How Deep the Father's Love for Us

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection.

                                                -Version by Chelsea Moon & Uncle Daddy

Wooh. So it has been a crazy couple of weeks. Orientation was last week which began my status as a law student. Oh yeah, this is happening. I think, actually, that last day of orientation, it hit me: I am really doing this. I am pursuing something that is so much bigger than myself. Even if I don't end up working on human rights (I sincerely hope I do; there's more on that later, actually), being a lawyer involves the lives of other people. This job requires more of me than anything I've ever done before.

Classes started on Monday, and let me say, I was terrified. I was so anxious I couldn't eat, I couldn't sleep, I just didn't feel prepared enough for anything. Tuesday was slightly less so, since I had already gone through day 1, but they were all new professors, so I was still nervous. I really like my professors. They're all passionate people who care about teaching well and bringing out excellence in their students. We have to think and speak intelligently and thoroughly. I've volunteered a lot in my classes so I don't get called on for something I don't know. So far, it's worked out for me. :]

The subjects that so far seem the most interesting are Contracts, Torts and Christian Foundations of Law (CFL). However, I really like my Property Professor, I'm just not a huge fan of the subject. It's weird to me to see classes begin with a devotional. Each class starts with a reading from the bible and either a life lesson or how the reading should guide us as lawyers. For all my classes so far, we've been discussing the biblical basis for dealing with law and handling various sections of law with our faith in mind. For some classes, the biblical basis makes sense, for others (like Property), the argument made seems like justification rather than reason. But, again, the professors (Specifically Property) have acknowledged that, and either addressed it, or indicated that those topics would come up later in the course. I find it fascinating, even if I disagree with some of it. I'm learning to discover a way to articulate why I disagree. If I can't find something, I have to challenge my own perspective. :] It's fun.

Socially, I've made a few friends. I've met a ton of people, but there are three (and a developing fourth and fifth) people I would feel comfortable calling outside of class and be like, "Let's hang out!" That being said, we're all still fairly separate. Each goes on their own to get work done, figure things out and pursue their own lives. Maybe that's because we're all still getting to know each other, or maybe that's just how it's going to be, to an extent. The other possibility is that I'm just not a part of any of the developing "groups" and I'm just gunna be the one on the outside who knows everyone, but is close to only a few. Kind of like high school. It's weird coming back to something like that after being a part of IV where I had solid friends who are really more like family. I knew I belonged somewhere. Here, I feel out of my element. Hopefully, that's going to change with time. As I get to know people in my classes, I figure I'll find a place to be. However, the alone time has definitely made me more productive. :]

This post is becoming longer than I intended it to be. Haha. Sorry for the lack of pictures, I'll make up for it, soon, I promise. :]

I'm going to end on a thought I had this morning. For most of my life, with few exceptions, I've been "above average." In singing, in my Japanese classes, in my understanding of language, my reading level, drawing....etc. There have always been people I was better than, but there have always been many people who were better than me. I was content with this. I have lived my life being okay with being "slightly more than mediocre." Getting into law school, I finally felt like I had escaped some of that.....even if just barely.

Today, I was late to my first class by about 10 minutes. I haven't been sleeping very much or very well, for the last week and a half. I conked out last night and didn't wake up on time. As I was walking to class feeling completely unprepared, I realized that I can't live like this anymore and I don't want to. Someone mentioned to me that when she thought about the fact that, as a lawyer, she was directly involved in the lives of other people and the fate of their future. For example, if a lawyer is trying a criminal case, the verdict could put a person in jail for the rest of their life. Our job is to argue the case of why that should or shouldn't happen. This person's life is in our hands.

How can I take on that responsibility of a life if I'm willing to settle for being mediocre? I can't. Yes, it's going to take a lot of work, but isn't that what I'm here to do? This isn't an idea or a dream anymore. This is my life. I truly believe that I would not have gotten here without God, his love, my faith that he honors promises. I have been given an amazing opportunity to be more than what I've been. After the last two years, I didn't think this could happen anymore. I had thought being here was an unreachable goal. So the question remains: Will I take advantage of it? Or will I just get by, taking this realization of a dream for granted (and wasting A LOT of money)?

