Kaulapi World

Wanted to take a reflective look back at what I got out of the law school experience, roughly one year after taking the July bar, in no particular order:

Intensive academic study doesn’t intimidate me. Not like ever really did before, but after going through the gauntlet 8+ semesters and the bar exam, it really doesn’t now. I have a better sense of some of my own strengths and weaknesses when it comes to academic study.

I’m even less infatuated with the end product as opposed to the process. This is even with the final tuition bill, and unknown monetary payout of the degree.

In many ways I’m more articulate now in my opinions and viewpoints, this includes being more focused on what really matters to me and what is just fluff. I call this knowing better how to pick battles, so to speak some things aren’t really worth discussing.

More committed than ever to the goal of remaining objective to facts and arguments presented and not superficial points raised to distract and confuse. My shibai/BS detector is stronger than ever. Better able to read and dissect arguments and separate the wheat from the chaff.

I have a much better understanding of the U.S. Constitution and greater respect for the original foundational system of government was established and how it has developed over the years to account for a changing and growing society.

Have a much better respect for the rule of law and its purpose in maintaining civil society, and place an even greater value for civil liberties and concern for government policies and the social movements that erode them. See now both how extreme conservatism is too rigid to the fluid nature of humanity to change over time and reinforce corrupt power structures as well as see now the hypocrisy of extreme liberalism to reinterpret things to the extreme that it compromises core values.

More bi-partisan/non-partisan and independent minded than when I started. Not as likely to put institutions, individual persons or ideology on a pedestal. More respect to the countering viewpoint, especially when it is a minority opinion. More willing to genuinely consider alternate opinions, at the very least respect them enough to consider them before deciding that I don’t agree. Not as much of a bleeding heart as before, more focused on policies that empower rather than enable dependence on the state.

More of a realist than idealist now. Not out to save the world anymore as much as to try to make an incremental difference in areas I have control over. Part of this is that I am no longer as naive to the corruption and hypocrisy that exists in all systems and institutions. More aware of waste, fraud and abuse at all levels of government.

More than ever willing to question the status quo more while accepting that often times the world simply is what it is.

Been definitely sleep deprived but happy overall. Maybe the “baby brain,” we’re both still adjusting to this new state of consciousness, the past few weeks have been a blur. Just got back to work a few weeks ago, Hana is off until Mid-September, and then I’ll be taking 1-2 months paternity leave until election day. After that we’ll start our split work schedule, which sounds like it’ll work in theory, but we’ll have to see how it turns out. There are a bunch of logistical things we need to work out that we hadn’t thought of earlier, setting up the computer for remote access, upgrading our wireless plan, or getting a landline installed, etc.

On the sleep and milestones, we’ve been getting somewhat conflicting input from our books, so we’re taking it under advisement as general guidelines on what to expect. I suppose every kid is on their own individual plan, either the little guy is slightly ahead of schedule or maybe just a mellow little dude. Whenever he is fussy we read up on the literature and then feel a little guilty about how little he is complaining compared to the scenarios illustrated in the books. He hasn’t sleep through the entire night yet, but has had long periods of consecutive peaceful sleep, 4 hours between feedings was the longest so far, which may be too long for his age since he gets up very hungry. I’ve been noticing that he is slowly getting into a daytime nap schedule, I guess what they say about the mid-morning nap is true.

He’s been making eye contact, smiling and frowning and making verbal noises since week 2 or so, I wrote it off as a reflex, now at 6 weeks there’s no doubt that he’s interacting socially. Like the few times he was able to sneak by the towel I was using while changing him and give me a hose down, he had a great big smile like it was the funniest thing ever! He’s also getting pretty strong, he grabs onto me now when I carry him, can hold his neck up for short periods of time, and is repositioning himself with his legs and arms when he sleeps on me. He’s also filling out well, doubled his weight and is getting longer. He has rolled over from his back to his tummy a few times, but its only in one direction, have to keep an eye on him in case he gets stuck.

My folks came up for a couple of weeks in June, spent a lot of time just hanging out around the house. They are already making plans for another visit in the fall, maybe Xmas time. They were actually thinking about visiting the Boston where my Dad went to medical school and my older brother was born, apparently they hadn’t been there since they left. It was interesting to hear the parallels for us having our first born in DC. Eventually we’d like to fly him home for a visit but we might wait until he is a little bit older for that.

Job market continues to pick at me. I’ve been constantly reminded of the new reality that apparently having a graduate degree is no longer a good indicator of job placement in this economy, the supply of jobs out there is totally out of sync with the demand for recent grads in all fields. Unfortunately in the current economy all of us are expendable and replaceable, fancy degrees and impressive work experience and resumes don’t matter anymore. Throw in the student loan burden due to these crazy tuition costs in recent years and I’m wondering if the jobs don’t start coming back we’re going to see a generation of folks tied to non-dis-chargeable debt.

One thing I’ve noticed about being a father now is that my attitude towards careers has changed a bit in terms of focus, about a year ago I was set on certain job paths, now I’m more open to alternate paths, really whatever it takes to provide for the family. We even discussed briefly whether it would make sense for me to work part-time, something that I wouldn’t have considered earlier, but now seems like an option to consider. For us going forward securing some kind of steady income and job security are major keys in this economy, so far I haven’t seen anything else that would compel me to make a jump from where I am now. It has been a sobering reality to talk to people with similar credentials that upon hearing where I currently work I find out that they have been begging to even get an interview for similar position, anything to just get a foot in the door. It’s tough times, that’s for sure.