Cristina Salazar

Age: 34
Undergraduate School:  Bryn Mawr College
Undergraduate Major: Growth and Structure of Cities Program, (aka Urban Anthropology/Studies)
Hometown:  Dallas, TX
Status:  Full-Time Day
E-mail address:  csalazar@mail.txwes.edu

11/18/09 - It's almost over...on Tuesday I turned in my last memo for this semester, and I think studying for finals will be much smoother from here on out. It seems a bit daunting that our grades are curved and I know I have not prepared as much as some of my classmates but at this point all I can do is try to play a smart game of catch-up and hopefully not end up in last place. I'm worried about Thanksgiving, mostly in how offended visiting family members will feel when I tell them I can't spend the entire weekend getting reacquainted. It’s hard to find someone outside the law school circle who understands the quantity of preparation necessary for final exams. 

On another note, after I turned in my memo I headed to Dallas to do a small presentation for Programa Unidos on the Baby Moses Law. I was especially nervous after I got there because I had to present in Spanish. Even though I'm fluent, it's a bit intimidating to speak in front of native Colombians, Cubans and people from Mexico City, who mostly speak a more refined tune of Spanish than what I command. In any case, the Baby Moses laws allow parents to hand over their newborns to a Safe Baby Site provided they show no signs of harm and are under sixty days old. No questions asked. The goal of the Baby Moses law is to reduce the unnecessary injuries and deaths of unwanted babies.

Of course, after the program, came the inevitable questions, “I know you're not a lawyer but...” I of course couldn't answer any questions, but it amazed me how conscious and knowledgeable people were about the legal system, especially immigration law - as I learned at that moment, these laws seem to change every other month. The questions got me thinking about future career possibilities in immigration law...


11/11/09 - Red Starbucks coffee cups are in, its dark too soon, and already the city is planning its annual Parade of Lights on November 27.  And amidst these nice signals of winter break we seem to have been caught off guard.  Just one more week of classes, which means a little less than a week and a half to study for two of our exams. When do you give up adding details to your long outline, how will you commit your short outlines to memory in just two weeks?

This past week has been hard to juggle outlining, studying, practice exams, and class preparation all the while trying to finish up our last memo that counts as 50% of our grade in writing class.  I can't say at this point that I'm ready to go, but I have to immerse myself in doing practice questions even if my outlines and checklists aren't finalized. On Tuesday we turn in our final memo and I'm also doing a presentation on the Baby Moses law in Dallas as a volunteer for the Women's Law Student Association. It will be a nice reprieve from staring at the computer screen and outlining.

We'll be done with our exams the first week of December, and I really can't wait to do all the things I wanted to have time to do, like bike riding on the Trinity trails, visiting some of the many old buildings in town, walking along Sundance Square, and finally unpacking the rest of my boxes. I've only seen one movie this entire semester and can't remember the last time I went dancing. It just dawned on me that my phone has not rung in two days, meaning my friends and family have returned the favor of ignoring me. I just hope they answer my calls when all this is over!


11/4/09 - When I submitted my fingerprints yesterday as part of the State Board of Law Examiners background check I became irritated by the ever-present absurdity of filling out a race question. What's worse, it was not an option that one could decide or declare, rather the technician decided it for me as I irreverently marked “O” for other.

I don't agree with the imposition of race based on one culture of “origin.” For me, that would be Spain, or white. And I don't deny that some of my ancestors were Spanish. It is the historical irreverence to the other side of the story, the Indian (indigenous) one that bothers me. Suddenly, I am told I am something I never thought I was. In any case, I had to get my fingerprints if I wanted a future as a lawyer.

I don't have any absolute solution to the absurdities of racial labeling. I understand the labels have critical public policies that rely on them such as Title I funds for public education. I do however wonder what this sense of “historical amnesia” about race will lead to in future government and legal policies.

Situations like these make me rethink where I will stand after law school, and how my passion for history and anthropology can be satiated. What I've never considered (as a law student) are the possibilities to participate in researching how these types of issues have affected the law and court system. Our library website offers a collection of faculty scholarship including articles that focus on racial identity in the Antebellum South, employment discrimination, race, religion and the law. Maybe these articles can provide a little break during exam time...


