Surviving Law School as a 3L

As law school comes to an end, I've definitely had my moments where I've felt burnt out and had "senioritis". With the end so near, it can be hard to stay motivated. That's even more true once you have a job lined up for after graduation. I'm by no means an expert on how to stay motivated during this time, but here are some of the things I've done for myself:

1) Look at the bigger picture - during school, it can be easy to get caught up in law school minutia and forget about the bigger reason you're there. You're about to be a lawyer! Stop dwelling on all the little stuff that used to bug you during 1L and 2L and think about how awesome it is going to feel walking across that stage and receiving your diploma.

 [remember there's a whole world out there]

2) Be proud of your accomplishments - getting this far is a big deal!!! For me, I had never worked at something so hard before law school. I had never cared about something so much. Don't downplay it in your mind. Be proud of yourself and use that as motivation until the very end. You've gotten this far - you can keep going.

3) Remember your grades still matter - even if you have a job lined up. They might not matter right away, but they still can for that second or third job. You should continue working hard all the way through. Professors who you have for 3L classes might be some of your best connections or references, so you want to make sure they still see you working hard.

4) Take advantage of your last spring break ever - you're never going to be a student again. Take advantage! B and I planned a trip to Hawaii for spring break (post coming soon!). It was something we had been talking about and planning for over a year, so it gave me something to look forward to. It was a much needed break going into the last month of school. During that vacation, I didn't do any work. When I got home I felt a little stressed,  but I needed that week off to reset my body and mind.

[Hawaiian beach + beer = heaven]

5) Don't dwell on bar studying - one of my best friends in law school coined the phrase "that's a problem for future us" during our 1L year. We still use it all the time. Bar studying is STILL a problem for future me, even though it's a month away. It's inevitable. You have to do it and you have to work hard at it. So don't think too much about it. Or if you do think about it - put a positive spin on it. You have 3 months of the year where you are in complete control of your schedule. You can wake up, watch a lecture, go workout, do some practice problems, eat lunch while watching your fav TV show, and make some tea to get you through the afternoon. It doesn't sound ALL that bad if you put it like this, right?

6) Plan an exciting graduation weekend - you've earned it! Invite your family and friends to come. Have a party afterwards or go out to eat at a yummy restaurant. You'll want to end school well for all the people coming to celebrate you. This year, my entire family and B's entire family are coming to celebrate.

[We just got our robes - I feel like the Queen of Hearts in alice in wonderland in this poofy thing]

7) Plan your final schedule so you have a break between finals and bar studying - The entire time I was at law school, I knew my last semester I would pick classes based on final exam dates more than I had done in any other semester. I did NOT want to be the 3L who was studying really hard up until the day before graduation and then had to turn around and start bar studying 3 days later. I know for some it might just be something you have to do, but if you can avoid it then you should. I got really lucky and only have 1 final exam this semester (everything else is just a paper) on the first day of finals week, so I've got an entire 3 weeks before bar studying begins!

8) During the break, plan a relaxing vacation / staycation - Even though you don't need to dwell on the bar, everyone knows it's going to be a marathon. So plan to do something during the break between finals and bar studying to get your mind in the right place. Go to the spa and get a message, go camping for the weekend, go on a roadtrip, head to the beach/lake, host a bbq with your besties. Whatever it is, do something to get your mind in the right place and renew yourself from finals week.

[find time to relax]

9) Don't overschedule your 3L year - this was advice I wish I would have listened to. I got too involved 3L year and it made my schedule VERY busy. To this day, I have overbooked myself. I'm the type of person who does not quit things I start, so I just have to deal with it. It's tiring and I wish I would have done 1-2 less things this year so that I had a bit more energy and time for myself.

Why I would do law school again ...

Is this really happening?! I registered to take the California bar at the end of July. I can't believe law school is coming to an end. As I'm writing this, I just started spring break (my last one EVER!). When we get back from break, I will have basically one more month of school left. I know it's going to go by so fast and I'm trying to savor the next month as much as possible. There are a ton of events the club I am in charge of has planned, I have 2 papers that I'll need to write, and there's a trip to the US Supreme Court thrown in there as well. I take my last final ever on May 2 and then I graduate on May 13. My entire family is coming down to watch graduation and I couldn't be more excited.

After graduation, I will have 10 days to RELAX. My bar class officially starts on May 23. I don't know what I am going to do in that time period yet - probably head to the beach, workout, do some DIY things, and read lots of books for fun. But before I get to those 10 days of relaxing, I want to savor the last month of school because I know I will look back on it later in life and miss it.

