Spring Break and Summer Plans

March is one of my favorite months, because when you are a student it is the month of Spring Break. Unfortunately, this year (and last year, truth be told) my break was eaten up by school work. I typed up the notes in three of the four classes I will have a final exam in. I did all the financial aid paperwork for next year. I worked on my student note, a lot. The first draft was due the Monday after break.

However, in spite of all this productivity I did manage some down time. I went to the zoo with my boyfriend one day. I love zoos because it is so cool to see so many different animals in one place. I also hate zoos because it is so heartbreaking to see all of the animals forced to live in enclosures that are the barest approximations of their natural environment, and inevitably, too small.

For the second half of break I went home and spent some time with my parents. I worked on my student note. I fell in love with Cesar Milan, the dog whisperer. I worked on my note. I visited with the doctor that I worked for before beginning law school. I had maintenance done on my car. I vegged with my parents and watched a couple of movies. I worked on my student note (and no, I did not forget that I've mentioned it twice already in this paragraph alone).

One of my tasks over spring break was to fill out the application and the financial aid paperwork to study abroad over the summer. I will be spending a month in Granada, Spain learning about Islamic law, and comparative anti-trust law, and comparative constitutional/free speech law. Comparative simply means we will be looking at the constitution/laws of country "x" and comparing it with the constitution/laws of country "y". One of the countries will most likely be the United States, but I'm not going to place a bet on that. After the term in Spain I will be spending a month in Freiburg, Germany learning about trial advocacy and international human rights.

This will be my first time outside of the United States and I'm simultaneously excited and nervous about it. On the one hand, I'm going to two industrialized nations so it's not like I'm going to give up all the comforts of home, just air conditioning. On the other hand, they are two nations with histories that dwarf the US's by thousands of years and things are just different there.

I'll get eight credit hours for my two summer terms abroad. I'll also get to learn about things that I'm interested in (Islamic Law and Anti-trust) that are not offered at my school. I'll also get exposed to law faculty beyond the small number at my school. As a final perk of study abroad, I'll only have to take twelve hours each semester next year and maybe be a little bit less insane than I've been this year.