As I posted before, I decided to stay in San Diego this summer.  I am taking 12 credits, interning, and working nearly 30 hours for APRL.  But I have to say, I feel so relaxed and happy with my situation.  I am doing work I truly care about, and I am learning more everyday.  Tomorrow I am taking one of our interns from New York surfing for the first time!

Being busy can often make people extra lazy and tired.  But I decided to dedicate myself to staying active.  My favorite way to do that is riding my bike every chance I get.  Armed with my iPhone, a couple different camera apps, and my bike, I take off for hours at a time in search of interesting backdrops to shoot.  It is really turning into a fun project, and I will be traveling the Southern California coast all summer doing this in different cities.  I’ll be sure to create a photo album and link it here at the end of summer.

No matter where you are, get out and enjoy your life and surroundings.  Make time to do things for yourself.  Summer is here, and it’s a great time to be alive!

The attorney I intern with discussed some really great summer opportunities with me today.  I will be able to use my past nonprofit work experience AND work on cases involving animal law.  We even discussed some post-grad options!  Add in a few awesome classes, and things are looking good!  Did I mention how excited I am to be in San Diego this summer?

Law school can make even the surest minds lose their way.  So much information to take in, so many contacts to make, and at the same time you have to live your life.  How can you get through it all as things begin piling up?  One word: TRUST.

Trust others to help you when you need it.  If someone offers to lighten your load, let them.  If you get an invite for a night to relax and forget school; take it.  Let other people help you get away, or in the alternative, really dig deep and get work done.

But most of all, trust yourself.  Trust that you belong.  Trust that you are doing what is best for you.  Nobody knows what you want or need better than you.  You don’t owe anyone anything but your best.  So trust that you can give that on a daily basis.  Trust that you deserve to reach all of your goals, and that you deserve to be happy while doing just that.

- To grow a mustache and raise awareness on men’s health (www.mobro.co/dannyhoren)

- To be thankful for the things in your life that make you happy, challenge you, and afford you the opportunity to leave your mark on this world

- To buy presents for family and friends

- To spend hours searching for a product that’s on sale for $4 less than every other day of the year

- To spend time with your family and friends

- To decide to try something you haven’t done before (www.spartanrace.com)

- To be the best uncle (that’s me), aunt, sister, brother (me again), father, mother, son (oh yeah!), daughter you can be

oh yeah, and…

- To start studying for exams

Happy Halloween!

The semester halfway point has come and gone.  I signed up for my Spring semester courses last week.  I wrote before about not overextending yourself and setting yourself up to fall short of obligations.  Well, this next semester could be a giant test for me.  17 credits and an internship will certainly take up most of my time.  As many say, in 1L they scare you to death; in 2L they work you to death; and in 3L they bore you to death.

One important thing to realize after 1L is that you select your own courses.  Registration allows you to see the required courses and elective courses offered each semester.  Here’s the tough part…making a schedule that allows you to intern, take the classes you need/want, and somehow have time to do the work for each class.

When you think about the classes you want to take, you then start inquiring about the professors teaching the course.  Some professors only teach in Spring/Summer.  Some courses are only offered in Fall, but with three different professors.  Other classes have different professors that will offer a final exam or paper option.  You will likely find that more than one class you want to take is offered at conflicting times.  Then there is a class you want to take, but that class requires you to take another class before enrolling.

The entire experience is much more preparation than execution.  You will spend a fair amount of time figuring out the classes/times/days that work best for you.  Then comes the frantic race, beginning at 7am on the day you register.  Sitting at your computer you will hope to somehow login even one tenth of a second before someone else to avoid being waitlisted, especially for a required course.  If you get waitlisted, you can sometimes have more than 100 people ahead of you.  This is incredibly frustrating considering you HAVE to take this course in order to graduate.

