It may surprise you to know that I fell in love with "To Kill a Mockingbird" very recently - just last summer in fact. I vaguely remember having read the book when I was in grade school, because it was on my brother's reading list. I made it a point to read all the books on his reading list, mainly because he'd have to get them, and they'd be lying around the house. But yeah, I don't think it made an impact on me then. I have read a lot of books before that did not make an impact on me - Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey," for example. Guess I have to be ready for a work in order for me to like it.
Anyway, let me tell you the story of how I discovered the book. Just last May, my friend, M, graduated from the LLM program of the law school. Because I was going to be staying at Notre Dame for the summer and was therefore still going to be around for the commencement exercises, M invited me to attend her graduation. There were different graduation ceremonies for the different departments, but for the schoolwide graduation ceremony, Notre Dame had two special guests: Mary McAleese, the president of Ireland, and Harper Lee.
The organizers of the ceremony gave all graduating students a copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird," and told them to wave the book when Harper Lee stood up to speak. And they did so, and the kick-ass author was thrilled with all the books she saw. So the long and short of it is that M gave me her copy because her friend had given her back her copy, and she had no need for two books. And that is how my love affair with the book began.
I have a funny story: I was in one of the top bleachers during the graduation ceremony, and I was spacing out like mad when I heard the announcer saying something like this, "Here is Father Jenkins, the President of the University of Notre Dame, and here is the other President, Mary Magdalene." I was, like, oh, that's sweet. Needless to say, I heard wrong.
The law students I know who love "To Kill a Mockingbird" love it because of Atticus Finch. I don't. I mean, I do like Atticus Finch, but I like the book mainly because of the interaction between Jem and Scout. I'm a sucker for children's books. I love L.M. Montgomery's "Anne of Green Gables" and Madeleine L'Engle's "A Wrinkle in Time." That's why I think I'd like to write for children one day. I kind of have already written for children, in the form of that short story I wrote that was published in Read Magazine, the in-house magazine of Powerbooks, two years ago. But I think I'd like to work on a full-blown novel or series. Just have to figure out what I want to write about. Ah, in time, in time. I'm a law student now, and I'll be working in a firm (hopefully) after graduation, but after that, my life is fair game. My friend prophesied that I'd take the traditional "becoming a partner in the firm" route, but I just might do a John Grisham instead. But that does not mean I'd like to write about the law. Fantasy or young adult or children's books. Those are my genres, friends. And my stories will be told.
I am so excited to be a lawyer. I get a really warm feeling whenever I watch or read about court scenes - the examination, the cross-examination, and then the closing statement. Oh my gosh, now that is orgasmic! Only sinigang and variants thereof (i.e. pictures of sinigang) can give me comparable pleasure. I am going to be doing that one day, not too long from now. I'm halfway done with my legal education. Yeah, that's right - I graduate in May 2008. By taking law here, I skipped one whole year. I'm glad to have done that. And I am glad to be here.
You know, I was never one of those who was desparate to leave the parents' house and explore the lands beyond. I was a pretty complacent bunny back home. In fact, I daresay that if I did continue my law studies at the U.P. Law School, which I attended for a whopping total of five days (but hey, during those five days, I got called on in Ma'm Beth's Family Law class and Prof. Sison's Constitutional Law class), I'd be happy there. But I really am glad that Notre Dame Law worked out for me.
I compare Notre Dame to Manila a lot, and I bemoan a lot of the things that I would have if I were back home (mainly househeld help and a driver), but at the end of the day, I am grateful to be here. Here are just some of my reasons: my friends here are beautiful people (inside and out, ladies!); the weather is an experience (I trek through snow everyday just to get to school; I am not kidding - I wear mid-calf boots for it); I can go crazy at random clubs because no one knows me and my friends who are with me aren't telling (not ready to give details about this yet, but I just might, at a later date); the professors (well, some that I know) are genuine people who are passionate about what they are doing. And the most important reason? Brady Quinn, Jeff Samardzija, and the rest of the Fighting Irish.
That is Brady Quinn, also known as the best quarterback in the history of the universe. You probably should not take my word on it because I don't understand football. But you don't have to take my word of it, friends! Just look at the man. Look, drool, look, drool. Wipe the drool. Enough now, the man's with me.
On that note, I am actually really, really sad that so many seniors won't be back in the fall. Brady's gone, Jeff is gone, Rhema is gone, Tom Z. is gone. Sigh. But I'm sure the next lot of them would be just as fantastic. Man, I wish I got into ND football earlier. But then again, I think there was no other way it could have gone like that - I was anti-social during my 1L year, I did watch a couple of games this fall, and then next year, I will watch all games. I'm pumped for football already.
So yes, I have finally fallen in love with Notre Dame. Assumptionista, Atenista, Domer. Perfect combination.
Since I am all rah-rah about Notre Dame right now, I just wanted to comment on something really quick. Last year, as I was preparing for the on-campus interviews, I remember talking to my friend from BC Law, and he said that not a lot of the NY firms were coming to Notre Dame, and that he had a friend who was complaining about the dearth of firms who came here to interview.
Well, I don't find that to be the case. A lot of big-name firms did come to the campus to interview, and the firms here were interviewing for all over. I know that I'm probably not the best person to ask on this one, because, as an international student, I don't think I get judged based on my geographical affiliations at all. But yeah, I don't think that being here has hurt my chances of getting into a national law firm. Very much the opposite in fact.
Don't really want to go into a whole admissions spiel, but what I will say is that Notre Dame is a nationally recognized law school, and the alumnae here really feel very warmly about the place. I've spoken to several alumnae in preparation for my job interviews (okay, I did it for one firm), and they were all very helpful. So yeah, I've actually lost the point I was trying to make somewhere down this road. Just remember that I wanted to clarify something.
If you're a law student who's chanced upon this blog, you should know that I'm willing to give law advice (to the best of my abilities, mind), so if you have specific questions, just comment, and I'll try to be of help.
My head is pounding already. I've got to go and get some sleep because I have work to get out of the way. My inspiration: Chinese food. Let's do my variation of that Mighty Ducks 2 cheer now. Stand tall! Fly straight! Peking Duck ... All the way!
2 comments:
that guy is hot!
He is so hot talaga.
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