I love the Fall Semester!
Sunday, September 20th, 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments
I returned from the Fall Leadership Conference energized and ready to spread what I’d learned far and wide. Aggie student leaders are great, the Former Students are great, and of course the FLC committee did a bang up job. Who knew square dancing was such a great ice breaker?
All too soon I was back in Aggieland, facing the reality of a packed fall semester. Being in Central Texas, I live by semesters rather than seasons, neatly slicing the year in three major parts, fall, spring, summer. My vision of fall includes football, Ring Day, and the hopes that it will eventually cool off enough to wear a sweater. I typically hear and see Former Student I haven’t seen in months or years, the new crop of law school applicants is chomping at the bit, and I return to the Quad with my outfit. For me, Fall is the time when everything is new and exciting. New classes, new students, new challenges. Anything is possible in the fall.
I often speak of the anxiety roller coaster, boarded by law school applicants each year, full of ups, downs, twists, inversions, an unknowable trip. Aggies are typically process-oriented and like to know what’s next. We do things in stages and together, we are joiners and belongers. However, for many the law school application process dribbles disquiet into an otherwise happy time. Questions multiply and sources of good, dependable information are scarce. The solution? Ask Karen!
Now, I love my job and take genuine pleasure in helping Aggies enjoy the ride. But I sometimes find it amusing that many perceive that, not only do I know everything and everyone in law school admissions, but that I also have ‘the sight’, am a fortune teller, a psychic with narrow powers of admission prowess, the Good Housekeeping seal of advice. My mortal self must frequently assure Aggies that I cannot guarantee the outcome, I have no way of knowing if a random faculty member at Columbia will like a specific essay, why the decisions are taking so long, and which law school will provide the secret ingredient to a particular job in three or four years. I give the same lawyer-like answer—- depends. I realize that the applicants would prefer a solid answer, but feel that they take comfort from knowing that it’s unknowable.
Freshmen this year seem to be more engaged and excited. Squadron 20 has thirteen fish and most are doing well and are enrolled in honors courses. The non-regs are already coming in (it’s not even midterm!) for help in creating the plan for their personal journeys. What a thrill to speak with those who are ready to listen! More on fish later.
I just completed a new sweater for myself! I’ll try to get a pic up soon. I am really excited and hope to wear it next Friday if it’s below 85 degrees. My next project will be to finish a felted bag, followed by the creation of a few dozen elephants. Yup. Elephant Walk is coming…
The raveled sleave of care…**
Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment
Last weekend was great. My husband and I finally finished building our barn on Saturday and took a long motorcycle ride on Sunday morning. I suddenly realized that I had an entire afternoon and evening to do whatever I wanted, followed by a Monday at home, waiting for deliveries and repair people. I’m thinking that an NCIS knit-a-thon is in my future!
I’ve been working on a new sweater for several weeks, catching time here and there for a few rows each day. (Make Time for Yarn Every Day). Now I could really make progress. As I sat there, knitting, purling, knitting, purling, I looked at my work and was pleased with the yarn, the craftsmanship, the size…. the size? Wow. It looked really big. I measured and found that the back was six inches too wide. I checked my gauge; yup, 17 stitches per four inches. Well, the only other cause would be — too many stitches. I’d cast on the number of stitches for a larger size!
Wow. I’d put in hours of work and wanted to find a solution. I could make wider seams or start making it narrower, or ….. ?
unravelling a sweater
I knew what I should do, but I resisted. I should start all over, unraveling thousands of stitches and miles of yarn.
As I pondered my course of action, I thought of a law school applicant from last year. He’d been admitted to top law schools and made the wait list at Harvard. He decided to sit out for a year (I approve of that) and make another attempt at gaining Cambridge for 2010. He was less than thrilled when I told him he needed to write an entirely new personal statement. Looking at my sweater, I realized how he felt. He had put in countless hours, created revision after revision, and ultimately created an essay that got him noticed. He didn’t want to see his previous work ‘wasted’, he wanted to somehow capture the essence of it, keep hold of it. I struggled to find the words to tell him what I meant. Finally, I said he had written a cool essay for 2009, which was why he received so many top offers. You will have to write another cool essay. Put the old one away and start anew.
Now, as I gently undo my knitting and rewind my yarn, I realize that I should follow my own advice. Sometimes starting all over is the best solution. Quality matters and half-measures won’t do. So if you are out there writing a personal statement or designing a building or just baking a cake, remember that sometimes you just gotta start over.
Odd. Ravel and unravel mean the same thing. Regardless, irregardless. Flammable, inflammable.
**”Methought I heard a voice cry ‘Sleep no more! Macbeth does murder sleep’, the innocent sleep, Sleep that knits up the ravelled sleave of care. The death of each day’s life, sore labour’s bath, Balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, Chief nourisher in life’s feast.” -William Shakespeare Macbeth
(sleave n. Archaic A fine thread or skein of thread).
Get the Lead Out!
Monday, August 3rd, 2009 | Prelaw, Uncategorized, freshmen | No Comments
I was chatting with a friend at Cornell the other day, and she remarked how she was looking forward to the break in August before the students returned. She also noted that it has been pretty chilly in upstate NY. I thought about this and decided that New York may be having a year without summer, but Aggieland is plenty hot! And our student leaders are already back.
