Friday, November 11, 2011


 Main Entrance from the south parking lot


Main lobby, undergoing renovation.  New railings to be installed overlooking the student lounge on the left.  The entrance to the library is on the right


The student lounge from the main lobby.


The Auditorium.  Large classes (such as 1L legal writing) meet in here.  The Nebraska Supreme Court hears cases here every spring.


A typical lecture hall.  There are two such virtually identicall halls that house most 1L classes (Torts, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law)


Main entrance to the library.  The statue is of Rosoce Pound, famous jurist and an early dean of the College of Law


The reading room on the second floor the the library


Room 113, the "Floating Classroom" - it "hangs" above the student lounge and is one of the largest classrooms in the law building.


The student lounge from floor level


The law college's own courtroom.  I have Contracts in here.


The kitchen and vending area off of the student lounge.  There are two fridges and four microwaves so you can easily bring your lunch.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Conversation Number One

We have started taking baby steps toward making the preparations for the Great Transition.  Amy has started in earnest looking for a job in our target state.  She has also started the process to get her teaching license there.  Altogether, this doesn't seem to be too onerous a process, although it is not easy.  It will require a fair amount of paper shuffling.

Tonight, we were having the traditional Sunday dinner at my parent's house.  Out of the blue, my mom asked, in a surprisingly point blank sort of way, if I had sent in my deposit check to the aforementioned out-of-state school.  I told her that I had and she said, rather, mater of factly, "So, its a done deal, then?"  I couldn't really read her emotion.  I wish she would let me know how she is feeling.  I suspect that she doesn't want to add to the burden, but I would like to keep the dialogue open.  I also suspect that she isn't too thrilled about the idea.  I had to answer yes, pending a couple of huge puzzle pieces fitting into place.

This lead to the first of several anticipated difficult discussions.  One about money.  I had spent the better part of two days a couple of weeks ago working up a very detailed budget.  It turns out that, surprisingly, scholarships and federal student loans will not cover the cost of attendance.  While Amy's anticipated income will cover much of the slack, we will come up a few thousand dollars short.  I am uncertain that I will be able to quality for private student loans based on my previous credit.  So had to ask my parents if they'd be willing to cosign on the loans.  I hate having to ask for financial help but I don't see any other alternative.  It makes me feel like a little kid and it sucks.  I wish I could figure out a way to work around it.  I am hoping that they will agree to co-sign given the conditions of the loan and a co-signer release after as few as 12 payments.  It won't be as heavy a load for them.

This in only the first in what I suspect will be a series of difficult conversations about moving.  We still haven't talked about it with the in-laws or really with our son.  We keep waiting until the right time and until we have more answers.  I hate this feeling of limbo and I hate the feeling that we are letting people down.  It seems that nobody is really happy with this decision and makes me wonder if this really a good idea.  It seemed like such a good idea nine months ago, so simple.  A lot has changed since then, this is true.  Still, all of this resistance, real or imagined, makes me wonder.  I'm not sure that I expected the change to be welcomed with open arms.  I don't know what I expected, i guess.  Still, the next five months promise to be perfectly difficult.  I hope that these puzzle pieces drop into place soon.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Here we go again.

Why does it seem that each time I feel like I've answered one question, that answer opens doors to a thousand other questions?  Once I feel like I have landed, that landing space becomes the springboard to hundreds of other potential landing places?

Let me explain.  In 2006, I graduated from the University of Iowa with a Ph.D. in music.  This had been a pretty clear-cut path for me for a long time - since I was in high school, in fact.  I had never left college, earning a bachelor's degree in 2001 and a masters degree in 2003.  I was all set to go forth into the world to become and academic musician.  All I needed was a job.  A job- there's the rub.  The job never actually came, at least not in the way I expected it to.  After many months of searching, applying, being rejected or never acknowledged at all, I was forced to conclude that there would be no 2006-2007 school year for me and began to evaluate options.  I took a job in a coffee shop for a while (I know, cliche, right) and then got a gig at an insurance company.  Turns out I hate to be micromanaged (whoda thunk...) but kinda liked insurance.

Anyhow, I stuck it out with the insurance company for a couple of years until it became clear that I was going nowhere fast (which happens when you hate your job). So I cobbled together a meager existence as a musician.  This meant teaching at two different schools and driving about 500 miles a week.  Exhausting.  I also got a gig at a church which wasn't too bad at first (don't get me wrong - I have no beef with The Church in general, but I do have some issues with That Church which aren't appropriate for listing here).  The problem here was that each of these (except the church) was a temporary gig so each November and May I would feel my stomach muscles start to tighten as I waited to find out if I was gonna get to teach again the following semester.  For four years, with the appropriate amount of conniving and begging, I was allowed to do so.  I even got to teach in the summer once.

Things got to be good enough that I found a girlfriend and was lucky enough to talk her into marrying me.  This is where things get a little nuts.  With a wife and a kid and a soon-to-be kid to support, it became clear that my part-time teaching gig wasn't going to cut it.  The problem was what I was going to do about it.  As odd as it may seem with the education that I have, my options were pretty limited.  I began to wonder about going back to school - maybe I could get another M.A. and teach some more classes.  That'd be cool. 

The question then became "An M.A. in what?"  Musicology?  God no.  Art History?  Didn't seem to open too many doors.  English?  An obvious choice, but could I handle two years of esoteric litarary theory?  Probably not.  Before long, I was recalling something I'd explored once before.  Law school.  Sure - I could do it online.  It'd be easy, right?  Well, here's the rub.  Only one state lets you take the bar exam with an online law degree.  Better yet, I don't live there.  But the idea of going to law school wouldn't go away.  So I actually mentioned it to the wife.  She agreed that it seemed like a good idea.  I'd go to Local University and get the ol' J.D.  Too bad Local University is a Top 25 Law School.  Not everyone gets in there.  Even people with Ph.D.'s

So we were set - law school.  Now the questions start - should I do it? I'm not sure we've answered that one.  Could I do it? The LSAT said so.  Is so, where?  When?  How are we going to pay for it?  Should I do it?  Wait, I asked that one already.  Well, long story short (too late, I know), we've decided to go for it.  I mailed in my seat deposit to a university somewhat near me (that is, less than a day's drive away).  Now begins the hard part - getting all of the ducks in a row for all of us (me, the wife, the kids) to move. 

As I said - why does it seem like every time I answer one question, a thousand others pop up.  Where will we live?  Will Amy get a job?  Will we like the schools, the neighbors, the other students?  Will it all be worth it in the end?  I've been here before - staring down the start of a new school year in a city where I don't know anybody.  But this time its different.  So...

Here we go again.  A new school, a new career, a new life in a new place.  Stay tuned to this 'blog for the answers to life's toughest questions.