10/28/09 - Practice exams!!! I still feel largely unprepared, but I have to keep in mind that my worries in no way should reflect my outcome come exam time. I did not take the practice Torts exam last week but will muster up the courage to take Property this week. It is essential to practice, our Academic Advisor warned us.  Those who end up on probation are usually the ones who failed to practice. I would like to have most of my outline memorized at this point, but after taking a mini-Torts multiple choice question exam, I realized that by taking sample tests, you can  figure out the subtle nuances of how a combination of rules fits into specific but mostly convoluted fact patterns (as happens in real life). Answers will be mostly half true, the best out of two good possibilities or a subtle misapplication of a rule or sub-rule. Because of this I rewrote parts of my outline that were missing key distinctions and detail. 

On to better things… Our memo on the Uniform Trade Secrets Act did not end up being such a dry topic after all. I actually enjoyed reading the cases and was relieved to have three extra days to work on it.  Our interim assignment is due Friday and we have two weeks from then to complete our final memo.  It doesn't sound so daunting, but the process is what's most painstaking, especially when your writing is rigidly constrained by a given structure.

At the end of this week comes Halloween. The last several years I have spent the holiday with friends in a charming little neighborhood called Oak Cliff. On Sunday, I have a family birthday, the kind that extends all day and serves as an excuse for a family mini-reunion. It is hard for me to put my outlines down for the sake of a social life but I figure the brain could use a little toast. I'm sure my friends and family will find me locked up in a room in the futile game of catch-up. Hopefully, they'll understand.


10/21/09 - On to our second memo, practice exams, and five more weeks of class. This week we received our Memo II materials, and I'm not looking forwarding to reading eight cases dealing with the Uniform Trade Secrets Act over the weekend! This is the part of the semester I suppose that leads up to the most stressful point.

Since its National Domestic Violence Awareness month, I attended a session on Domestic Violence sponsored by various student groups. We heard from a previous victim who is now a student here, an immigration attorney and alum from Safe Haven and the Tarrant County prosecutor's office. The immigration attorney explained how undocumented victims of domestic violence can petition for legal status under the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). Vice-President Joe Biden sponsored the bill, and Congress enacted it in 1994 under Clinton. A more recent provision, the U-Visa, provides temporary legal status to those victims whose abuser is also undocumented. The U-Visa lasts for years and after that, the victim may petition to become a legal permanent resident. Such adjustments of status allow victims to assist with prosecuting those criminally liable for abuse. It's encouraging to see how these professionals feel rewarded in their line of work and are dedicated to ensuring that victims of crimes have access to the available legal remedies.

Home life still has its ups and downs, but I'm in the process of teaching my son to cook a few good entrees. I'm not going to pretend that things have been easy as a single parent - law school is becoming more and more time consuming. At least I can find consolation that one day, I can sleep soundly knowing that I've made someone else's life better by giving them access to the full power of the law.


10/14/09 - Today was the first day I missed class, but it was more worrisome than restful. I thought I'd be able to avoid the cold epidemic plaguing our section, but with too many sick people going to class it was bound to happen. What's even worse is that you slowly start to realize that you've fallen terribly behind on housework...
 
We turned in our memo yesterday and I can't say that there is a limit to the number of times you need to revise. As I glanced at my second copy after turning in the final one, I realized that my spacing was a little off and that I made a disastrous error on a decedent's (dead guy's) name. I just really hope that the rest of it redeems me considering it counts for 25% of our grade. Next time, I'll allot at least four days for revision!

I will admit that I feel terribly behind and hope this might comfort at least half of my classmates (you're not alone). Luckily I had the chance to hear Professor Epstein's presentation on top exam performance in law school. He's our Contracts casebook author, and besides being witty and charming, he gave us jewels of advice. Since the exam constitutes our only grade in most classes he told us to spend more time on our topic (long) and skeletal (short) outlines than obsessing over the details of our case briefs. Our focus for case briefing should be: 1) why was this case assigned and 2) why now? Simple things to remember, but hard to conclude on our own amidst the stress of keeping up. I feel a little better at least for now.


10/7/09 - It's hard finding a true balance in law school and sometimes you just have to let yourself be very selfish. Our Contracts professor hosted a professional development session that helped put things in perspective. He recounted his days of law school filled with studying and not much else. This is of course impossible - even unhealthy - for single parents like me, but I really think there are ways around that.

