First Quarterly Update of 2021 (Q1)
“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
― Oprah Winfrey
Happy New Year to those who I have not spoken to in 2021 yet, and happy end of the first quarter to all! I hope that 2021 has gotten off to a great start for you thus far. My 2021 has been off to a strong start, but first a few words about how my 2020 ended.
Introductory Summary of Q4 2020
My 2020 ended with me experiencing law school exam season for the very first time. Law school exams are different from any other exams that I have taken throughout my life. Student grades are assigned based on performance on one timed exam at the end of the semester and is graded on a curve against other first year students within the class. This past semester, Taylor (my wife who is also a first year law student at The University of Georgia School of Law) and I had three exams of this structure over two weeks, completing a major milestone on the road to JD.
I also completed my second to last semester of my Master’s program at Georgia State University! I continued my research on the fear of failure amongst millennials of color, and also took other classes that helped me learn about how child welfare can affect human development and lead to potential consequences in business and in society at large. Though GPAs are only one metric of “success” or “comprehension,” I did successfully end my semester with an overall GPA of 4.03 in my program. I am eager to finish my last semester strong and graduate in the spring of 2021 so I can only pursuing one degree for the next two years!
After finals, Taylor and I enjoyed our first Christmas and New Year’s together as a married couple during our winter breaks. It was a special time to reflect on pressure cooker we just stepped out of (finals), and to be thankful for all the blessings we have in our lives. The winter break felt like two hard blinks — we quickly found ourselves in 2021 and back for the second semester of Zoom School of Law.
Q1 of 2021
January
The beginning of January was tense. It was tense because grades for the first semester were scheduled to be released. Grades in law school are an important metric and indicator to certain employers, and to others of how “well” people are doing in law school. Grades are also significant because since classes are graded on a curve, everyone cannot get an A — or even a B. Grades can finally indicate if what you did throughout the semester to learn the law worked or not. Grades were released on January 6th, six days before classes started back for the spring semester. Taylor and I are thankful for the grades we received — we think we can improve (as most can), but we are happy.
As previously mentioned, there is not much time to process your grades, good or bad, because classes and summer job searches start immediately. The day after getting my grades, I was applying to different positions hiring first year law students. Classes started in mid-January and a balancing act began for me.
Throughout January I was:
(1) applying to summer positions with law firms, companies, and other organizations;
(2) attending my new law school classes;
(3) taking classes for my final semester for my Master’s program at Georgia State University; and
(4) taking more time to get to know my law school classmates safely.
February
In February, I got to dust off my suits. It was interview season! I was fortunate to hear back from some of the places I applied to in the previous month, and I found myself scheduling interviews around my schedules for class. After interviewing with a few different places, I started to receive offers to work over the summer. This process was interesting for me because I always dreamed at working at some of the places I was interviewing with, so to be called to interview felt like a dream come true.
Taylor already secured her summer positions over the summer in the previous semester. She will be working with The Brennan Center for Justice and an organization called A Better Balance. Since Taylor was already employed for the summer, she was a great pillar of support as I prepped for hours of interviews.
After receiving different offers and speaking with my family and mentors, I settled on two offers from the interview season. The first offer was for the summer of 2021, and the second for the spring of 2022 as an extern (legal intern during the school year).
This summer, I will be working in the Atlanta office for King & Spalding LLP. Since I was eight years old, I have wanted to practice law in Atlanta, Georgia. There are few law firms that have had as great an impact on Atlanta as King & Spalding. I feel so blessed and fortunate to have an opportunity to work at this global firm in the summer.
(Below is me adding the new “win” to our “Win Wall” for the year.)
In the spring of 2022, I will be working at the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit** under The Honorable Judge Jill Pryor. Judge Pryor was appointed to the Eleventh Circuit bench by President Barack Obama in 2014. I am so excited to have the opportunity to learn from Judge Pryor and her clerks in the spring of 2022. I believe that my writing, research, and communication skills will greatly benefit from the experience.
**The Court of Appeals is the court that sits under the Supreme Court of the United States. The United States has been sectioned off by circuit so that each circuit has a different set of judges to hear federal appeals from those states. The Eleventh Circuit covers Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.
I closed out my February with classes of course, but I also had a great time reading to 3rd grade students from a local elementary school over Zoom for Black History Month! It was a great experience! I read a book titled Above the Rim: How Elgin Baylor Changed Basketball by Jennifer Bryant. It is a great book about basketball of course, but it also speaks to what America was like in the 1960’s and 70’s, and the role that Elgin played in the push for social justice. It has great pictures and is an easy read if you are looking for a book to read to students or to buy for a young person in your life.
March
March was a peek into the future for a number of reasons.
The first reason is because Taylor, my mom, and I received our first dose of the COVID Vaccine! It was a special moment to get the vaccine with two of the important women in my life. The day gave all of us a glimmer of hope for the next few months as more people get vaccinated. We are due for our second shot in the next couple of weeks. Since her family is also vaccinated, Taylor and I are hopeful that she can finally see them in New York this summer after over a year.
The second reason March was a glimpse into the future is because almost all of the student organizations at the law school held elections for leadership positions. It felt like my classmates announced they were running for positions nearly every day throughout the month. I also ran for a few leadership positions myself. I did not get elected to every leadership position I applied for, but I was re-elected to serve on the law school’s Honor Court.**
**The Honor Court investigates and hears cases of academic misconduct throughout the student body. It was humbling that my classmates would trust me with the position to administer accurate and appropriate accountability if ever needed.
The third reason March has been a peek into the future is because I have been fielding calls from prospective students seeking to hear about law school! I feel like I just got here! I still do not know my way around the law school because I have been attending on Zoom! Regardless, March has been a time of reflection and realization that my 1L year is almost over! It has been a ride so far.
Finally, March was a peek into the future because I served as a Coach for student entrepreneurs at my alma mater, Wesleyan, who are preparing for the annual Patricelli Center Seed Grant finals. The Seed Grant competition is a pitch competition for student entrepreneurs and changemakers through Wesleyan’s Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship. I was also asked to be a judge for the competition. The ask to coach and judge the competition was a reflection on the past and a peek into the future for me. I peeked into the past because I remember being the student prepping for this competition. This competition and the Patricelli Center for Social Entrepreneurship changed so much for me as a student. I reflected on its impact in my very first Medium piece. I peeked into the future because I see myself serving this important community in these ways for a really long time. It is an honor to serve, and I will keep looking for ways to pour back into the community that gave so much to me.
If you are interested in seeing brilliant entrepreneurs and changemakers pitch their ideas tomorrow, tune into the competition online April 2nd from 12pm-1pm EST via this link! Hope to have you join us!
Conclusion
In closing, I wanted to wish you a great Q2. I hope these next three months are filled with accomplished goals, new relationships, and safety. I wanted to say thank you your friendship, mentorship, and relationship. I am blessed with wonderful people in my life, and you are one of those people. I do not take anything for granted, and I appreciate every moment you give to hearing about how I am doing. I hope to hear from you soon to hear how Q1 of 2021 was for you.