So, here are a few tips for picking your schedule:

1. Login and register at 7am, it’s your best shot

2. Have backup courses ready

3. Sign up for more, rather than less, classes just in case (you can always drop the extra courses later)

4. Realize that your schedule and classes will be at the mercy of the administration and what/when they offer courses

5. Don’t set yourself up for failure.  If you’re not a morning person, avoid (as much as you can) early morning classes

Here we are, two weeks into the first semester of 2L.  Classes are getting into a rhythm, as are most students.  It’s still early for the 1L students so they are buzzing around and talking at a million miles per hour about CivPro with Stiglitz and “residency” versus “citizenship.”  It’s crazy to think that an entire year has passed since I was in those shoes.  It’s also hopefully reassuring for any of those 1L students that read these blogs to know that it WILL get easier…ok, maybe not easier material-wise, but easier to learn the material.

On that note, I find myself at ease this semester, amazed that I can really soak in the content of class without practicing how to structure a brief.  This semester is full of papers and law firm settings in class, but I managed to take a couple electives that I really enjoy.  Animal Law is by far my favorite class.  It’s also the most gut-wrenching 75 minutes I can imagine for a law school class.  If you have ANY interest in learning about the laws that currently apply to animals (most of the laws still refer to animals as property, giving them very few, if any, rights), take this class as a 2L or 3L.

I decided to move out of downtown this year.  I needed a change of scenery, and my new place in Pacific Beach allows me to be closer to the beach and get my daily exercise from commuting on my bike.  Last year I spent as little time at school as possible, and it worked out just fine.  This year I am trying something new, treating each day like a work day and doing my reading/classes all on campus.  I finish each day early in the evening, and so far I am on track or ahead in all of my readings.  This allows me to do ZERO work at home.  I can just relax when I leave school (after my bike ride, that is), make dinner, walk Bruno, and watch movies.

So welcome back everyone, welcome 1L students, and welcome to any and all readers/prospective students.  As always, if you have any questions regarding my law school experience, Cal Western, San Diego (the greatest city in America), or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact me…you can do so by looking over to the right!

May came and went in a flash!  I love being back in Las Vegas and seeing everyone I care about.  Since student loans don’t cover the time I’m not in school I got two jobs to pay my bills over summer.  I work a lot, but I always make time to relax and enjoy my family.  I decided it’s time I get a bit more active since I’m not near the beach to surf.  So I’ve been running and working out everyday.  It’s so rewarding when you’re finally done with a workout and you chose to push forward and not just sit on the couch (even though I am sitting on the couch typing this…after my morning run).  Taking the summer off allowed me to just step back from law related stuff and rest my mind for a minute.  But I will admit, I miss it.  I am so psyched to get back to school in the Fall and rock those classes.  I will definitely take Public Interest Law because my friend gave me a great recommendation for the class (she is taking it this summer).  So here is my picture review of summer so far…I’ll update this with more photos as summer goes on…

My parents came to SD and took pics as I surfed on my birthday!

Mom and I sharing the last meal in my apartment before the ride back to Vegas

Drake came to watch me at the track!

Marlon and me prepping for our first session

My love gave me the track day for my birthday!

(Nevermind the Iphone stuff haha)

Me riding at Spring Mountain Motorsports Ranch

Bruno is really into How I Met Your Mother this season...

Vibram Shoes…Justine and I love them!

Breakfast at Pea Soup Andersen's in Solvang, CA

I went back home to see family...a night out with my best friend, Bobby, and we met Red Wing great, Darren McCarty

Rode out to Pahrump to work on the bike with friends

Went down to the Strip to snap some photos

Drake is not camera shy!

Two of my favorites: Justine and the beach

If you're not first, you're last...Justine really was last, haha

Corvette Diner is one of our favorite spots in San Diego

How can you not love this view from our room in Carlsbad?

I decided to switch things up...my summer project for Jasmine

Well, 1L is over.  Ok, not quite…I have a Torts exam in 4 hours.  This is one of those things that doesn’t hit you for awhile.  It certainly doesn’t feel like 1/3 of my law school career is already over.  I met  a lot of great people this year, worked harder than I’ve ever worked (school-wise), and really experienced growth that I didn’t expect at my age.