In August, Aggie student leaders indulge in a ‘luxury of leadership’ and devote themselves to their groups without having scholastics interrupt! While folks from other schools might be sleeping in late or bemoaning the return of the fall semester, Aggie leaders are perfecting their skills. By mid-August, the upper-classmen will be scurrying around, ensuring that they are ready for the coming year. Between Fish Camp, FOW, Sorority Workweek, and Move-In, thousands of Aggies are working on programming for the new fish. It’s an Aggie Pass-down! Texas A&M is known for producing leaders of character, and this is a highly prized commodity in law school admissions (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). While it won’t make up for a lackluster academic career, leadership in college is a good indicator of future behavior. At some high schools, the leaders tend to be a select group of students. At A&M, anyone can be a leader, can take on the challenge, can make Aggieland a better place. There are so many opportunities, from student councils, residence life, Greek System, Corps, community, religious groups, even pastimes! So, what kind of leader are you?
At the end of August, I’ll be taking part in the 57th Annual MSC Fall Leadership Conference. There are probably a few spots left and you can check here. Many student organizations will pay the registration fee for one or more leaders in their club. We will be staying at Camp Allen, just down the road in Navasota. The best part about Camp Allen is no TVs in the rooms, no Internet (no motorcars, not a single luxury….). This is an excellent program where you get to meet Former Students, learn more about leadership, service and success. The stellar list of speakers includes U.S. Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX-1), 2008 Aggie Lawyer of the Year.
On my needles? I’m trying to work up a fibanacci sequence scarf for each of the Honors Housing Community dorms (McFadden, Lechner, Clements), using their dorm colors.
the prototype Lechner scarf....
Preparing to Prepare
Monday, July 20th, 2009 | advising, motorcycle | No Comments
The end of July means it’s time for law school applicants to begin preparations for applications, one of many anxious times for them during the coming year. For some applicants, it’s like being a ten-year-old on the day before a family vacation. You’ve packed your clothes, looked at the map, and googled the destinations, but you still can’t make time move any faster. You want to on your way now. Well, the vacation will be over before you know it and so will the application process. Time to pack:
Sign up for CAS at LSAC.
Order your transcripts.
Line up your writers for Letters of Recommendation (LORs).
Prepare your detailed resume (I’ll review it if you send it via email).
Start working on personal statement ideas.
Create your personal school list at LSAC. Read about schools.
Do a little dreamin’.
Enjoy the ride….
Last week, Kaplan hosted a ‘Law School Insider’ event on campus and turnout was great! We had all types of Aggies, including Former Students, current students, a member of the class of 2013 and a hope-to-be member of the class of 2014! All-in-all, about 35 prelaw folks. Nathan Neeley from South Texas College of Law joined Jeffrey Burns and Lina Reyes-Burns from the local firm Youngkin & Associates. There was a lively discussion with questions from the audience and varied perspectives from the panel. Nathan gave an inside look at the application review process. The Burns were great and provided a great view of the reality of how you get a job, how you develop a ’specialty’ and what role law school plays in the whole thing. Attendees also learned the lawyer’s favorite word also applies to the law school admissions process—
-
depends.
Even though the answer is often ‘depends’, there is no better way to explore a legal education and a legal career than talking to a lawyer. John Kovac won a free Kaplan course, too, so attending events can also have more practical outcomes!
On Saturday, I made the biker run to raise money for breast cancer research. (I have a facebook album with pics.) All types of women showed up, but on Saturday we were all women bikers, Riding for a Cure. We rode from Hogg to Mumford to Snook to Sommerville to Caldwell to Hogg, a long line of riders in pink on iron horses. We ended the day at Cyndi’s Hawg House in Hogg, Tx, with BBQ and bands. Many thanks to Cyndi for getting us together.
Life’s short. Ride hard.
8000 in 2013?
Wednesday, July 15th, 2009 | Prelaw, advising, crafts, freshmen, motorcycle | 1 Comment
Henderson Hall is a quiet place most mornings, a great time to reflect and plan the upcoming school year.
The largest school of fish in the nation is preparing to descend on Aggieland. Dorms are bursting at the seams, classing are filling up, and, of course, traffic will be perilous. It’s a huge challenge to ensure all students get the advising they deserve. The newest, greatest project for freshman are the First Year Experience courses. Only freshmen, only 15 or fewer students, one profressor. The topics range from surfing and BBQ, to becoming an informed citizen, learning about the environment and utilizing fiber arts! (Check out sections 522 and 546). It’s a great opportunity for one credit and the freshmen will learn to intereact in a small setting (like an honors class) in a topic they chose. Most importantly, I hope that these students become interested in their own educations through this experience and seek out the good advice.
Applicants for 2010 admission to law school are piling up, too! It’s exciting every year to meet Aggies and help them pursue their goals. With a slow economy, competition for admission to law school will be a bit keener, but Aggies can do it! Being timely and prepared is the key. I’m going to start ‘theme-ing’ my Group Advising to encourage folks to come in. Really, I want folks to just ‘come in.’ On Monday, I had five folks in and it was really fun because they have similar questions and different ideas. It’s kind of like having a workshop without a structure. (Of course, I still have appointments for one-on-one time. ) On Wednesday, July 22, I’m having Group Advising/Brown Bag from 11 to 1:30. Stop in and beat the heat!
Karen and Dan
This coming weekend I’ll be riding in a motorcycle run for breast cancer. All the riders will be women, so that will be different for me. On my needles, I have a yellow baby blanket, a zebra cross-stitch hanging, and a fuscia and gray blouse.
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