*cue scenario*
A student is hunkered down in the basement of a library. Copious amounts of notes and electronic devices are spread across the table of his cubicle. His mouth is rapidly moving as he mouths the the rules of the 2nd Restatement of Contracts to himself. "The elements of unilateral mistake are..." Every passing minute amplifies the growing anxiety. Will he be able to comprehend all of the material? Will he have it memorized well enough to walk into the exam room with confidence?
*cue reality*
A round of applause is heard. The room falls to a deadening silence as the speaker at the podium prepares to speak. Waiters and waitresses buzz around delivering succulent entrée dishes of salmon to the 70 different tables that dot the ball room. Lawyers and members of the legal community, ranging from law firms like Bingham McCutchen and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe to the Human Rights Commission of San Francisco, wait with palpable anticipation for the speaker. Steve Li begins to speak...
April 29th was a very busy night for me. Faced with the daunting prospect of taking a Contracts exam on the 30th, I had the choice to either stay in the library and try to prepare as much as humanly possible, or, I could fulfill a months-long obligation and attend the Asian Law Caucus' 39th Annual Event dinner.
I decided to do both.
- Hey! That name and face looks eerily familiar...
During the beginning of my 1L spring semester, I had managed to get onto the 2011 Annual Event Committee that was planning and organizing the Asian Law Caucus' 39th Annual Event dinner. (Thank you, yet again, Mr. Vu!) At the time I did not know that the dinner would fall on the day before my contracts final. Had I known, I might have opted out?
Having experienced the committee process as well as having attended and assisted at the dinner, I ultimately believe I made the right decision despite the perilous nature of an exam the next day. [Insert contractual disclaimer to this statement if the exam results do not turn out as I hope -- ahhhh! Contracts, I can not escape you]. Sometimes you just have to have faith and confidence that the copious preparation beforehand was adequate. And if you are not 100% sure... you can always bring your contracts outline to the dinner. :)
Despite trying to salvage every possible second to study during the course of the event, I still had ample opportunity to meet and engage with several of the lawyers there. Many of the individuals I spoke with I had met on a previous occasion - some I had met before at APILO or Hastings legal clinics and others I had known from being on the committee or recent law clerk interviews. (Hello PG&E legal department!) Of note were two individuals that related to my upcoming experience in Hong Kong this summer.
One person I met noted that she would be in Hong Kong this summer as well and had generously offered to take me on a "food adventure." Anytime you combine the words "food" and "adventure" into a sentence, I am unequivocally enticed. Where do I sign my soul away?
Another individual I met, an alumni of Golden Gate University's LLM program, got his J.D. degree from my hometown and had also gone through Santa Clara University's Hong Kong program. A fellow GGU student, roots in Sacramento, and went through the exact same program I did... Hard to imagine a more closely matched meeting. Oh, he's also an immigration lawyer of many years, an area of law I have been exposed to recently due to my presence at low-income, legal clinics in the Bay. Hello Bruce, a.k.a. mirror.
Occasions like these reinforce my belief that the Latin phrase carpe diem should be employed whenever and wherever possible. The dinner was a huge success and raised over $100,000 for the Asian Law Caucus. I was proud and happy for the organization despite my minuscule part in the grand scheme of things. In hindsight, even if I could have done marginally better on the exam at the expense of contributing to the dinner planning, I don't think I would have. Even if I had not possessed a prior commitment to the Caucus, even if the cause championed by the Caucus was not great and noble, and even if I was not guaranteed to meet so many fantastic individuals at the dinner event, it was not in my personality to not challenge myself and forgo studying or the dinner.
Carpe diem meet Hong Kong. Hong Kong, be wary of carpe diem.
[carpe diem: seize the day]
