Why Everyone Should Take a Law Class

During these few weeks before starting the daunting 1L journey, out of curiosity and anxiety, I have been casually browsing the subject matters that will ultimately consume my life for the next three years. Torts, Criminal Law, Contracts, Civil Procedure, etc … are particularly daunting for me since I have little to no knowledge about any of these topics, especially coming from a science background. From the little bits and pieces that I have gathered (and possibly because it has only been bits and pieces that I am still so optimistic), I feel as though I have been missing a large chunk of everyday knowledge all my life. Although I have only touched briefly upon the most basic of basic laws, I have come to realize that much of it ends up to making sense, common sense; however, at the same time, they are equally as perplexing when applied to odd hypotheticals. It is then when I recognized how estimable the Supreme Court Justices are/were; to pave the ways of how a society ultimately functions, balancing the ideals of justice and the issues of realities.

I admit, the law in itself is probably boring for an average person who may not have such an interest in sifting through and digesting it. However, the thought patterns gained from following hypotheticals are particularly stimulating and also so universally valuable that even little children can join in on the debate on a basic level (my 11 year old sisters find them fun to talk about). Maybe the title is a little misleading. The title should be why should everyone take part in a course that focuses on understanding how the law works or what is fair albeit not actually memorizing a gazillion laws. Some people may argue that most already do this as a part of their lives, so why require a class? I say, there are many many people in this nation (especially people who are not reading blogs like Ms. JD) that would benefit from such a course being mandatory: people like me, for example, who never would have thought to be a lawyer, being that my entire family was all in the sciences and I serendipitously stumbled upon such an interest. If I had any idea that studying the law was so logic based and not at all about being the opinionated type or the fighter against all evil and corrupt, I would have switched majors long ago. A few things I’ve gathered in regard to the benefits of learning lawyer-like thinking for daily life:

1) Forces you to think about the opposing arguments

2) Teaches you to be more impartial in analyzing conflicts

3) Uncovers different aven
4) Provides examples of high level problem-solvingues of thought in reaching legal fairness

That being said, obviously, not everyone should/will want to be a lawyer; however, I do believe that everyone should have a taste of how their own country is running in the legal sense and the steps that it has taken to reach this point. People really do take for granted how far we have come in these past centuries and tend to focus on the problems that our laws are creating in today’s societies. Though these problems are without a doubt important, to see where they have come from gives perspective and a better understanding as to why they are what they are and a better grasp of how we can move forward. Again, not everyone is going to be a policy maker either, but to have the average American more knowledgeable about the basics of the law would create a better bridge of communication between the nation’s law abiders and the law itself.

I could just be in the honeymoon stage with the law right now. Possibly, a class is asking too much…maybe an extension of a history class with bits and pieces of the interesting cases along with some hypotheticals that can get students to attempt the lawyer-like thought process. Funny that I haven’t actually even taken a law school class and I’m such an advocate for the way it works. It could be that I’m distorting everything with my naïve 0L self and trying to convince myself that law school isn’t as daunting as everyone says it is. I guess, only time will tell…

This was also published in Ms.JD

Ms. JD is a great platform for female (aspiring) lawyers to share their thoughts and knowledge, so check it out if you’re interested!

Lessons learned

Now I’m back to endless hot water, brushing my teeth in tap, not feeling sticky with sunblock and bug spray all day, flushing toilets, smooth pavements, not drinking a spoonful of grease with every bite of food, not waking up to roosters at 3 in the morning, and of course family and friends, I can’t help but look back and realize how different my expectations going in were from how I’ve actually changed and what I have learned:

- I am very lucky to have all that I have and should not take anything for granted (as cliché as that sounds)

- After hours on end of debates over religion, we came to the conclusion that there was no point in arguing rationally over a phenomenon not based on logic.

- I legitimately missed home for the first time

- How to live without internet

- Honduran pool

- How much I miss soccer

- The huge difference between British English and American English

- That I become immensely more proud of being Chinese when among a very international group of people

- How to put ideas into actions without hesitation

- That I am subconsciously more politically correct than I seem

- Helping others and fixing things are quite fulfilling

- That we can leave the maintenance team with no work by the end of our month

- Learning a Danish drinking song

- How dark I could actually get

- That heat rashes are worse than chicken pox and canker sores combined

- Meeting different types of people helped me figure out what type I am

This summer could not have been more fulfilling.  Now back to my reality and hopefully this time round, I will put my lessons learned to use.  Hope you had fun putting up with/reading/skimming the nonsense I was scribbling down!