But this realization that I have 1 month of school left has really made me reflect back on my time at law school. It honestly feels like yesterday when I packed up my bags and drove my little car out of Seattle - 2 days later I pulled up to my apartment in LA and moved in. B moved down 1 month later. But oh how our lives have changed since August 2013. For starters, we're getting married and planning a wedding. But even on a smaller scale, our lives are infinitely different than they were back then. We have a ton of new friends in LA who we never even knew existed back then. We've seen SO much of this city (but we still have so much more to see). We've taken road trips and seen much more of the United States than we did before we got here. We've been to an endless amount of sporting games and I've grown more fond of sports that are not named football. We've gotten into hiking and outdoor activities. I've actually learned to experiment in the kitchen a bit more than before. We've run a 1/2 marathon - something I NEVER thought I would do. And those are just things in our personal lives; professionally, we've both grown much more than we thought we could have in such a short time.

[my first week in LA]

Looking back, I would never change going to law school. Before I got there, so many people told me it was hard, it wasn't worth it, it was a rip off, if they went back and did it again they would just choose not to go. I remember sitting on an international law panel my senior year at UW and all three of the lawyers that were there said that exact thing! It was so discouraging to hear, especially to a room full of students who were thinking about law school or careers in law.

[Only picture I took when visiting UCLA during admitted students day]

But I disagree. I wouldn't change it for the world. Was it hard? Extremely. Were there times it made me question my academic abilities and intelligence? Yes. Was I stressed? More than I'd ever been before. Did I have a few meltdowns? Yep. But out of all the bad, I am coming out of it so happy and so proud of what I've accomplished and how far I've grown. I've met some great people who I know one day will be leaders of this country or who will use their abilities to change this world for the better. I am honored to know them and learn from them. My work ethic was changed immensely. I've learned to deal with stress in a healthy way. I can speak my mind more eloquently and clearly than I could before. I've faced my fears head on. There were times where it was terrifying (aka networking), but I got through those times. I've learned how to balance my personal life with my professional life - there was a time where my family was going through something extremely hard but I had to learn how to stay focused on school. I've learned how to deal with rejection (lots of rejection), but I've also learned how to persevere. These are traits that I will use in all aspects of my life - not just as a lawyer.

So if you would ask this girl to redo the last three years, she would say 'bring it on'.

[sidenote - no idea why I don't have shoes on]

2015: The best year of my life

My last blog post (about my life) was from July 2015. Since that time, many things happened to me. Many very exciting things! Right now, I can not believe that it's already March. I have many high hopes for 2016, but I can honestly say that 2015 was the best year of my life thus far. Just a little update on what happened since I last checked in:

July: Ended my job at my litigation firm. Had an amazing time and learned a ton. Went to Disneyland, attended my friends wedding back in Seattle, went to a Mariner's game with my father, and my brother came and visited me in LA.

[wedding in Snohomish, WA]

[Los Angeles summer nights]

[summer - aka only time I have enough time to read for fun]

PS-this book was so disappointing

[annual disneyland trip]

August: Got offered a job at that same firm for after graduation! A wave of pressure was lifted off my shoulders when this happened, and I coasted into 3L year on a high. I went to Boston for the first time in my life and had an absolute blast. I also passed the MPRE, which is the ethics portion of the bar. I got to go home to Seattle for a bit and visited my favorite place on the entire earth, Lake Chelan, Washington.

 [summer baseball games, the best] 

 [Molly Moons Ice Cream, Seattle]

[Lake Chelan, WA]

[Boston, MA]

September: Started school and went to multiple UCLA football games (while wearing a UW hat, because duh). Went back to Seattle for a UW game. Supreme Court Justice Breyer came to school to talk!!! And a little less cool but still sweet - B and I went to the VMA's!

 [After 20 years, my last first day of school]

 [hanging onto summer]

[SCOTUS Justice Breyer]

[Fall in Seattle = Heaven] 

[PNW training runs]

[best tailgates ever]

October: Ran my second 1/2 marathon and PR'd by 30 seconds! I ran the Nike Women's Half in San Francisco. The course was much harder than the first 1/2 I did, because SF is notoriously hilly. I felt so much better than I did in the first 1/2. I can;t wait to do it again. Traveled to Tempe/Pheonix, AZ for the first time to catch the UW v. ASU football game. B and I hiked Camelback Mountain and ate a ton of good food.

 [my name!]

[2:04:15]

[mile 12]

 [UW v. USC in Los Angeles]

[WE WON!]

[Halloween 2015]

[We <3 Parks and Rec]

[one millionth football game of 2015]

November: Went back to Seattle for Thanksgiving, studied my little heart out for finals. Realized I over-exerted myself big-time in extra-curricular activities at school, but somehow survived. I was externing for a judge all semester and was absolutely loving the experience.

