Grades and Other Musings.

All of my grades are in! I tend to check the site obsessively when the semester is over. The highest grade you can get is an A.

EDC312|Psychology of Learning - A
ENG241|U.S. Literature I - A-
GEO120|Geology of the U.S. National Parks - A
PSC113|Introduction to American Politics - A
PSC274|Criminal Justice System - B+

Which all puts my semester GPA at 3.81. My cumulative GPA is a 3.68. I'd like my cumulative GPA to be a bit higher, but compared to some of my friends' GPAs, I am pleased. While with these friends, I almost feel ashamed to have such a high GPA, but I can never tell why. I work hard for my grades so why not be proud of them and my GPA?

My classes for next semester are as follows:
- Cultural Anthropology
- Introduction to Literary Study
- Topics in Victorian Literature and Culture
- Intermediate French I
- Introduction to International Politics
- Crime and Delinquency

And, of course, orchestra.


I may be starting a small home jewelry business and the problem of picking a name has consumed me for the past three days. I keep wanting to somehow include something court or lawyer related but nothing comes to mind that doesn't sound completely ridiculous. Must keep thinking...

Semester Three - Done!

At about noon today, I finished my last final of my third semester. Which means five more until I am done with college which only leads to three more years of law school.

But the thing that is changing the most between now and January 24th when I return for semester four is that I am loosing my current roommate. We had met through one of the clubs we are in and even after getting to know each other better during the course of a day, I could tell that this year was going to be a vast improvement to my freshman year which, was to say the least, a disaster roommate-wise. Both of us were huge fans of Bones, tended to get to bed by midnight, took school seriously, but also knew when we could dance around the room singing. Needless to say, the past four months have been pure joy.

Well, I had known that she was an alternate resident advisor and could be hired at any time. After being teased with other RA friends telling her she had or hadn't been hired, getting e-mails saying she wasn't hired, and such, she had accepted that we'd be spending spring semester together. This afternoon, one of the graduate assistants that work with the hall directors gave her a call to let her know that she had been hired for spring semester.

Which means, I am now roommate-less. My RA has said that I will probably not be getting another roommate because more people are moving off-campus than on-campus. My problem now is finding out what to do with the room arrangement! Our ceiling is too low to bunk the beds and I really don't see the point in keeping it unless I can lower it to make it a couch situation. The desk is going to go since I don't need two. I also need to buy a microwave, rug, and some furniture for the balcony since those were her's.

I have a month to figure this all out. I'm super excited for her and wish her well with all those freshmen that she will have to deal with for the next four months!!

Too Slow or Too Quickly?

Sometimes I just wish I was already in law school, spending 20 hours a day studying or in class. Other days I even wish I was in the District Attorney's office in New York City.

And then there are days that I'm terrified of law school, that I want to stay in my safe undergraduate studies.

I mean, I know I want to go to law school. Unlike my year as a Secondary Education major, I honestly don't see my dream of being a prosecutor fading away. I could spend all day sitting in my Criminal Justice System class with the other CJ "geeks". Where else could I get excited about the Bill of Rights, talk death penalty in terms of constitutionality, or have someone finish my rambling of the Miranda warnings and be able to cite the Supreme Court case they stemmed from? I'm just hoping that my Crime and Delinquency class next semester proves to be just as entrancing as Criminal Justice has been...

My favorite courtroom drama, The Whole Truth, returned last night with many excited squeals from me. I adore SVU, Bones, and Castle, but I'm more in love with WT since it takes place in the courtroom and goes so far as to show both sides of the case, all the steps involved in building a case.


In other news, I'm still applying for an internship in Washington, D.C. this summer. I'm aiming for one of the district courts or something similar. I draw the line, unless it's my only choice, at interning at a corporate law firm. It's something I've never been interested in and I want this summer to be worthwhile and interesting. My dad has already booked a hotel room around the Fourth of July to visit me over the summer without me knowing if I even have an internship yet! The trust is overwhelming.

Fall.

The weather is finally acting like fall should. Instead of bundling up under my winter pea coat (bright pink, of course), I was able to walk around campus with just my cardigan and a scarf. It's lovely.

Since I'm the TV fanatic of room C301B, I'm allowed to feel sorrow over the fact that one of my favorite fall shows has been cancelled. The Whole Truth was such a great show, one that I found interesting. It shows the two sides of a criminal case, from the prosecution and from the defense and how each side interprets the facts of the case. Unfortunately, it was fighting against more popular shows in its timeslot, so it's only running 13 episodes. The cast was strong and so were the stories, so I'm still not sure why it's going.

