be my roommate while I’m living here, and who will potentially not return to Chicago until January if he decides to complete all six months of his internship in London (leaving the entire apartment to myself!).

Which brings me to today, fresh off the road and getting settled in to my new apartment and my new life in Chicago.  I am uber excited that this has all worked out so nicely and that I’m finally here.  So without further ado, come along with me as I give you a picture tour of my new crib!

Front door

The unit is on the third floor of a four-story building that has a total of 8 units.  It is a south-facing building, and the unit is aligned along a north-south axis, with the living room and study on the front, south end and the kitchen and den on the north, back end.  As you enter the front door, you face the master bedroom with the living room to your right.

Living room from main entrance

The living room is divided into two areas: the main living room with the sofa, piano and heirloom loom (long story); and the study which has a shared desk as workspace and large open windows.

Living room

Study

Turning back around and walking north from the living room to the rest of the apartment, you pass the master bedroom on the right (where Ryan will be living when he gets back from abroad) and head down a hallway leading to the dining room.

Main hallway

The dining room is quite large and pretty awesome.  You could easily host a state dinner there or something.  I especially like the look of the mirror wall with empty picture frames, it creates a cool effect and is a clever way of breaking up wall.

Dining room

Mirror wall, dining room

As you continue north along the mirror wall of the dining room you reach the entrance to the kitchen on the left and the second bedroom and bathroom (both mine) on the right.

Hallway to my bedroom and bathroom

The bathroom is immaculate and the bedroom is a good size with plenty of storage and closet space for all my stuff.

Bathroom

Bedroom

Closet

Coming back out of my bedroom, you head into the kitchen and enter a space perfect for any chef or foodie (Jason, start drooling).  It is filled with brand new appliances, cupboards full of pots, pans and any kitchen utensil your heart desires, and loads of counter top space.  Also here is the built-in washer and dryer (Jason just collapsed).

Kitchen: sink, dishwasher, stove

Kitchen: fridge, oven, washer and dryer

Full kitchen

Directly adjacent to the kitchen is a small den area, complete with a home entertainment system that includes a big Sony flatscreen TV, AppleTV, an old school NES and AirTunes speakers to stream music from my iTunes (these speakers are also in my bedroom, dining room and main living room).  There is also a little gas fireplace on the side for those cold winter months.  This area of the apartment has quickly grown on me and I have so far spent most of my time here when I’m not in my bedroom (I am currently writing this blog post from the den, listening to my music on the speakers).

Den, TV

Den sofa

All in all, I am very exciting to have such a fabulous living situation.  It will definitely make the stresses of law school that much more tolerable.  Hope you enjoyed the pics! =)