Dear Casper, So here I am, and there's my view ~~~~~>
Anyway, I'm resigning to write to my brother and to the world all at the same time. Pretty clever huh? Okay, maybe a little lazy, but is that really important? No. No it's not. So here I am, about 2 months behind in letting you and everybody else know what's going in my life. Sorry.
The first year is done. Officially I'm a rising 2L. Some people have issues with the term 'Rising' 2L. Honestly though, I'm not in elementary school any more, I can't go on pretending I'm a 2L when I haven't even started the year or bought any books or any supplies or...well, you get it. So, as with many other hip legal students, I believe that 'rising' 2L is preferred.
In answer to your first question, I don't have all of my grades yet. I do have most of them though. Essentially, I'm doing much better the second term than I did the first term. That is to say, I managed to get an A in a class! Don't ask how, but I did. Criminal Law, one of the more ... uh ... difficult-to-pay-attention classes with little reading (which was awesome), gave me the A, and I'm proud to say that as far as the exam goes, I killed it. My other grades...well...I got an A this past term and that should be enough for everybody.
In answer to your first question, I don't have all of my grades yet. I do have most of them though. Essentially, I'm doing much better the second term than I did the first term. That is to say, I managed to get an A in a class! Don't ask how, but I did. Criminal Law, one of the more ... uh ... difficult-to-pay-attention classes with little reading (which was awesome), gave me the A, and I'm proud to say that as far as the exam goes, I killed it. My other grades...well...I got an A this past term and that should be enough for everybody.
What now? Well, as every good law student knows, you're not allowed to really take time off. There is no summer vacation, only moments in the summer that you use to pretend to take personal time. Some are still in DC, working for the man, or for a man, or for a woman, or for a judge, or for a library. Some went to different courts in the country, to New York to work for the Federal Court of International Trade, some to some other places. Some went abroad, paying $9,000 to study international legal traditions, and international brew traditions as well. Some have gone abroad, like me, to intern for non-profit organization and try to help the world one small research assignment at a time.
Yup, I'm in Montreal, Quebec (or Montréal, Québec) and I'm working for CRARR. Which, as it turns out has no pretty way of being said. You can try "CRARR" but with the strong ARR sound at the end most people tend to either take is a strange pirate word, or an animal sound (as for me, i usually raise a paw and go for a lion). If you (like me) have trouble with CRARR, you can try it's full name, "the Center for Research Action on Race Relations." Which after saying outloud and stumbling through you may think sounds better in French, "le Centre Recherche d'Action sur les Rélations Raciales." Again, if you (like me) have stumbled through the awful incarnations of the name, you'll likely fall back to Crarr (and raise your paw). CRARR (www.crarr.org) does some pretty interesting work here in Quebec, Canada. As the name indicates they have a deep commitment toward righting the injustices of racism in all of its forms. From clear hate crimes to more systemic problems like racial profiling, CRARR works hard to raise the issues and get them fixed.
phew...take a breath and ....
What do I do? Oh, I sit at a desk and listen to music. They also have me doing legal research on specific issues addressing legal cases that come in, can't tell you what they are exactly, so let's just say that when you're looking through color tinted glasses, everything seems to come up unjust and based on race/religion/sexual orientation/national origin/culture/social position (class)/ etc.. Also, as I've been a part of the organization, I've attended a couple of hearings by the Commission on rights of the person and rights of the young (sounds better in French) whereby they invited several organizations in Montreal to give recommendations for the issue of racial profiling and any other race-based injustices that may not have been brought to the commission's attention. Well, turns out that Montreal, as its city officials would have you believe, doesn't have any racial problems, especially not racial profiling. What's ridiculous is that they were brought before the commission on hearings about racial profiling and how to better the problem--instead, they simply denied that there was a problem. Good work Montreal way to not only miss the point, but you've missed the bus filled with opportunities for solutions.
So here I am. In Montreal, learning about law, racial issues. Also, I'm waiting for my last grade...maybe tomorrow. Don't worry, like many of my peers I'll check when i get up in the morning as part of the morning computer routine. Gmail, grades, facebook, gmail, facebook, stumble. Somewhere in there I might check the news and will probably eat breakfast.
I love you,
Law Pal
PS. All these french cases and french briefs and french memos are exhausting.
PPS. If I missed anything, just ask a question in the comments and I'm sure when I write again, I'll get to it. Seeing how it's the Summer, I should be able to update a little more frequently, for those few of you that are interested to know what's going on in my little ol' life.
PPPS. If you read this and thought, "Hmm, that really wasn't that interesting," or, "Do I really care about CRARR and Lawrence's life?" Well, check it, this was written for you to know what's going on, and it was written to my brother--so there.
