Housekeeping

I had to close comments on my post "Are you considering law school?" because spammers keep hitting it. It's an old post, so I hope it won't inconvenience anyone who has something to say about it.

Blogging is going to be a bit sporadic around here for the summer since I'm working full-time and studying for the bar exam. I'm not studying or working on Sundays, so I'll try to get at least one post per week up, but no guarantees. (If I get really creative, I'll write a bunch of posts on Sundays and make use of the auto-publish feature to have regular blogging throughout the week, but I certainly don't want to promise that.)

Graduation was on Saturday, and it was great. It still doesn't feel real. I think when I get sworn in as a member of the bar, that's when it will feel real.

Looking Back, Moving Forward

It is quite true what philosophy says; that life must be understood backward. But then one forgets the other principle: that it must be lived forward.
Søren Kierkegaard

At times of transition in my life, I often look back and wonder what I would have done differently if I had it to do all over again. As my law school graduation approaches this weekend, I've been running in mental circles trying to figure out if I could have made these past 10 years better.

Ten years ago, in 2001, I was 19 years old. I was on top of the world, just finishing up my sophomore year in college. I was in the ROTC, and I was about to take command of the color guard. I had my life all planned out. I was going to finish college, join the Air Force, go to law school, and spend my career as a JAG officer. (I also planned on getting married, living in a house with a white picket fence with 2.4 kids and a dog. Well, a cat. I don't really like dogs.)

Life didn't happen quite like I planned.

Done with law school

I turned in my last paper on Saturday, so I'm now, finally, done with law school.

It's been a really long road with a lot of bumps along the way. A lot of people told me I should just give up because I couldn't make it.

Well, I'm glad I didn't listen to them. They were wrong.

The reality of it all hasn't fully sunk in yet. I'll write a better blog post when it has.

Graduation is on Saturday. I'm sure I'll be a big sobbing mess.

Reminder on the Comment Policy

I operated this blog for a long time without a comment policy. A few months ago, I created one and announced it in this post here.

Nobody goes digging through the archives, so I've created a permanent page for the comment policy. It can be viewed here.

Keep coming by, and keep commenting, but keep it civil!

Thoughts on Prayer

But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.
2 Nephi 32:9

Latter-day Saints pray a lot. Recently, I was curious how often the typical practicing church member prays, so I sat down and counted it. (The number varies based on what day of the week it is and what kind of family situation the person is in.)

• At a minimum, an active church member will pray in the morning upon getting up, before each meal, and in the evening before going to bed. (Assuming 3 meals per day, the running total so far is 5.)
• On a day with church meetings, the number increases, since each meeting begins and ends with prayer. (Assuming it's a Sunday, that's 6 more prayers, bringing the total to 11.)
• For people who are in family situations with more than one practicing church member, there is also family prayer. (I wasn't raised in the church, so I don't know how most families do family prayer. Is it morning and night, or just at night? Running total, 12 or 13.)

Plus, there's the option to approach God in prayer any time we feel a need, and we're supposed to keep a prayer in our hearts at all times. So, the answer to my initial question ranges from 5 to infinity.

On the Death of bin Laden

Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
Matthew 5:43-44

I'll admit straight up that I'm not a good enough Christian to pray for someone as evil as Osama bin Laden. I know I'm supposed to love my enemies and pray for them, but I can't.

A Tale of Two Dinners

This weekend, I attended two separate dinners sponsored by organizations of religious members of the legal profession. On Friday evening, I attended a dinner sponsored by the J. Reuben Clark Law Society (JRCLS is the association of LDS lawyers). This evening, I attended a dinner sponsored by the Bay Area Association of Muslim Lawyers.

I have to say, this evening's dinner was way better. Everyone was friendly and welcoming. There were people of all ages, all races, and from many different parts of the country and the world. There were an equal number of men and women, and I did not feel out of place. The people were genuinely interested in me. When I arrived at the event, I only knew one other person (the professor who invited me). By the time I left, I had exchanged business cards with several lawyers and made friends with the other law students present.

Contrast this with a typical JRCLS event, where I show up surrounded by cliquish old guys from Utah. I'm almost always the only woman present, and I'm usually ignored because the lawyers assume I'm just there tagging along as the spouse of whichever man I happen to be talking to. (I always love seeing the look on their faces when I mention that I'm the vice president of the student chapter. You would think they had seen a unicorn or something.)