Saturday, August 22, 2009

On success ...

Doing what you want won't get you anywhere; at least not according to Albert Gray.

"Success," he said, "is something which is achieved by the minority of men, and is therefore unnatural and not to be achieved by following our natural likes and dislikes nor by being guided by our natural preferences and prejudices."

Hmm...

Well, I should be wildly successful in law school then because there's been a lot of things the past couple of weeks I've found to be against my natural taste -- mainly:

Attending BYU -- I've dodged Education Weekers, seen parents point proudly to the large white Y on the mountain indoctrinating their young and wondered stupidly why people were giving me the "why are you explaining that to me" stare when I qualify the 18 months I spent in Tennessee with "I was serving as a missionary for the LDS Church" until I remember I'm at a school owned by the church I proselyted for.

The Socratic method -- I'm used to choosing to be called on by raising my hand in class, knowing the answers and there being one "right" answer. Now all the rules I knew and loved about the traditional school system have been changed. I am now referred to as Ms. Nelson, I speak almost only when called upon, I don't always know what the teacher is trying to get at and there is only sometimes a right answer. Today, my friends, I began to learn to learn and think like a lawyer, an officer of the court, the defender of the rules that regulate human behavior and keep us a free nation ... and it was exciting.

Becoming a charity case -- Thanks to AstraZeneca, one month from now I will be receiving one of the two medications I receive for free. There is no prescription insurance as part of the BYU Health Plan. But they do have this really awesome wholesale pharmacy where you can get your drugs generally for cheaper than what you would have paid with insurance -- at least for the 95 percent of cases when a generic of your prescription is available. I was that lucky 5 percent who found myself near tears when the bill for a one-month supply of a daily, necessary medication came to $321. One hour with a nurse/prescription advocate and the producers of the Purple Pill had kindly offered to enroll me in the Prescription Assistance Program. Meaning they get a tax break, I get my medication for a limited time while prescription insurance is out of my reach and no Medicare, Medicaid or other government welfare programs were utilized. Best of all my stomach won't eat itself from the inside out. I would rather pay for my own medicine and I'm willing to take generics when they are available. But until the day one or the other is an option for me, I'm grateful for companies who are willing to see healing people as a primary goal in addition to making a buck. (Subsequent blog post and rants and raves on health care coming ... feel free to give me ammunition in the comments.)

For Dave, this week has meant all sorts of things that come naturally to him -- being sweet, sensitive and basically amazing ... but that doesn't meant it left him without some unusual experiences of his own.

Being the supportive husband he is, he came to the BYU Law School Family Orientation Lecture. Munching on the free vegetarian sandwich and potato chips the families were bribed with, he sat with women holding babies, dressed like Shade models and carrying ridiculously cute diaper bags listening to the spouses of upperclassmen explain what their husbands had asked them to share with the "new wives" about how the next three years would go down. There were only two other men in the room. They also opted out of signing the list requesting them to "share their talents at a mini-class." He came to learn how to help me and what he found was a really sweet, albeit largely young and possibly bored group of women, offering to be a support group to him in case he found himself sitting at home feeling lonely or neglected over the next three years. Good thing he's got that full-time job, 15 credits and a two-hour commute to distract him or he might just have to join the law school partner gang at craft day in the coming months. Our apartment could use some good decorations.

End of ridiculously long post.

(Please comment dear readers ... I've missed you.)

6 comments:

Miranda said...

First blog back and you choose to blog about law school?!?! How was your wedding? And send me your address so I can send you a present.

Sierra said...

Seriously... wedding pictures?!

This post was hilarious though... I LOVE the "Shade models and homemade diaper bags" comment because its 100% true. Good luck at BYU... remember, overalls and flip flops are't allowed :-)

Natalie | Make Today Great said...

You're back!!

Ah, welcome to law schoolery... does that mean you only have one other married gal in your class? Adam is like the only married guy. And definitely no Shade gals! Love that line. And no craft night - I've heard those wives clubs are fun though...

You'll soar through it, I know you will.

And this time of our lives did make me bitter at health care. Not that the current plan on the table is correct, but we do need some reform.

Emilie said...

Oh, my fear of BYU and all things related just got worse. Except of you, of course.

I've been anxiously waiting for you to be back — and can I just say I, for one, am actually glad you picked the non-conventional post-wedding post method. Way to buck the Utah blog trend. :) Not that I don't want to see photos – please facebook or email or something.

Also, I desperately miss talking online to all day long at work. I'm going crazy here and there's no one with whom to share all the details.

gurrbonzo said...

Congrats on so many big changes! This is an insane month for you.

Two items of business:

1. May I assure you that the law school is A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT CREATURE than the rest of BYU? You never have to cross the street. People are nice and don't smoke or swear, but they also don't burst into showtunes at random. All the perks and none of the drawbacks.

2. I have way too many opinions about the spouses group, but I must say that a lot of the spouses are surprising (and might surprise your husband if he does, in fact, find himself resenting the law library). E.g., at least two of my former classmates have husbands who are currently law students, so there are several lawyers in the club. Last year's president was a therapist and some wives have really interesting accomplishments and degrees (MBAs, PhDs, big fat book deals, blahblahblah). Seriously. I know you don't need those to be interesting, but it helps. Annnnnnd, some are 19 and bring their husbands heart-shaped sandwiches every day and make glittery "Good luck on finals HunnyBunny" signs. I'm just saying, the school and the spouses are a fun mix.

Can't wait to hear how your first year goes!!

Anonymous said...

"Good thing he's got that full-time job, 15 credits and a two-hour commute to distract him or he might just have to join the law school partner gang at craft day in the coming months. Our apartment could use some good decorations."

rofl. I want to see Dave making vinyl lettered signs that say stuff like "Wise men still seek Him." or "All because two people fell in love."