Good News!

Well, I’ve received admission from the first of six law schools that I’ve applied to. American University in Washington wants to have me this fall. Exciting as that may be, I now have an even harder task of waiting to hear from the other school and then making a good enough argument so they’ll let me defer a year. American is ranked 48^th, so not great, but I’ll take anything I can get at this point. The whole thing is, if I don’t get into a school I really want to go to this round, I’ll take my deferral (if I can get it) from American and then just reapply next year to the school I want to get in to. If I do get in to a school I want to go to, I can drop my deferral from American (although I would have paid almost $1000, which is annoying) and go to the school I wanted. I think it’s a good plan. Hopefully it doesn’t blow up in my face.

And I wouldn’t mind going to American. It’s the highest rated, but I know it’s a good school and just the fact that I would be in Washington is enough for me. Lauren is going to be there, and my sister is there to. And I’ve always wanted to work in government, so what better way than to live in Washington. Obviously, if I got into GW or William and Mary I would go there because they’re better ranked and have smaller classes (American has 1,600 people in each class which is a bit much I think), and if I got into Columbia (on a hope, a prayer, and my family name obviously because I’m totally not up to their standards) or Colorado I would choose to go there because those are the school I want to go to, but still, American is not too bad.

Besides that, my days have been pretty boring. I’m doing a lot of reading by the river which is pretty awesome. I have my ipad to thank for that. I can get all of the readings I have to do for class on it and it allows me to go and sit outside rather than cooped up in my room all day staring at my computer. I’ve had communication with another potential job which is nice, and I’m working at the pub again tonight which will be fun. I do, however, need to find comfy black shoes or I’m going to be in pain all night. That will be my task for today.

My classes have been great. Since I’m taking postgraduate courses everyone seems willing to participate which is a huge help because I never like being the one that talks all the time, but I do like to share when there’s a discussion. My Approaches and Issues class is fun because we talk about a lot of stuff that I know some about already, so my ideas and opinions are well formed. My intelligence analysis class is going to be tough, but totally rewarding. It’s really interesting and we get to talk about crazy stuff that I can’t say outside of the classroom. Pretty awesome. Although I get picked on because I’m American, and a woman.

Well that’s about all. I should get cracking on making a case for why I should get a deferral. It’s funny, they must get the funniest arguments from the would be JD students because we all think we can argue well. Good times.

Cheers,

Katherine

Busy!

So sorry it's been a while since I've posted, I've actually had things going on (which is exciting). Let's see... since the last time I blogged I've gone to the beach, started doing workouts on a bike instead of just running, and have had both the classes I'm taking this semester. Oh and I've gone out on the water which was really nice. I suppose I'll relay each one of those things separately.

The beach was really nice, it wasn't a hugely sunny day, but Tyson, Ally (Tyson's sister), and I went out on this reef and snorkelled a bit before I fell asleep on the sand and got a burn on my back (woops). Angus, Tyson's youngest brother, was lifegaurding at the same beach, which doesn't seem like such a bad gig. All you have to do is sit in the sun and make sure no one dies. It's like Baywatch with teenagers.

So I've started to do biking workouts, which has been really nice. I think I'm going to try and do a trithalon at some point, don't know when though. I've got the running and swimming thing down, but if I do a triathalon I want to make sure I'm doing it right. Which would mean stepping up my workouts and maybe trying to get a trainer or something. Maybe one of Tyson's friends could help me out. Brenno, his footy friend (who's massively ripped) does Ironmans and such so he would be a good person to ask. The only thing is that sitting on a bike for that long REALLY hurts. I don't know how cyclists can do it.

Besides that I have gone to two rowing practices now. The girls are really nice, but the place they row is kind of far and it makes me have to get up at 5 am. But it's really beautiful out and it's just nice to be back in a boat. I won't really start practicing until after next week (which is their nationals), so until then I'll still be doing my workouts on my own. It's really nice to have a river to run next to all the time, I must say. It forces me to get off the treadmill, which has been my chosen running partner for the past few months.

And yes! I've finally started classes. I'm by far the youngest person in both the courses I'm taking, which kind of sucks but it should make for interesting conversation. The first class I had was on Tuesday night from 5-7 and it's kind of an intro to International Relations, so it shouldn't be too hard. Considering I didn't have to take the Intro IR class at Tufts, this shouldn't be too much of things I've already learned, but it also shouldn't be completely out of my comfort zone. On the other hand, the second class I'm taking (on wednesday from 5-7) is COMPLETELY different from anything I've taken before and should prove to be the most interesting thing I learn all year. It's called Applied Intelligence Analysis and it's all about the principles and ethics of intelligence gathering and how you should present it to the "decision maker". I'm really excited for it and it might just be the spark I need to find what I really want to do with my life. The four men that are teaching it seem really interesting, they all work together in the Tax Office and gather intelligence on things like companies that may be breaking the law in someway and getting taxpayer benefits, etc. They all of have military/police experience as well. And one of them is British. There is also a guy in the class (as a student) that is Belgian and an officer in the army and navy (yes, both). Oh, and I'm the only girl in the class (although there are only like 12 students). So! It should be good fun.

That's about all I have to report on. Except, I finally have a full flat! There are four of us now, three girls and a boy, and each of my roommates is pretty cool. We've hung out a bit, but I'm hoping sometime this weekend or next week we'll all go out for drinks or something and we'll be able to get to know each other better. And don't worry 23 Curtis, they'll never replace you guys.

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully my next update will be sooner rather than later.

Cheers,

Katherine