limeblawg

ending and beginning.

July 9 was my last day in the office, and happened to be the day of a party for entering students of Southwestern. In the posts leading up to my blogging hiatus, I harped on the very surreal and strange feelings of leaving my job. In efforts to guard against more unbearably melodramatic writing, I'll say, Ditto all of that for the last day.

As it turned out, I couldn't have planned the day better. I gave my notice and decided on my last day before I knew of my acceptance to Southwestern and the entering students' party. The "luau"-themed event was a perfect transition from past to present/future. Mrs. Lime and I had the chance to meet and mingle with several students and professors. It was comforting for both of us to speak with others who were making the same decisions and sacrifices.

I kind of struggled in my first week off. I tried to keep busy, take care of law school and house-related things, while I tried to relax and not worry too much. If you hadn't guessed, I'm prone to worrying. I felt like I should have been working. It's hard to enjoy a vacation when you have that thought in your head.

I'm glad I decided to do the BarBri law school prep program last week. Having not done a lot of research between it and Law Preview (another reputable prep program who also had an upcoming session in LA), I decided at the last moment to go ahead and do BarBri because it was a week earlier. BarBri has a week-long program which gives you the lay of the land. Law professors contracted by the company are brought in to give introductions to the first year courses. They teach you how to brief cases, what to expect in your first year, and give you an opportunity to ask questions to dispel myths and gain insight and perspectives from several different law professors. It also affords another chance to meet more entering students. Surprisingly, there were only two other entering Southwestern students, one of whom is entering the evening program like me. Completing the week was exhausting (uh, yikes) but invaluable experience. The anxiety from not knowing what I'm getting into is now gone. Now I'm mostly excited, and only just a little bit nervous.

hola.

So much to cover. The time away has been nice, but it's very good to be back. Finally got this laptop working. Note: Dell is a pain in the ass. To be covered in the coming days:

- strange last day of work, and the luau
- the week where lime was lost
- BarBri Law School Prep program

mahalo.

Got the big envelope from Southwestern in the mail today. Along with the congratulations letter, reply forms, and informational pamphlet was an invitation to "a luau... honoring Accepted Applicants." It's on the evening of Friday the 9th, my last day of work.

I sent an e-mail to friends, family, and select co-workers last night informing them of my pending departure to law school. There's been a steady stream of very warm replies, which has been nice. I'll send the obligatory cheesy "happy trails" mass e-mail on or around my last day in the office. It's still so strange to me -- the notion that in 8 days, I won't be coming to work here anymore.

For the first time since the beginning of the year when I started this thing, I looked at the stats for the ol' limeblawg. Y'all are turning out in numbers. That is kind of cool. Thanks for reading.

lovefest.

Well, life is good for lime right about now. Bear with me through this heartfelt thanks to some of the people, places, and things who've been a part of this law school quest, including:

- Mrs. Lime: for everything you are, everything you do, everything. I love you.
- my family and friends: for love, friendship, opportunity, support, guidance, all in spite of the fact that I suck at keeping in touch, and don't reciprocate enough.
- God. No way this stuff is happening to me without all of the above and then some. Good looking out.
- all of my past and present employers and coworkers: my personal and professional growth wouldn't have been possible without your example, talent, and encouragement.
- my failures. Too many to name, though some may be called out while making this list. They've made me who I am.
- my successes. These have made me who I am, too.
- the NonTradLaw community. For the endless advice and support, especially from a select few.
- all of the law blogs and law school related sites that I visit. I link to just some of them here. Thanks for the inspiration, entertainment, and valuable info, and for being a place where I could comfortably muddle in my neurosis.
- the people I've played music with, and all musicians. This is pretty much all your fault and if it doesn't pan out, I'm coming after each and every last one of you.
- the University of Georgia, and the city of Athens. For providing the venue where my foolishness could take on an amazing life of its own.
- Whittier Law School, for giving me one of the most enviable opportunities to study law. It wasn't meant to be, but I will always feel grateful for the acceptance and scholarship.
- the soon-to-be-1Ls of Whittier Law School who sprouted up into a community in recent months, for making me extremely confident that I'd be happy while pursuing my law degree at Whittier. I'm sad that I won't be going through the first year with you, and wish you all the best of luck.
- Southwestern University School of Law, for the opportunity to pursue a law program that perfectly matches my background and aspirations.

Orientation is Wednesday, August 18, and my first law class, Legal Process, starts that evening. The quest for lime's law school is over. Now, I can finally start.

Woohoo!

HOLY &%*#@! LIME IS GOING TO SOUTHWESTERN!!!!!