Day 21 – Some food for thought

Today we fixed an ancient EGC machine.  We soldered some faulty capacitors and cleaned up the messy work of the previous technician.  It was quite rewarding after our dry spell of having absolutely nothing to fix.  In the afternoon we were again faced with boredom and so we decided to pay the nearby orphanage a visit.  The first guy we ran into once we stepped out of the taxi was nice enough to just show us around.  It was definitely a random trip with no expectations what so ever (we tend to just do whatever comes to mind here in Trujillo, hopefully I will continue that habit back at home).  He’s been volunteering as a teacher, mentor, and all-around supervisor for 2+ years.  The program has 16 volunteers and they have a 2.5 year commitment and they are secluded in poverty and camp-lifestyle for more than half of your time at college.  I was shocked to hear that; I literally cannot fathom being away from home for that long and let alone in such an isolated place.  I am already very much ready to go home despite not really wanting to face reality.

He reminded me of a couple of other people we met who were traveling the world after leaving their jobs and families behind for months.  I couldn’t possible imagine packing up and quitting my life to just go around the world and do things as they come with just a vague idea of what countries you’re planning to hit.  I thought what I was doing was pretty out there but I was definitely wrong.  Counter-intuitively, meeting such different people has made me feel more comfortable with my life because even after seeing so many avenues I still prefer mine and surprisingly miss it.  I would have thought that after all this expose I would realize how boring my life is but I realized how comforting it is and yet challenging academically, which I prefer over the physically grueling.

Though I can see that people in this country are pretty happy with their lives, I believe that the option of ‘moving up’ or just traveling and seeing what is out there is a luxury that everyone should eventually be able to experience.  My viewpoint on poverty is completely reversed of how I thought/hoped I would end up perceiving it.  I wanted to come out of this thinking that ‘poor’ people are happy and that there is no need to pull them out of their slumps because I didn’t want to seem like I was leading a superior life and telling them that my life was the right way to live.  I didn’t want the guilt of complaining at time knowing that there are people who suffer out there.  I wanted to believe that everyone had the same level of happiness just with different expectations, needs, and standards of living.  It was a selfish desire looking back.  Now I know that there is a commonality of what people want.  Even if people want the sense of simplicity and are not looking for a lot more money, the option should be given to everyone.  After speaking to the old man who’s been seeing Trujillo grow and change for the past 30 years, I was reminded of the simple saying that ignorance is bliss.  The people were content with their lifestyle, but that was only because they didn’t know what else was out there.  Now, after TV and internet has given them a glimpse of the outside world, especially the newer generation is not settling for their old lifestyle.  Despite them being a bit ignorant and chasing the glamorous life without having much of the means, they should have the right to do that.  After seeing how poorly run their government is and reading about the lack there of in other countries as well, I really do appreciate ours.  Obviously there is corruption in the American government, that is inescapable and we should constantly be trying to improve it as well.  However, people need to also realize how advanced it is compared to the rest of the world and just take some time to appreciate it.  That just might mitigate some of the unnecessary tension.  Just some food for thought.

Two more afternoons..ekks!  I am getting nervous and excited at the same time :/

Days 19-20 – Weekend in Trujillo

We decided to skip the mountain climbing in Gracias to avoid another 20 hours on bus, and I am so glad we did.  A couple of the girls came to our town and we just showed them around, chilled at the beach, and ate some delicious food.  At our wine café, the waiter basically gave us the insider’s scoop on how little people earn in this country.  It was really surprising that he got paid probably only $10 a day, basically a plate of food for us, and he was considered a pretty well-to-do guy.  We were about to experience the nightlife for the first time in Trujillo but then there was a power cut; maybe it was a sign and we were saved us from a disastrous night.

Part of my weekend was pretty physically miserable because I got a horrible case of the heat rash again.  It looked like boiled skin and that made me get the shivers just looking at it, which made me get the goosebumps, and that made them look worse and itch more.  Not the most pleasant experience.

On Saturday night, we took the girls to Casa Kiwi because we ran into the cute couple who told us they were having their good-bye party that night. We ran into the man who we talked to for a bit at the Medical Brigades and so we sat down with him.  Our conversation (on top of finally finishing my Naked Economics book) has finally given me some light on how I and/or Americans should view developing nations.  I’ll save that bit for a post of it’s own.