[JK one million and one - Apple Cup 2015]

[Poo Poo Point & Mt. Rainier]

 [thanksgiving 2015]

[Camelback Mountain, 2015]

[Phoenix Road Trip]

 [Broad Museum, Los Angeles]

[Christmas at Disney]

December: GOT ENGAGED! To be continued...

Classpass Los Angeles: Yoga

I used to despise yoga. I thought it was boring, way too long, and a bad workout because I wouldn't sweat. Then I started training for half marathons and realized I needed yoga to heal my body from those long runs. Since that realization, I've started going to Yoga every week. It's helped me manage my stress and I think it helped me run better! I didn't train for my second half marathon nearly as much as my first, but I started adding yoga to the mix. I PR'd on my second half AND it was way more hilly than the first. I'm crediting yoga.

Since I started Classpass, I've tried out a few Yoga studios here and there in LA, and so I thought I would share! 

Sweat Hot Yoga (Santa Monica): My fav hot yoga studio I've been to. The room is hot, the music is loud, and the instructors are great. It's a one hour class and they go over various vinyasas, but then they turn the music up and let you do your own flow for a few minutes. It's almost like a dance class. They have time for inversions and handstands (if that is what you're into) but you can also tailor it to a beginner level. This was the first hot yoga class I ever did, so my expectations are very high now! The amenities are also really nice - they have 3 showers, a large area to get ready, and lockers. Free parking at the library right across the street! 

YAS: Yoga for Athletes (Venice): I went to YAS fitness mainly for the spin classes, but they have an awesome class where you do 30 minutes of spin and 30 minutes of yoga. The studio is located right on Abbot Kinney, but it's easy to find parking in the surrounding streets. The spin classes are great and the yoga classes are focused on athletes, which was cool. It was the perfect way to cool down after 30 minutes of intense cardio. They have showers, but no locker rooms. 

Red Diamond Yoga (Palms): My favorite yoga studio (see my previous post here). They have 3 studios, they burn incense and put essential oils on your hands after each class. Everyone is SO nice. They have a billion different classes every day so you can always find one to fit your schedule. 

Set and Flow Yoga (Hollywood): The studio is brand new and they do more than just yoga (TRX, barre, etc.) It was beautiful - the locker rooms are so nice, they have a kambucha bar, there is free parking underneath in the garage. The hot yoga class I went to was hard - but my only complaint was that there was no music the entire time! I don't like silent yoga! I think I would go back and try to TRX classes. 

The thing I love about yoga is that the practice is ever-changing. There is always room for improvement. I always leave yoga feeling much better than when I started.

See you later - going to work on my handstands now :) 

-A

PS. $20 off classpass --> http://class.ps/dr1cB

Viva Las Vegas!

This weekend I made the 4 hour trek from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to visit sin city! It was my third time heading to Vegas, and it never disappoints. Vegas is another world where normal societal rules do not apply. This is made partly possible by the copious amounts of alcohol flowing freely from anywhere the eye can see, the open container laws of Paradise, Nevada, and the crazy amounts of money circulated through that city. Everytime I go to Vegas I have a different experience, but it's always a great time.

We left LA at 8:00 AM on Friday and arrived in Vegas a little after 1:00 PM. First thing you must do in Vegas? Go get yourself a Fat Tuesday! What is a Fat Tuesday? An incredible slushy-type alcohol drink that comes in various flavors. My personal fav is a mix of Pina Coloda and Strawberry.

We decided to walk the strip after we had drinks in hand. The craziest part of Vegas is how GIANT the strip is. It takes so long to walk from one end to the other. You are basically forced to go inside casino after casino. The developers did not make it easy to stay away from each and every casino. We stopped a few times along the way to gamble. I'm not a huge gambler (I'll try a penny slot!) but I like watching other people play poker. It's always fun exploring all the different hotels, casinos, and shops along the way.

[the Cosmo]

[the Venetian]

That night, we went to the MGM to Hakkasan. I'm not a huge club person, and the techno (no-words) music is not my favorite, but we found a hip hop room after a bit. It's so crazy how huge each club is, how many levels there are, and how many different rooms dedicated to different musical genres are in each club. My favorite club in Vegas was Tryst (but now it's under renovation and will re-open as something else). Chateu is also pretty awesome because it's located in the Eiffel Tower.

The PAC12 Tourney was happening at the same time

Saturday we brunched at an amazing place called the Yardbird and then we went to the pool for the majority of the day. That night we decided to try out the High Roller wheel. It was SO cool! I would recommend it to anyone who is going. We were able to score some discounted tickets from a blackjack dealer at the Linq, so we only had to pay $20 at night. The views are pretty amazing.

[sausage.egg.bacon brekkie]

Vegas is always a great time, but everytime I come home I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. Good thing that's coming up next week :)

Time to conquer those Monday blues.

-A