The admissions director just called me on my cell phone. I've been offered and have accepted a seat in their part time division!!!

STOKED BEYOND WORDS!!!!! I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!!

back from the stormy South.

I'm back from hot and humid and rainy Atlanta, where I spent a few days in a mediation seminar. Mediation is a form of "alternative dispute resolution." Along with arbitration, mediation provides a venue and process for resolving a dispute outside of a courtroom (and in this case, without the parties' forfeiture of their rights to a legal proceeding).

I'm very glad I had this experience before I started law school. For me at least, it's easy to think of the litigiousness of our society and the competitive and adversarial elements of the legal profession, which makes me sometimes think of the law in general that way. Just the law school admissions process can be intimidating, where many candidates do not even get the opportunity to work towards a law degree. Most law schools employ a forced curve, which pits students against each other for grades. If you do well enough to graduate, the competition for good jobs is fierce. Then much of the work of a lawyer, representing his or her client's interests, involves the defense of a position at the cost of someone else's. (In this light it's no wonder why some lawyers I speak with have pronounced negative attitudes about pretty much everything.) Mediation, in contrast, is focused squarely on the win-win scenario. Compromise is a large part of the process, and to accomplish it there's a kind of clever redirection of the parties' energy, away from the wrongdoing or even the damages sought, and toward each party's underlying personal need. There were about 20 of us, several of whom were attorneys, and every one who attended was friendly (which shouldn't have surprised me, since almost all of us were Southerners). We all shared the same sentiments about the seminar -- that it was a nice humanizing exercise while acquiring a valuable skill.

More chatter to come, covering lime's resignation from his employment, go-cart racing, and other stuff that you're dying to know.

it's official.

I gave my notice at work today. My last day is Friday, July 9.

It was harder than I thought, but it worked out well. I missed my plane this morning to tell the boss, and need to get to the airport to hopefully get on another flight.

Obviously, a whole heck of a lot more on this later.

positive momentum.

Yesterday morning I received a phone call from a friend of a friend who happens to be a law professor at Southwestern. It was nice to get yet more validation of my feelings on and approach to my law school situation. He took interest in me and my story, and did a great job of selling me on the merits of Southwestern. We spoke for almost 30 minutes which was great; it definitely didn't feel like a "courtesy call." I learned later that he's also the head of the legal writing department and coordinator of Moot Court. Given the way the convo went, I have to believe I made a good impression, and that can't hurt.

On Friday of last week, I sent an e-mail to the head of the Entertainment Law Institute at Southwestern. His response came this past Monday. It was short but nice, and cc'd the admissions director. And the week before that, I sent a letter to the admissions director to inform her that Mr. and Mrs. Lime had thought long and hard, and had decided that we were prepared to forego Whittier's very generous scholarship offer should I receive admission from Southwestern's waitlist.

The seat deposits for Southwestern's accepted students are due July 1. I believe at that point, they will have a pretty clear picture of the size of their entering class, and can determine if they need to admit from the waitlist. I think I can anticipate a decision no earlier than mid-July. They can notify candidates of admission from the waitlist as late as a week before classes start (!).

I feel good about these developments, and about my situation in general. I think that I've demonstrated my strong interest without being annoying. I'll probably try to muster up another letter of recommendation, and will find an excuse to place maybe one or two phone calls to the admissions office between now and mid-July. If nothing comes of it, I'll be a very grateful and happy 1L at Whittier this fall.

paging whoever's in charge of waitlist karma.

About a week ago, Brooklyn Law School sent me an invitation to graduate -- from the deferred list to the waiting list. Those hundreds if not thousands of limeblawgreaders anxiously awaiting a decision on the status of their Brooklyn waitlist will be happy to know that I promptly declined, and withdrew my application.

A few days ago I checked lawschoolnumbers and three people have been admitted from the Southwestern waiting list.

:::Breaking News:::

This just in from Southwestern.

Dear lime,

At this point in the admissions process, our entering class is close to capacity. Your file has been carefully considered by our Admissions Committee and, although we cannot offer you acceptance at this time, we are able to offer you a position on our waiting list.

Not terribly shocked, not terribly disappointed. I could learn of a final decision "between now and the beginning of school in mid-August." I'll chase it up with more recommendations and letters of interest. But I'm not holding my breath, and I'm golden either way. As I mentioned, there are other things that could influence what I end up doing this fall. The path that led so clearly to Whittier about a month ago has dumped me off at a messy spaghetti junction. But it's all good. I have faith that the best decision for my wife and me will present itself to us, and we'll go down that road without regrets.