Day 939: Culmination
Oct. 13th, 2010 10:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nagi_schwarzI did it. Today, my education has reached its culmination, finished itself once and for all. Why? Today I was sworn in as a member of the Utah Bar. I am an official, bona-fide, 24-carat newly-minted lawyer. The day started off...ordinarily.
We squabbled over who got to shower first (I won) and then I sat around in my fancy suit (black silk, white piping, mandarin collar over a blue blouse) labeling some more of the 400-odd photos my parents and I took while we were on holiday. Then we had breakfast, and we drove to the convention center where the ceremony would be held. We walked forever in my stupid heels, and someone called me "ma'am". At first I assumed she was talking to my mother, but then I realized she was talking to me, and she asked if I was going to the "lawyer" thing, which means, hey, apparently I do look like a lawyer while I wear a suit.
I saw Kent pretty early on (he was reading "Undead Shakespeare" and saving seats for his family). I said hi to Beth, his wife, and his parents and brother (who looks and sounds uncannily like him), and then we went to find seats. We ran into Danny, one of our buddies from Creighton, and also Joel (we'd joked he'd be late). We didn't find Kyle, and Adam...Adam's name wasn't on the list. We don't know if that means he'd didn't pass or if he deferred or...what. But it was scary. Six of us took the test, but only five of us swore in.
The ceremony was a little under an hour long. The majority of the hour was taken up by the newest justice on the supreme court, who gave a long, boring speech that could have been awesome but wasn't. All I learned from the speech was to ignore my inner Jackie [Childs] and follow my inner Atticus [Finch]. I might have even nodded off during the speech, which was bad, because I was on the front row. A pretty girl lawyer welcomed us to the bar on behalf of the young lawyers' association, and then...then came the motion for admitting us. Because the meeting was an official special session of court that included the state supreme court and the federal district court for the district of Utah. So two lawyers had to read every single one of our names. Almost 400 of us. We had to stand and stay standing when they read our names. One guy was a throat cancer survivor (and wasn't even a smoker) and so he had a quirky little electric voice amplifier for when he read the names, and it was like a robot read my name. (The guy with the normal voice made an impromptu speech, which was obnoxious.) I smiled when my friends were called, and then...then came the actual oath. We repeated it slowly and carefully, but the man leading us strung together one too many adjectives in one section, and we just all...fell apart. Mumbled. It was hilarious. I cracked up, and the judge sitting opposite me cracked up too. It was great.
But then...then it was done. They adjourned the court, and then we all went to stand in line to sign paperwork. I am now admitted to practice in the federal district court and with the state supreme court, which means anywhere in Utah. I stood in line behind the guy who sat next to me at the exam, and he'd passed too, which was great. He also had a bloodshot eye and a broken cheekbone because some guy punched him at church ball.
I got two shiny certificates (which I need to get framed - I thought there would be none, but I was wrong) and also...also I got my bar card. With my picture and bar number on it and everything. (Apparently Nebraska bar cards have no picture, but like all official documentation with pictures, I do look faintly like a criminal, so I'm sure if Nebraska's did have a picture, I'd look like a junior thug anyway.) That number is like magic. (It means I can finish the paperwork I need to finish to practice in Nebraska.)
After I got all my paperwork and some more hugs, we headed down to the parking lot. And...all three of us totally got changed in the parking lot. Right then and there. I consider it a point of pride that I got out of a suit and into jeans and a t-shirt in the time it took my dad to change his trousers. We had fast food for lunch afterwards, and then I slept most of the way home, but around nine I got sleepy again, which is a lame sign of jet-lag.
We stopped off in Cedar so I could give Ericka her gift and visit briefly (she gave me some earrings she made in return) and then we had Mongolian barbecue for dinner. I watched Criminal Minds with mom, showed her how to find Season 3 Merlin on YouTube (because she is now officially hooked) and...then I packed. Dad helped with his awesome engineering skills, and now I am chatting with Lawyer Amber on Facebook and when Cody takes his study break we will talk. I have to finish labeling photos, load some new photos onto my laptop, and then all is well in Nagi-land.
Dude.
I'm a real lawyer.
