Welcome to Law School

In a quick update, I have indeed begun law school at the University of South Carolina. After a summer of gratuitious fun, I'm ready to begin seriuos work again.
So far, I've been biding my time with daily reading and writing assignments. I don't have a job, although I desperately need money (financial aid office, here I come). I have, however, been doing volunteer work lately, which I'm always pleased about.
Hope to update more, but I'm filling this in between homework assignments. My life is very stressful at the moment, but I'm loving my new life.

Carolina Über Alles

After being put on the waitlist at Duke and Virginia, and after attending "Accepted Students Day" at South Carolina, I've decided to commit to USC for the fall.
At ASD, I learned a good bit about the environmental law program and the dual degree program with Vermont. Apparently, I'll have to spend my first law school summer in Vermont for a seminar in order to earn the degree. This sounds exciting, but expensive. I'll have to converse with USC professor Josh Eagle about my options within environmental law. In addition to my JD and the master's from Vermont, I'll also have to earn something called a MERM (MURM?), which is intended to help me with getting scientific concepts under my belt for work within the environmental community. This will definitely extend my law school study to four years.
In a bit of good news, I was offered a partial scholarship to USC, which helps to mitigate my costs, but doesn't come close to finishing the job. Admittedly, I have not been fastidious with outside scholarship applications. Loans, here I come.
Just finished directing my last play as part of my school's drama department. Had a great time, and am ready to focus more on my future.

Acceptance

I've been accepted to South Carolina, and Duke and Virginia have put me on the wait list. I may not hear a final decision from UVA or DU until May, which is also when South Carolina needs a final answer, so unless I hear a definite answer from one of those schools in the next month or so, it looks like South Carolina is my destination, which I'm pleased about. South Carolina will be a great school for getting into environmental law, and the possibility for a scholarship is still open. I completed my FAFSA and promissory notes today.

It's seeming more and more like I'm getting out of teaching at the right time. My school district is making more budget cuts, meaning teacher pay cuts, and the state of South Carolina is voting to cut education funding further, including five teacher furlough days for the 2010-2011 school year. Teachers, so far, are encouraging one another to write to their congressmen, but my gut feeling is that this will be ineffective. Non-union employees tend to think small in terms of sending a message to lawmakers.

Anyway, I'm looking forward more and more to starting law school in the fall. It seems like the right time, and I've finally got a place to go.

Update

I've been waitlisted at Virginia, and I have yet to hear from Duke or South Carolina.

Lot of disappointments lately, even in the political spectrum. Copenhagen was a nice swath of neutral gray on the political landscape, and the failure of health care legislation with the election of a Republican into the Kennedy seat in a gay marriage state is a harbinger for the way of climate legislation, seemingly dead in the water. Ugh. The failure of the 2008-elected political leadership is beyond pathetic. Very disappointed.

On the bright side, I'm looking forward to law school giving me the background I need to throw my own hat into the ring and effect some changes in these areas myself.

I'm doing my best to make the most of 2010. Here's to it.