On the other hand, I'm still in love with SVU, Castle, Law and Order: Los Angeles, The Good Wife, and Blue Bloods. Surprisingly, I have not watched a single NCIS episode this season for unknown reasons. Perhaps I'll catch up over Thanksgiving Break or something...

My spring schedule is being screwed up. The classes I want to take are filling up, especially those necessary for me to graduate. If it comes down to it, I can e-mail the professors and beg that they let me into the class. Most times, kids drop the class and open a spot for other people. Right now, these are my classes:

- Intermediate French I
- Cultural Anthropology
- Introduction to Mass Media
- Introduction to Literary Study
- Crime and Delinquency
- Topics in Victorian Literature and Culture

Since a few are filling up, my alternate is The Epic.

See That Girl, Watch That Scene!

I've commented on multiple occasions to my mom that I'm in love with this rooming situation this year. Just one example occurred tonight. Both me and my roommate are working at our school's Open House tomorrow and have to be up at 7am. Instead of going out for the night, we spent the night with her boyfriend watching Mamma Mia. Like, that would have NEVER EVER happened last year. We sang along to songs, had our RA join in when she went by on her rounds, and generally had a very light-hearted time. We're always in bed before midnight and if one of us is staying up, all but one light is off. It's lovely compared to the horror that was last year's situation.

Also, the law internship in D.C. is coming along nicely. I met with a resume person who gave me the okay for my current resume with a few suggestions for it. Now I just need to polish everything before I submit the application in January!

Internship, Ahoy!

I'm aiming for a legal internship this summer in Washington, D.C.. My only complaint so far is the resume writing.

I brought a rough-rough draft to the campus's career center for a review. Needless to say, the woman there was incredibly bitchy about it and made me hesitant to return if I was going to be treated the same way. Well, I've re-done the resume and am ready to step foot in the career center again, but this time I made an appointment with someone other than the person I worked with before. I also didn't use an online form but followed a paper I was given before I left last time, so the format should be correct.

However, I've started looking really in-depth at possible intern sites. Unfortunately, my top choice, NCIS, isn't accepting interns for the summer of 2011 since they are moving their headquarters from the Navy Yard to Quantico, VA. So my short list includes the U.S. Department of Justice, Air Force Office of Special Investigations, the local and U.S. District Courts, Office of the Attorney General, American Prosecutors Research Institute, and the U.S. Marshal though I am not opposed to looking at other places. I think it would be amazing to intern with the FBI if that was possible because, honestly, would that not be an amazing experience?

I'm also looking at housing. I could live on campus of American University, the school the internships are offered through, but I really want to live closer to the Mall and the Capitol. So, there's a group called WISH (Washington Intern Student Housing) that has houses right along the Capitol Hill and I would kill to get a bed there.

I'm getting so excited about this internship!! And lucky for me, my parents are completely behind me so far. If anything, they can visit me in D.C. for the Fourth of July or something, which plans to be great. How can it not be?

End The Backlog.

When I say I'm a huge Law and Order: SVU fan, I really mean that I'm obsessed. Like, literally. To prove it, let me just say that I ran across campus last night in order to catch the episode. And it was worth it. I have looked forward to this episode, titled "Behave", since I heard of its conception. And unlike some of the episodes that are purely creative writing, this one had it's base in a horrible truth - the rape kit backlog.

Some background on my dedication to sexual assault awareness. I spent the summer before college watching every Law and Order: SVU episode on Netflix. I fell in love, not just with the characters, but with the issues that the show took on. Before SVU, rape was a taboo, something that just wasn't talked about. Over the course of 12 season, SVU has changed that. One of the lead detectives, Olivia Benson, is played by Mariska Hargitay. She has repeated the story of how she went on to found the Joyful Heart Foundation many times. Most actors and actresses receive letters when they step into the spotlight and Mariska was no different. But instead of getting letters asking for autographs, she had letters from rape victims telling about their assaults for the first time. She founded the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2005, an organization that helps shed light onto the issues of rape, sexual assault, and domestic violence.
One of the pieces of jewelry that I never remove is a gold necklace that's proceeds went to the Joyful Heart Foundation - a small gold plaque with the word "FEARLESSNESS" inscribed on the front. The JHF has quickly become my charity of choice.

This most recent SVU episode is based off one of the JHF's survivors. She was raped multiple times, yet submitted herself to further humiliation by having a rape kit done, a four to six hour procedure, in order to try and catch the rapist. It sat in a police evidence room, never tested. The JHF's newest goal is to end the backlog of rape kits that is prevolent across the nation. Visit End The Backlog to learn more about this issue and how you can help.

By not testing these kits, law enforcement officials are sending two messages. One goes to the rapists, letting them know it is alright to continue committing these truly heinous crimes. The other, more importantly, goes to the victims, telling them that their case is not important. This cannot continue.