Friday, July 14, 2017

C'est La Vie

Today was it, the last day of Summer College for those of us that were here for three-week courses. Because we weren’t having an official graduation ceremony on Saturday, my friends and I dressed up. I wore my fancy Eid clothes and walked over to beloved Myron Taylor Hall, the law school, for the very last time. I took note of the natural beauty surrounding me as I walked and how much I would miss it back in California.  
Am I a lawyer yet?
 In class, we presented our fact-finding missions and discussed what we had learned through the activity. Afterward, Professor Brundige asked us to reflect and share our thoughts about the course overall. I wasn’t the only one there that confessed to having known very little about international law prior to taking the class, and transforming as a result of it.

It was motivating to hear the impact that this class has had on my classmates. Some (including me) found out that they wanted to pursue careers in related fields. Others were discouraged by the fact that law and justice are not interchangeable. But we were all in agreement that the amount of learning that we accomplished has been astounding, a direct result of mentoring and guidance provided by our knowledgeable professor, and TAs/advisors (Diogo, Naffa, and Carlos).


We had somewhat of an informal graduation.  Professor Brundige walked around the room announcing our names, and handing everyone their certificates. Professor had brought us baked goods and juice to snack on, and I was presented with the opportunity to individually thank all my mentors and peers. It felt great.

Professor Brundige also allowed us time to talk about our website non-profit idea; our classmates seemed to really like it and approached the four of us (Pooja, Sultana, Robson, and I) about contributing. It was incredibly exciting to witness that others were just as thrilled and invested as we were in the project. 

A small group of us students hung out in the courtroom after class. We took pictures, laughed, and made plans for the future. Because we had an opinion editorial due at 5 PM that day, I decided to stay in the building and waiting for the rain to quiet down while I worked. After what seemed like an eternity, I went outside of Donlan to see Pooja off.

Pooja was by far one of the sweetest, most down-to-earth people that I had the opportunity to meet and get to know these past few weeks. She taught me so much, and we laughed together all the time; undoubtedly, I will miss her presence. 

On the way to Donlan, I found Sultana and her family. They were welcoming, and very hospitable. In fact, I was even officially invited to New York to stay with them. 

Sultana’s 10-year-old sister talked to me about her favorite books. Her mother described to me their local mosque and community, and her father and I discussed several historical events as well as the power of maintaining a positive outlook in life. In a few hours of getting to know her family, I realized where Sultana gets her phenomenal personality. 
I'm going to miss these people so much
Robson and I toured parts of the campus with Sultana’s family after Pudge left. It was bittersweet; we were already missing her and touring without her seemed in many ways wrong. 

I found out eventually that I had missed J’nai’s departure as well. It was very disappointing because we had gotten super close and I wanted to at least get one last hug in.

Later on, Robson, Sultana, and I ordered Dominos pizza and watched one of my favorite Hindi movies, ‘Three Idiots’, in Balch. The food was delicious, and Sultana even brought over savory pakoras that her mother had made.

In the end, we parted ways and spent the rest of my day blogging and packing. 

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