We went on a day trip to Tocoa on Sunday to just do some shopping.  Got to get a taste of a Fuji Apple for the first time in 2 months; it wasn’t as satisfying as I had hoped but it was a tease for the amazing apples back at home.  Never would I have thought I would crave specific things…and of all things, an apple?  Weird things going away for 2 months can do.  That night, we went to Catholic church, a first for me, and it was nice to see the town so united.

Four more days, until Managua and then home!

Day 16-18 – Corridor

So for the rest of this week, we were in recovery mode and didn’t accomplish too many new tasks except work on our corridor.  At the beginning, the first layer of the white paint looked horrendous because it not only didn’t cover any of the ugly splotches but made more ugly splotches of its own.  The work turned out to look impossible to finish and we hit a low point.  We were both in pain most of the days and groaning about being homesick the rest of the days.  I’m surprised we were still as efficient as we were.  On Thursday, we were completely healed and the sun came out too so it was starting to look encouraging.  After the first two layers dried, the blindingly clean white looked so good.  We topped it off with some taped tops and bottoms and made our edges to give it an extra touch of perfection; the aching thighs and backs were surely worth it.  All in all, the completion of the corridor took less than 10 hours and now it looks amazing!  We are quite proud of our work and got a handful of praises The blowing team does it again!!  During parts of the painting, men walking by would definitely have the machismo complex and either try to tell us about splotches we’ve missed or attempt to help with something I was pretty much about to do myself (yeah, okay some were just trying to be helpful, I know).  Not that I’m not appreciative or anything but it’s funny to notice these things especially having talked about it during our sessions in Costa Rica.

Tonight I cooked some Chinese food for my host family and I have a feeling my mom’s healthy cooking was not appreciated, unfortunately.  I guess their version of Chinese food is doused in soy sauce and grease.  The other day we witnessed how she cooks her beans and sausages and let’s just say that it looked like I saw 5 years of my life fly out of the window.

It’s Friday again, time flies.  Some of our friends are coming over to our town tonight and so we’ll have a bit of a more relaxing weekend this time round.  No more long bus traveling, ugh they were unbearable.  This is the last weekend before we head home.  It’s sad to think that I might not ever see some of these people ever again.  This is definitely the first time I’ve ever missed home and know that I will miss these people and this experience.  I am usually one to be excited for change and new beginnings, but this 2-month journey was just too life-changing to leave me excited to leave it and start something new.  I am definitely going to have live up senior year, now that it has this to compare to.

One more weekend of fun, and one more week productive work.  Going to make the most of it!

Days 13-15 – Death days

I am sitting here having probably slept 40 hours in the past 48 hours and feeling like I ran into a wall.  Despite the horrible state I’m in due to this weekend, I guess it was worth it.  The ride there started off at 4 AM and by walking outside by lonesome selves in the middle of roads of Trujillo.  That’s what I love about this little town.  Finally got to Copan around dinnertime and feasted.

The next day was completely packed because we had to head back on Sunday.  We started with going horseback riding up the mountains to a small ruins area.  During parts of the trips I felt really bad for the horses; the slope and rocks were not too fun.  But other than that, I finally got a chance to gallop on a horse and loved it!  Even the throbbing groin afterwards was worth it.  Where we got off, little kids of the Mayan descendant begged us to buy some handmade flower/people plaything.  First of all, I always thought that the Mayans disappeared but apparently many of the indigenous tribes that still reside in these areas are considered descendants.  You would think these people would be really prideful to be descendants of such an amazing people.  However, these kids (and probably the parents taught them to act this way) whined the entire time we were there ‘viente por dos, comprame, diez, diez’…gives me shutters still.   They should definitely have tried another approach and just smiled, but then again I ended buying one so I guess it worked.

After horseback riding we got a guide for the actual Mayan ruins themselves.  He was rather enthusiastic and got me really excited.  I tried really hard to break through his heavy bizarre accent and learn a thing or two about how advanced the Mayans were.  Their irrigation system was pretty sophisticated, they were big believers in sacrificing, they apparently had dancing jaguars, their eras were based on kings, and basically archeologists are either really amazing or just amazing bs-ers.  Sometimes I just can’t seem to see how people could decipher a whole story based on one picture, but then again that’s why I am not an archeologist.  By the end of that it was around 3PM and we were all hungry and tired and our tour didn’t end up on the best note and I felt a bit bad for the guide because he wanted to keep talking (even though he was basically repeating himself) and we told him we wanted to go eat.