Instead of going to all of the school’s wonderful panels and meetings, I've chosen to keep the entire lunch hour just for myself. There are several bar socials around here, but at this point in my life, a cup of Starbucks is more appealing. Studying at home is mostly inconsistent and depends on whether Tony, my son has another research project or math riddle to rattle his brain (and my patience). I didn't expect an eleven year old to have two projects due over the weekend or three hours of homework every night.

I am finding new ways to “create” time. The school's library offers downloadable audio case files so you can listen to and review cases while cooking dinner, commuting, doing laundry, or grocery shopping. That will save me about one hour - even more if I dare to try it in the shower or at the gym. Yes, I joined the Larry North Fitness Club so the audio case files will be on my playlist.

The second part of our legal memorandum is due next week, plus a practice Civil Procedure midterm. Our memo is now ten pages long and we have a new issue to analyze. This weekend I'll just have to run on five hours of sleep and finish everything before noon. The rest of the day must be dedicated to chocolate pancakes, GameStop, and playing basketball.


10/1/09 - If you want to get ahead in law school I suggest going back to grammar school. When you're writing about the facts, rules and holdings in a case, a more concise argument can be made if you write about things in the right tense. So rediscover the subjunctive mood and the past perfect tense. I wish I would have known. Obviously Legal Analysis, Research and Writing class has been a challenge mostly because legal writing is purely informative, exact and not meant to entertain at all. Not that I bombed the legal memorandum assignment, because I didn't, but going from good to great will take some work.

Most of our professors seem to be shifting gears as we near the halfway point of the semester and my nerves are starting to get unsettled. They have explicitly mentioned what type of organized analyses and arguments they'd like to see on our exams. Our Academic Advisor walked us through an exam outline and pre-write for our essay responses. With all this support I'm certain that our professors and advisors are setting us up for success. Still, the pressure is on.

Finding the right balance between home life and school work has been a challenge, not unlike having a full time job. None of that pressure went away but I do enjoy that Fort Worth middle schools don't start class until 9:10 AM! That means two extra hours of much needed sleep for both of us. I had purposefully found an apartment near both Texas Wesleyan and my son's school to save time on our commute. Luckily, he is able to ride the school bus after classes. At this point, when time can make or break you, convenience is a necessity. 

9/23/09 - I've never felt anything as anticlimactic as turning in my memo. It was on a Tuesday - had it been due on Friday we could have at least celebrated or even slept in the next day. But classes and work continued as usual, and for some reason it all seemed so much more manageable without the weight of a looming memo deadline...

I finally started having my first law school “nightmares” which so many people warned me about. I think my brain may be trying to find a way to make all this excess information flush out of my ears or something. There I was in the middle of a dream sequence, and instead of following the plot of two strange lovebirds, I attempted to apply the Graves factors to see if they were indeed “closely related,” (this was the issue in our legal memo). Later, I decided to visit a Spa and Sauna to get away from it all only to find myself counting the millions of possible tort liabilities as I crawled into a 108 degree hot tub and got a skin scrub that I'm sure would have left me bleeding had I not screamed in time. I really could not relax and wondered if the Spa were better off with an in-house legal counsel. 

Law school does make everything change tremendously. It not only changes the way you look at the world, it changes the course of your conversations and forces you to focus on the most important things that are in your best interest. One of the best pieces of advice I've heard so far is that you must get rid of unimportant relationships to survive as a law school student. For now, I look forward to forming new ones with student organizations, study groups and classmates. 'Til next week!

9/16/09 – Recently I had the chance to attend a meeting for the Innocence Project, a completely student-run endeavor that assists with the exoneration of innocent persons currently incarcerated in Dallas County and throughout Texas.  Many of the cases hinge on DNA evidence to prove the innocence of an inmate.  Unlike many other cities, Dallas kept all DNA evidence for several years after the cases were considered closed.  Because of this, the DNA of prisoners that claim innocence from crimes such as rape can be reevaluated using more precise modern DNA technology.  Some inmate case reviews are based on testimonial evidence and investigated by members of group who are private investigators.  I've heard of this project numerous times on television but never knew that actual Texas Wesleyan Law students were doing much of the behind the scenes investigative and legal work (since other people I suppose robbed the spotlight).

