Since September, I've been working full-time at the SF Public Defender, and I've finally had the chance to argue motions and do preliminary hearings on my own. It's exhilarating, scary, interesting, and exhausting.
We took a brief trip to LA about a month ago, which was a whirlwind of fun.
Over the last few weeks, I've been working very, very hard to prepare for the California Association of Criminal Justice (CACJ) trial advocacy competition that took place at the SF Superior Courthouse this past Thursday - Saturday. The Hastings team did really well - we made it to the semi-finals! - but I'm glad that it's over so now I'll have at least one night a week to have a proper dinner at home... At least the case was pretty fascinating - all about an over-eager organ-harvesting doctor who may or may not have hastened his patient's death to retrieve his organs more quickly!
In doing-fun-things-over-the-weekend news, Todd and I went to the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival two weeks ago. We saw 1,600 pound pumpkin, a great home-town parade featuring little kids doing karate and firemen spraying each other with fire hoses, and many pumpkin-flavored things, such as bread, bars, and ice cream. It was a lovely time!
Now that the immediate stress of the trial advocacy competition is over (which I'd made into my "designated object" to avoid dealing with actual, huge stressors!), here is what I'm (most) worried about:
- MPRE Exam (ethics/professional responsibility that I'll be taking this coming March)
- Bar Exam
- Getting a job in LA (AACK - by far, the biggest worry, especially because I have such a narrow interest: becoming a public criminal defense attorney. But, because of the economy, I've decided to broaden my focus: at least for the first few years, working as a staff attorney at the LA Superior Court, or for a small to medium size criminal defense firm, would be fine. Basically, I just need to find a paying position which would be good experience while allowing me to have a bit of a life, and pay back my loans...)
I finally signed up for BarBri, and am also applying for an ABA scholarship to cover some of the cost of the course.
I'm also applying for some staff attorney positions in LA, and will hopefully be able to interview for them sometime in the next few months.
In order to keep my stress level manageable, I've made some "fun" goals for the next couple of months as well:
- to finish blogging about the wedding, and our wonderful East Coast celebration
- to make a giant Christmas list for everyone, and have a great time shopping for them
- to spend some quality time with Todd's and my family when we head back east for Thanksgiving! I'm looking forward to celebrating Todd's birthday, spending a day in NYC, and having some mother-daughter adventures in Boston and Connecticut
- to start on our wedding/honeymoon scrapbook - there's a giant green-striped box just brimming with odds and ends to incorporate
- to use our brand-new KitchenAid stand-mixer at least a few times to make Christmas cookies and other goodies for our work colleagues, and ourselves!
- to keep consistently working out at the gym - I feel great, my clothes fit better, and I want to make sure this habit stays firmly in place
Phew, that post felt very cathartic! Just writing out what one is stressed about has a very calming effect...
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