After filling our tummies after feeding our brains all day, we were definitely ready for the hot springs.  Little did we know that this trip to and back would probably the highlight of the trip.  All 16 of us were packed like sardines standing on the back of a pretty worn-down pick-up truck and set off on a 45 minute drive through the mountains.  The trip there was brightly lit so it was more exhilarating then scary though by the time we got there, the front of the truck was smoking and that scared me quite a bit.  For the advertised 3 dollars we would get these two disgusting looking pools and for 10 dollars we would get the real deal.  Sadly, only a few of us decided for the real hot springs.  It was then that I realized that my sentiments follow that of the majority of the group I’m with.  Basically, I am happiest when everyone is happy.  Sigh, either way, the hot springs were sensational and I am glad to have spent those extra 7 dollars.  The trip back was absolutely ridiculous.  It was probably the most near-death experience I’ve ever been in. 1) It was pitch black, 2) it was raining cats and dogs, 3) and therefore impossible to see more than 2 feet in front of us, 4) this poor close to death truck was carrying over 2000 lbs, 5) I could see the smoke of the brakes, 6) I could smell the engine, 7) the potholes were like death traps, 8) and the steep mountainous range made me hold me breath longer on this trip than I was breathing for sure.  At the end of the trip, the driver admitted that he had never had so many people, standing, in such bad conditions, and he was actually piss scared too.  I am just glad we are alive even if I feel half the person I normally am.  I missed worked today , hopefully I am better tomorrow.

Day 12- El Presidente

Today’s trip to Guadalupe, a little town by Trujillo, was probably one of the main highlights of this trip.  We were invited to a medical brigade event and ironically the army men who invited us were advised to not show up to today’s event because the president was planning on showing up.  So instead of them, we got a chance to see the president.  There, we got a real taste of lagging and Honduran time, approximately 3 hours behind schedule.

In the meantime, we befriended a couple of the little girls who we just ended up falling in love with.  They found us very intriguing; I’m guessing I’m probably one of the only Asians they’ve ever met and Julia sticks out as well, so we attracted people and stares everywhere we went.  I definitely found out that I am not celebrity material and didn’t really enjoy this type of limelight.  However, it was exciting for a while.

Finally after hours of waiting around, we got to see Pepe, the president of Honduras.  We got a handshake and a personal “thank you for helping our country”.  Yeah, not many people get to say that.  I definitely have luck and hopefully karma to thank for such opportunities like this.  This trip has definitely got me into thinking about desk jobs and how much more fulfilling humanitarian jobs would be.  However, of course there are pros and cons to both, but either way I’m glad I got a first-hand taste of this type of work.  Our director was also volunteering there and it was nice to see that, especially since my first impression of him was that he just sat around being all director-esque.  He is also a military medic and so I guess he’s always away from the hospital doing that.

In a couple of hours, we’re off to San Pedro Sula then Copan where we will visit the Mayan Ruins and some hot springs hopefully.  This weekend is going to be spectacular!

A typically unique day

Celso was back today, yay; he was actually at a funeral for the past two days.  We caught him up to where we were work-related and also our amazing weekend.  Then we continued on with our noisy nebulizers and returned all the machines that we fixed thus far.  We also turned in our baby lamp to the emergency room.  They were pretty receptive and we took another one of their broken ones to fix up.  We were pretty darn speedy and finished everything by lunch time.  Then we hit up our regular Stephen’s house and later fetched for some missing parts for our machines.  We are definitely pretty lucky in the sense that such a small town has around 3 repair/spare parts shops within walking distance.

Later in the afternoon we worked some more then went for a swim at Christopher Columbus.  Met some more guys from the medical brigades; this time they were from the government/army and were just here to observe how the Honduras are putting our American tax dollars to good use.  Glad to know that the US government does so many underground charity work and doesn’t boast or ask for acknowledgment (well at least it doesn’t seem like it).  We’ll be seeing these guys tomorrow and a very special guest!!  I am definitely excited to see this person, hopefully he shows up.

Ended the day with a session of lily folding and a pretty exciting dinner of nachos but with banana chips.  Elda sure likes her bananas.  She is also such a nurse at heart.  I was having a pretty bad case of the heat rash and she came in with a huge bottle of baby powder and rubbed it all over me.  Now she has nursed both of us once.  Momma Elda is seriously growing on me day by day.  Her and Momma Brenda from Costa Rica are so different in their motherly ways and yet when it comes down to it, they both are equally full of love.  I am determined to take to heart the good qualities of both of them and potentially use them one day on my kids tehe.