We squabbled over who got to shower first (I won) and then I sat around in my fancy suit (black silk, white piping, mandarin collar over a blue blouse) labeling some more of the 400-odd photos my parents and I took while we were on holiday. Then we had breakfast, and we drove to the convention center where the ceremony would be held. We walked forever in my stupid heels, and someone called me "ma'am". At first I assumed she was talking to my mother, but then I realized she was talking to me, and she asked if I was going to the "lawyer" thing, which means, hey, apparently I do look like a lawyer while I wear a suit.
I saw Kent pretty early on (he was reading "Undead Shakespeare" and saving seats for his family). I said hi to Beth, his wife, and his parents and brother (who looks and sounds uncannily like him), and then we went to find seats. We ran into Danny, one of our buddies from Creighton, and also Joel (we'd joked he'd be late). We didn't find Kyle, and Adam...Adam's name wasn't on the list. We don't know if that means he'd didn't pass or if he deferred or...what. But it was scary. Six of us took the test, but only five of us swore in.
The ceremony was a little under an hour long. The majority of the hour was taken up by the newest justice on the supreme court, who gave a long, boring speech that could have been awesome but wasn't. All I learned from the speech was to ignore my inner Jackie [Childs] and follow my inner Atticus [Finch]. I might have even nodded off during the speech, which was bad, because I was on the front row. A pretty girl lawyer welcomed us to the bar on behalf of the young lawyers' association, and then...then came the motion for admitting us. Because the meeting was an official special session of court that included the state supreme court and the federal district court for the district of Utah. So two lawyers had to read every single one of our names. Almost 400 of us. We had to stand and stay standing when they read our names. One guy was a throat cancer survivor (and wasn't even a smoker) and so he had a quirky little electric voice amplifier for when he read the names, and it was like a robot read my name. (The guy with the normal voice made an impromptu speech, which was obnoxious.) I smiled when my friends were called, and then...then came the actual oath. We repeated it slowly and carefully, but the man leading us strung together one too many adjectives in one section, and we just all...fell apart. Mumbled. It was hilarious. I cracked up, and the judge sitting opposite me cracked up too. It was great.
But then...then it was done. They adjourned the court, and then we all went to stand in line to sign paperwork. I am now admitted to practice in the federal district court and with the state supreme court, which means anywhere in Utah. I stood in line behind the guy who sat next to me at the exam, and he'd passed too, which was great. He also had a bloodshot eye and a broken cheekbone because some guy punched him at church ball.
I got two shiny certificates (which I need to get framed - I thought there would be none, but I was wrong) and also...also I got my bar card. With my picture and bar number on it and everything. (Apparently Nebraska bar cards have no picture, but like all official documentation with pictures, I do look faintly like a criminal, so I'm sure if Nebraska's did have a picture, I'd look like a junior thug anyway.) That number is like magic. (It means I can finish the paperwork I need to finish to practice in Nebraska.)
After I got all my paperwork and some more hugs, we headed down to the parking lot. And...all three of us totally got changed in the parking lot. Right then and there. I consider it a point of pride that I got out of a suit and into jeans and a t-shirt in the time it took my dad to change his trousers. We had fast food for lunch afterwards, and then I slept most of the way home, but around nine I got sleepy again, which is a lame sign of jet-lag.
We stopped off in Cedar so I could give Ericka her gift and visit briefly (she gave me some earrings she made in return) and then we had Mongolian barbecue for dinner. I watched Criminal Minds with mom, showed her how to find Season 3 Merlin on YouTube (because she is now officially hooked) and...then I packed. Dad helped with his awesome engineering skills, and now I am chatting with Lawyer Amber on Facebook and when Cody takes his study break we will talk. I have to finish labeling photos, load some new photos onto my laptop, and then all is well in Nagi-land.
Dude.
I'm a real lawyer.
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no subject
Date: 2010-10-14 03:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-15 03:37 am (UTC)As for the suit - I do love it. It's my favourite. Most miraculous of all, my father chose it. I am impressed with his taste. I think you would look super awesome in a similar suit. Asian girls just tend to rock the mandarin collar, you know?
no subject
Date: 2010-10-16 02:33 am (UTC)Oooh, got a photo?
no subject
Date: 2010-10-14 09:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-10-15 03:35 am (UTC)