I miss you guys. :] I hope all is well on the planet of California. Send me letters! I still don't get much mail. Text/email/facebook message me for my address. :P

Even if it Breaks Your Heart

                                                  Some dreams keep on gettin' better,

                                         Gotta keep believin' if you wanna know for sure.

                                                      Ohhh, I can hear 'em playin'.

                                            I can hear the ringin' of a beat up ol' guitar.

                                                     Ohhh, I can hear 'em singin',

                                        "Keep on dreamin', even if it breaks your heart."

                                                                                       -Eli Young Band

I'm in the middle of week 4 in Virginia. On Monday, I begin orientation for law school. According to the schedule, there are sessions for study tips, mock classes and even a mock exam. I'm mildly terrified. Haha. Since I'm starting off talking about school, I thought I'd share a few pictures. :]

This is the view outside of the student center (where the bookstore is!!).

This is off to the side of the center.

This is the law building!!! All of my classes are in here, as well as orientation.

I'm terrified, but I'm also really excited. Apparently, Regent is an excellent school. Nearly everyone in the area is familiar with it and people seem impressed when I say I'm going into the law program there. I've already had homework. There was this grammar course where you had to know various rules, both standard and law specific. I did okay on the pretest, but I still needed to take most of the lessons. Ultimately, I came out ahead and got it done. I'm also reading some books that have explained the process of reading and briefing cases. What I've learned is that law school is going to be interesting. Haha.

Kris is still in town and it's been nice having another human being to talk to, especially one I like so much ;]. I'll be sad when he leaves on Wednesday. Sunday, we checked out a church nearby and I love it (his doesn't have an opinion yet). They have an international ministry that supports and loves on international students. It has a separate service for people involved with that, which is smaller than main service, and I liked it a lot more than when I had gone to the regular church service. We met a women named Martha who was crazy friendly. She gave me her number and email in case I needed anything. She said it would be helpful if I knew an adult in the area. I met her husband and her daughter-in-law with her grandson (so cute!!). It was a nice change, being welcomed so warmly. I have yet to meet people my age though. Orientation should help with that.

Yesterday, Kris and I attempted to go shopping and out to dinner. There aren't a lot of restaurants in my immediate area, so we decided to try out the public transportation. Our first problem was that we got on the wrong bus. It was the right number, but it went in the opposite direction. By the time I noticed our mistake, we were up almost to the airport (which is about 20 minutes North of me). Thankfully, this was the area near the hotel I had stayed at when my parents and I had first arrived here. So I generally knew where we were. There was a Walmart, which was good cause we had needed to go there, and we found a Panera Bread. So we had a late lunch, instead of dinner, and went grocery shopping. The bus trip back was.....well......not smooth. We got on the right bus, but it stopped before we needed it too. So we had to take an additional bus, which was late. We missed the next bus to take us back to my apartment, so we ended up walking the 2 miles back. It wasn't so bad, we were just tired and hot and frustrated. 

Today the plan is to get some work done, see a movie, and go shopping for dinner tonight. Kris is cooking!! So you know it's gunna be delicious. :] I also need to start decorating my apartment as my parents have been sending my boxes full of all the stuff I want to put on my walls (including pictures of some of you people. :P)

I miss you all, and hope everyone's doing well. I'll let y'all know how orientation goes!! Also! I never get any mail...not even junk mail. So! If you wanna send me a letter, shoot me an email, a text message or a Facebook message and I'll send you my address. :]

P.S. If formatting is weird on this post, I apologize, I'm trying out sending posts from my iPad. :]

P.P.S. Speaking of my iPad, I want to formally and publicly apologize to M@. I had to buy a lot of my books on the kindle app to save costs and back pain. >_> Though I know how he feels about E-books. ;]