Day 10 – Santa Fe Epiphanies

We had panqueque again today!  This time we asked for the recipe and though it was quite simple, I am extremely excited to bring that back to the states with me.  I also told Elda that I am going to cook her some Chinese food, maybe some time next week; hopefully she’ll like it.

We started the day off quite excited to see Celso and again we were stood up.  This time around we decided to make more use of our time and decided to take the morning off to go to Santa Fe, a small little town nearby.  Little did we know the extent of ‘small’.  We literally were able to walk through all the streets in less than an hour.  During this spontaneous morning stroll, we ran into a couple of New Yorkers who had family who still lives in this tiny town by the beach.  They reminded me of my parents who got away from their hometown and risked everything to make it big in America.  It was kind of like a suburban place minus the rich suburbia part of it, in the sense that it was completely residential and people had to go in town for their goods.  It may sound like an obvious statement but arriving here, the first thing we thought about was what in the world do these people do and wondered how primitive their lives were.  We kept thinking that we arrived into some secluded timeless place just because it looked less wealthy.  It’s pretty intuitive and yet hard to wrap my mind around how the structural mapping of people and provinces are parallel everywhere despite the differences in wealth.

The morning was random but definitely worth it because for the couple of hours we sat by the beach, we again came up with a bunch of epiphanies for what we should do at the hospital.  We decided on making origami lilies for the patients, asking the director about painting up the main lobby wall that looks horrendous, and possibly teaching English or something outside in the waiting area.

After an amazing lunch at Café Vino/Tiki Bar, we bought colored paper for the flowers and headed by to the workshop to await for Celso.  Unfortunately, he never showed up again (we hope he’s not sick).  We decided to work a bit on our own and dug around in the bodega, found a few more nebulizers, and got the work.  Sadly, without Celso, we were stuck with half-broken pieces and not quite sure what the exact problems were.  As much as we didn’t like relying on anyone, we decided to let them be for the day before we ended up breaking something or blowing something up.

We then set off to Casa Alemania so I could try out the $13/.5hr massage.  I have been waiting for one since Monteverde, our second weekend out, in Costa Rica.  It was very relaxing and I might come back for the second .5 hr for some leg massages; these hilly walks can get quite strenuous.

On our way back home, we ran into our hostmom while she was running some grocery errands and so we tagged along and it was quite cute how much like a family we were.  We ended the day with folding flowers to some horrendous singing from the outdoors church literally a few feet away.  I will never forget (unfortunately) the drunken howls of one particular lady that will forever send shivers down my spine.

Day 9 – Baby conceived!

As much as I hated to have left everyone and pretty much paradise, I really was glad to go back to the hospital to get back to work.  We were saddened to find out that our technician, Celson did not show up today.  So we decided to go the hardware store and get some spare parts and what I have been stubbornly wanting, spray paint for Julia’s love, the lamp.  We got a dark blue spray and a tube extension for a nebulizer.  Just when we were able to get to business, it started to pour, almost hurricane status.   So instead, we decided to phone up the man who we were recommended for horseback riding up the mountains.  Boy was the most difficult conversation; never realized how much less of a dimension is liost via phone.  I finally got out of the guy that he only comes during weekends so don’t know if that going to happen.  Once the rain calmed down a bit, we spray painted it and again got lots of stares.  At the end, we signed it with “the blowing team never sucks”.  Hopefully, no one too important who knows enough English will ever read this bottom of this bad boy.

We then talked to the director to sign some papers and ask him what the hospital needed the most and he said that air conditioning would be helpful.  That would great if we could end up giving them one of those.

During our lunch break, we decided to check out the rest of the city.  Found out that the gym that has massages is owned by Herbalife, where my dad works.  Craziness, first in Costa Rica and now in this secret little town of Trujillo.

Since our technician wasn’t there, we decided to just go from department to department asking around if they needed anything repaired.  Finally in the maternity ward, we got our hands on two infant warmers.  We ended up fixing one and using the temperature sensor we created in Costa Rica.  Hopefully that would be sufficient enough a sensor.

After work, we decided to go check out Casa Alemania and took a detour and found the best resort called Christopher Columbus.  This is what we were expecting when we headed out for Casa Kiwi.  It was a legit resort and definitely a good place to hang out.  We walked through it to the beachside and saw three men standing around.  We struck conversation and it turned out they were there for a medical brigade convention that the director of our hospital is also attending.  They invited us to go too and so we’ll have to talk to our director tomorrow and see that is a possibility.  Cheers to serendipity!