The group began about five years ago by students and is currently sponsored by an area lawyer and Assoc. Dean and Professor Aric Short.  1Ls are encouraged to become members and will have the opportunity to shadow teams working on legal memos for upcoming cases.  1L students are limited from further participation because of first-year demands, but once you're a 2L you can actually participate by handling the files and writing up the legal memos.  The school also hosts presentations by inmates exonerated through the Project.  Recently, Patrick Waller, the 18th person to be exonerated by Dallas County, met with students and staff during a luncheon hosted by the Innocence Project.  You can see his story on the school's website.  The vision of this group really puts your legal education into perspective.  Another reason why I'm so glad I chose Texas Wesleyan Law!


9/9/09 - It's officially MEMO time! Four weeks into law school and our first major assignment is soon due! A memo is an analysis of a client's facts using similar cases that helps determine the probability of having a successful outcome for the client. For this memo we have a fictional client, but are using two actual cases for our analysis. Memos have a given structure using a legal framework, and even if you're a published author, nothing will give you an edge. I've taken to reading our MOUS (Manual on Usage and Style) in my spare time. I remember turning in the first mini-memo swearing there was nothing more left to fix but as we all found out, our old grammar rules no longer apply...

Meanwhile, I've tried a few different things to tackle the volume of notetaking in class. Whether you handwrite notes or type them can depend on the content and professor. Our Civil Procedure professor posts his slide presentations on the schools TWEN site, so I like to pull that up during class and handwrite notes instead. I've also put most of the statutes we have studied on colored notecards so I can easily use them as reference instead of flipping through the book or my notes. Civ Pro also requires a lot of diagramming for hypos, so I put my sketches on notecards along with the relevant case names. But I definitely wouldn't do this for Professor Gillmer's Torts class – instead I list cases and the applicable rules or tests on cards and place them into categories like circumstantial evidence or res ipsa loquitor. I figure the next time he refers to something 20 cases ago I can actually remember. Since I'm more of a visual and kinesthetic learner, this notecard system seems to be working pretty well.

9/2/09 – Almost done with the second week of law school and nothing felt as good as the end of that first week!!! This Labor Day weekend my sisters and mom are coming over for brunch and a walk through the Botanical Gardens. Then on Sunday evening, I'm heading back to Dallas for an old-fashioned carne asada with friends. I will also be on vacation from being a mother (thank God for visitation rights) so I'll spend the rest of the time studying around the clock. An extra day of no classes means an extra day of study time.

The first few weeks haven't gone the way I had planned. Many things I couldn't anticipate, such as being unable to stay up late like I used to in my twenties and getting up without feeling like a total wreck. I tried to reduce dinner to prepared frozen meals and take out – disaster! Energy just can't come package-wrapped like that. And suddenly I have a growing 11-year old who eats twice the portions I do and still wants more. So I've taken the advice of a few classmates and decided to sleep at 9 PM and wake up at 5 AM. Even though that's the same total of 8 hours sleep, the energy level is significantly different. A wide awake and rested brain works twice as fast...it's worked so far for me.

8/26/09 – How hard could it be? I've heard several of us lamenting how we slept in, skipped class, hardly read, etc. and still managed to get that 3.9 GPA as undergrads. Some of us have even handled our own legal affairs pro se. After just one week, we've discovered that none of that past experience will brief our cases any faster for us. I did expect this to be extremely time consuming, but never imagined I'd have to have an entire caseload of torts, property, and jurisdiction cases in my head and have the ability to recall the salient issues, reasonings, and facts just like that. 

At the end of our first week, there was an audible sigh of relief as our last professor finished for the day. We relished the idea of sleeping in, having normal conversations, not fretting over picking highlighter colors for book briefing. I really tried to calculate how much work that one week would have equaled in undergrad – maybe about a month and a half, no matter where you went.  Law school really kicks you into discipline, procrastinator or not.

A little about me. Well, all of you know my age now - for some reason I was paranoid about it. It has something to do with being thirty-something and drastically changing the course of a decade invested into life and its little earthquakes. I have a small family that includes my cutie pie Tony, who is eleven going on sixteen, and is quickly morphing into a stranger creature than I am as a law student. I spent eight years as a teacher (great prep for law school, especially when it comes to organization and volume of work) and now I work part-time handling a crisis hotline for a women's domestic violence shelter. I recently relocated from Dallas and I am wondering why I didn't find Fort Worth any sooner!  I have no intent to go back! Never. Nunca.

I look forward to writing about the other side of law school - my life - including exploring the city, managing dinner (quick and easy meals), dealing with children, and learning how to budget. I am open to any responses, questions, observations, or suggestions.