Hear Me Out

Legal Aspects of Communication

So my law class is amazing. It's called "Legal Aspects of Communication," but it's essentially a 1st Amendment law curriculum. Professor Watson makes the class so interesting and discussion based, and it's really fun to analyze how the Supreme Court has interpreted the 1st Amendment. 

Did you know that for a celebrity to endorse a product, she or he must have actually used it before? If not, the company could get sued for millions of dollars (and would probably lose). And did you know that ads can't be racist or sexist? This seems pretty practical, but that means ad campaigns have to represent all of the major races/ethnicities in the U.S. That's why in lots of toy commercials you'll see an Asian, African American, and a Caucasian kid. The company is trying to avoid getting sued.

I'm not sure if you found that interesting or not, but I think little things like that are fascinating. Maybe that's why I'm thinking about law school *shrugs*… 

Oh, and just because I'm from Pennsylvania…

Did you hear that Senator Bob Casey endorsed Obama? You can check it out here if you're interested.

AU!

Well, it was a good run while it lasted. And we actually almost upset Tennessee, one of the best teams in the country. We got ahead early, and the game was either tied or within 2 or 3 points the entire game. But then the Volunteers went on a big run in the last 4 minutes or so.

The final score was  72-57, but the big difference is misleading. Our Eagles definitely gave them a run for their money.

Here's the NYT story on the game.

Passion Week

Some students from Tulane University in New Orleans came up to visit AU and help us out with Passion Week. The small group is made up of Chi Alpha students, which is a national Christian college ministry. We have a chapter here at American, so they came up to help us out with our events this week.

I had never really heard of Passion Week before I came to AU, but the idea of it seems really cool. All the Christian organizations (Catholics, Methodists, The Gathering, Chi Alpha, One Accord, etc) come together to plan a week of activities before Easter.

This week, we showed a movie last night called "Amazing Grace" (if you haven't seen it, it's amazing), and tonight there is a discussion about the Origins of Easter. On Thursday they're having a "Last Supper" and Open Air worship. And on Good Friday there will be a prayer event called Oasis. So if you're interested in getting involved in a Christian organization on campus, there is plenty of community here at AU.

Speechwriting

Tonight I had my Speechwriting class. It was really cool. We had President Clinton's former speechwriter come in and talk to us. He wrote Clinton's most famous line of his presidency (other than "I did not have sexual relations..."). It was "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what is right with America." Great line.

That was pretty cool, but considering our professors for the class are both former speechwriters to Vice President Al Gore, it's easy to get used to having that kind of talent around. Professor Lehrman's bio is here and Professor Schnure's is here. They team-teach the 1/2 graduate, 1/2 undergrad course. It's a really great, really practical class.

If you want to learn how to write speeches, this is the course to take for sure. I had never written a real speech before I walked into this class, but now I can put a decent one together. I even got an A on one I got back tonight. Who knew?

AU!

So we're going to the NCAA TOURNAMENT for the first time EVER! I'm really excited for our team. We beat Colgate in the Patriot League Final to earn a trip. We're all over the news and our team was on ESPN and CBS last night!

We play Tennessee in the first round in Alabama. They set aside a bunch of tickets for AU students (for $50 each), but they're all sold out. I wouldn't be able to go anyway, since I have class on Fridays.

Here are some stories about our team:

• American Holding on to Tournament Dream
• Introducing America's Team
• Gritty Gilmore Brings Many Happy Returns in Eagles' Triumph
• ESPN Recap

Spring Break

My spring break wasn't overly exciting. I didn't go to Cancun or Florida or anything. Instead, I just went home to relax. I worked out. Tanned. Slept. Restocked on supplies. It was actually great. I feel very recharged for this week, which is good since I have a midterm on Friday.

Also during the break, I had a chance to eat at Shady Maple Smorgasbord, which has the best food on the planet (in my opinion). I ate a homemade blueberry cinnamon chip pancake, plus potatoes with sausage gravy and some blueberry baked oatmeal. If you ever find yourself in Lancaster County, PA, stop by there. It'll change your life.

Wait

So I'm at a crossroads concerning my future.  I had planned to take an LSAT course starting after spring break, then take the LSAT Test in June, with the ultimate idea of going to law school in the near future.  Now, I have no clue what I'm doing.

But I'm at peace.  Recently, I've been unsure about this whole law school thing, and I definitely don't want to blow 10s of thousands of dollars on something I'm not sure about.  I'm really interested in law, but everything right now looks so insignificant next to God.

I truly want His will for my life, and not mine or my parents or my friends.  That's hard, though, especially because God's never spoken to me audibly and I can't really see Him.  But I know He's there.  So I'm just trying to lean on Him.

This morning in my devotions, was reading Psalms.  Psalms 27 to be exact.  And you know what the last verse of that Psalm is?  "Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!"

So...that's what I'm gonna do.  The LSAT class can wait.  I can still take it over the summer and take the September exam.  All I know is, I don't want to go anywhere with God leading the way.