Reflecting on Senior Year

Looking back on this past year, I have definitely enjoyed being a part of the iQuest program. I think I did a great job at my final presentation and really gave my audience a first-hand look at my internship and my experience with it.  I had a great experience at Barr and Young Attorneys this past year, and I am very grateful to Mr. Barr for having allowed me to explore my interests in the field of law. I now feel comfortable continuing to pursue my goal of becoming an attorney. My experience this year has motivated me to work towards my goal and has given me vital experience in the industry.

I feel that this year really went by quickly. Senior year has been a memorable one and I will definitely have plenty of memories from it. I will miss being a part of the Cal High community and really getting to know a lot of the people who make Cal High such a great place. Having moved from Colorado before freshman year, I really feel that I have become a part of the wonderful community hear at Cal.

I am excited for what lies ahead and I am blessed to be able to go to NYU next year. I plan on majoring in liberal arts and finance. I truly feel that I have grown as a person this past year, and I feel that I am now more than ever ready for the future. Having the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom has taught me so much. The iQuest program has really taught us professionalism across the board. We are now ready for life after high school and I am excited for what the future holds for all of us.

Personality Inventories

My Holland Code was SEC, and my Myers-Briggs Code was ESFJ. The first code means that I am a social worker who likes to get along with coworkers and collaborate with others. It also means that I like to tackle assignments and complete them successfully. My second code means that I am and extraverted person who likes to get emotionally invested in situations. This means that in the workplace, I value loyalty and getting involved in the place. I think these codes will help me understand what kind of situations I will be able to succeed in. They can also help me determine what types of people I can work well with. I agree with the codes for the most part as I feel that they do pertain to situations that I have been in.

Bucket List

As I began thinking about what I want to do throughout my list,  a flood of ideas came to mind, and I decided to take the time to write them down. Hopefully, I have a chance to check them off my list at some point.

1. Travel to Italy
2. Visit all 7 continents
3. Drive on a racetrack
4. Go skydiving
5. Go cliff diving
6. Run a marathon
7. Snorkel the Great Barrier Reef
8. Ski in the Alps
9. Drive on the Autobahn
10. Hike in the Himalayas
11. Go to the Super Bowl
12. Be a mentor
13. Do pro bono attorney work
14. Start a business
15. Be on a gameshow
16. Fly a jet
17. Drive across the country
18. Visit all 50 states
19. Stand next to a lion
20. Have season tickets

Internship Update

As senior year continues to fly by, I think its a good time to step back and reflect on what has been going on at my internship. I am continuing to intern at Barr and Young Attorneys, a law firm located in Danville. I have been interning around 3-4 hours per week and have been working on a variety of projects and assignments.

I had a unique opportunity to work on IRAC. This is an assignment frequently assigned to law school students that involves analyzing court cases. The letters stand for Issue, Rule, Analysis, and Conclusion. I was able to conduct this in-depth work on two cases over the past couple of months. It involves a variety of skills but primarily tests your ability to conduct research and report on your findings through writing. 

I am grateful for having all of this early exposure to various law related tasks. I think it is better preparing me for the future. I have learned that I do in fact like these aspects of a potential career in law and have learned what specific skills lawyers possess. Going forward, I was just given an assignment to conduct research regarding a potential case that our firm is taking up. I am excited for the next couple of months and look forward to continuing this great experience!

Gratitude Blogpost

Gratitude is an integral part of our community that improves the way it functions and gives everyone a chance to feel appreciated. Every day, countless people selflessly contribute to society and give back to others around them. Sometimes, these people end up being ignored, as people may see their actions as typical or ordinary. However, I feel that these people should be appreciated through displays of gratitude. Over Thanksgiving break, I had an opportunity to show gratitude to my parents. I bought them a pair of nice pillows for their bed as a way to show how thankful I am for their continued support. I felt nice giving back and showing my appreciation. At school, my group decided to show our appreciation to a teacher who has left a positive impact on students at our school. We chose Ms. Bible, someone who has always been supportive and kind to her students. We decided to give her a portable charger and an iPhone charging cable. She definitely appreciated the effort and thought that went into our present.

Five People and Five Things

When it comes to pursuing your dreams, I agree that it is essential to share your visions and spend time with people who you feel will help you achieve your goals. I chose the following five people because I believe that they will help me achieve my goals. I chose Ryan because he is a part of the iQuest program and will be with me throughout the year pushing me to accomplish my goals in the program and do my best at my internship. I chose Ben because he has been one of my best friends throughout high school and has always been there for me. We share some of the same visions, which I believe is why we are so close and why I think he is a great person for me to share my goals with. I chose my mom as my third person because she is always very supportive of me while also pushing me to ensure that I am always putting in the work to achieve my goals. I think it is very beneficial to have someone who is always behind you. My fourth person is my older brother who I have always looked up to as a role model. Seeing someone like him, who is not afraid to pursue his dreams and always willing to put the work in, makes him a great person to share my aspirations with. My fifth person is another good friend of mine, Gurshawn. He is by far the most positive person I know and he always believes in other people. I think this positive spirit is another key element to having someone who is always going to support my dreams. 

I am always the first to admit that I am quite a bit of a procrastinator. Sometimes, I like putting things off in an effort to reduce my stress and force myself to deal with them later. My first item is submitting my college apps, I have been postponing it till the deadline, but I think its best if I submit them right now. My second item is asking for more work at my internship. I would like a bit of a larger role, with me contributing more, so I think I should ask my mentor about it. Another item I have been putting off is relaxing a bit and taking more time to appreciate the friendships and relationships I have in my life. I think I need to slow things down a bit and enjoy how senior year is going.

Internship Update

I have been enjoying the past month at my internship with Barr and Young Attorneys in Danville. The firm specializes in trust and estate litigation and has many clients throughout the Bay Area. Generally, I have been working 4 to 6 hours per week at my internship. The firm has been gracious in allowing me to explore my interests in the field of law while learning more about specific facets of law.

I am going to be responsible for drafting blog posts for the firm's website designed to attract new clients and inform the general public on law related content. I have spent most of my time at my internship doing research and writing drafts of these blog posts. Over this past month, I wrote a 2 page summary of the Mini Mental State Exam - a test used to determine mental capacity - which I hope to publish onto the firm's website soon. I am excited to be able to not only develop my own skills in the field but also contribute to the firm.

In my short time at the firm, I find joy in doing research as I always enjoy enhancing my own knowledge on various topics. I have also learned that being a lawyer is mostly about being patient and doing your research in order to defend your case. I would like to continue writing blog posts and hopefully get a chance to sit in on depositions soon. I have asked my internship mentor, Mr. Barr, to help me fit one into my scheduling.