This semester was so very different than the Fall.  Honestly, I did not enjoy myself very much.  The class material was nowhere near as exciting pretty much across the board.  Reading your casebook is hard enough when you actually like the material.  I was signed up for a full course load and I secured an internship for the Summer before deciding to head back to Las Vegas instead.  I was lucky enough to find a firm that understood my situation and is willing to let me start interning in the Fall.  This summer will give me a chance to recharge and refocus while spending some much needed time with my family, especially Drake!

I will post up (maybe) during the summer to update, but still feel free to send any questions my way.  Thank you to all that have emailed me and for everyone that has shared in this blogging experience with me over the past 8 months.  I will see you all in August.

Oh yeah, Happy Easter!

Drake is growing up!!!

Imagine your world crumbling around you; the foundations of everything you know shaken to the core.  Everywhere you look you see pain and sadness.  Now imagine having someone there to take your mind away from everything negative in your life.  This person can look at you and say, “It will be ok,” and you believe them!  This person is your distraction.

Sometimes in law school things get so crazy.  People are so focused on grades and case law that they forget we are really here to learn how to help others improve their lives; to get what is rightfully theirs or to get closure for a client.  Exams and papers can seem like life or death situations.  But none of that matters when you actually face a real life or death situation.  Suddenly you get a dose of true perspective.  Life becomes more about talking to those you care about than burying your nose in a book.

Sadly, during the ordeal you feel just a bit slower.  Your day, no matter how sunny it is in San Diego, feels like it is just about to rain.  A constant flood of emotion is counteracted by feeling helpless and alone, almost empty.  You laugh at jokes or go out to clear your mind.  But all you really want is for things to be back to normal.  In the back of your mind you fear that will never happen.

Life happens, even in law school.  Life goes on, even in law school.  But the only way I will get through it all is by having the people that matter to me always know they are what is important to me.  And in return, I will always be there to push my loved ones forward.  I don’t always have the right answers or the reasons “why,” but I know that I have the will to pick people up when they are down.  That is why, for you, Justine, I will always be your distraction.

If you or someone you know is having a tough time, don’t try to say the right thing…just be there.

PS – Tito Ren,

Kami ay lahat dito naghihintay para sa iyo upang gisingin. Huwag kailanman stop fighting, at hindi namin ay hihinto sa pagkakaroon ng pananampalataya sa iyo. Ibig namin sa inyo

I am not a fan of Hallmark holidays, especially Valentine’s Day.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy spending Valentine’s Day with my girlfriend (which I didn’t get to do), but I do not buy into the arbitrary meaning given to just another day (remember my disinterest in New Year’s Eve).  That’s why I want to wish everyone a happy day 46 of 2011.

This semester has gotten busier each day.  I rarely have a day without a meeting, table sitting, or office hours.  I really enjoy being involved though, and I am glad I took on that challenge.  The next couple weeks include possible internship interviews, two more competitions, and a trip back to Las Vegas.  Oh, and don’t forget surfing!

I know you may wonder how I can go surfing if I am so busy.  It takes planning.  I try to surf Friday to Monday mornings.  What does that mean?  It means I am on “dawn patrol.”  I wake up at 6am to surf before class on Friday, race off to the beach after Torts on Monday morning, and make sure I save enough time to do all my homework on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night.

Rebooting is key, especially during the second semester.  We went through finals and grades, which were both emotionally taxing.  The semester seems to drag on right about now.  A large group of students have dropped out over the past two weeks, and student morale is definitely hurting overall.

I surf (I have stood up on waves, so it’s technically surfing now) because it’s a great workout and challenge.  It also happens to REALLY clear my mind.  I have not left the beach in a bad mood yet.  When things are crazy busy, it’s awesome knowing I can go splash around for an hour or two to reboot.

I will admit, I miss first semester…

Here’s a neat pic taken at the beach last weekend