McGeorge National Tour

Long Beach to Newport Beach, CA

2009-09-23T10:43:00.000-07:00

Its been a little while since I have posted and have had lots of people asking what I have been up to. First, I have been pretty busy with events, paper work and making sure all my visits are squared away. Oh ...and I had my birthday last weekend, so I haven't had a lot of time to post.

Any way, I flew into Long Beach Sunday night and attended two Graduate and Professional Fairs in the area. I always seem to be the first person at the events, so this past time I took a quick picture while sitting at my table.

As you can see I sat looking at a lot of empty tables for a while. This event was at CSU Dominguez Hills. It was VERY hot, but it was a great event. I met a lot of students!

That evening I headed to the beach, but first to the port of Long Beach and checked out the Queen Mary.

Then I headed to the beach, went for a walk, sat and watched cute families and watched the sunset! Sooo beautiful! And I took pictures of my birthday present...one of two new pairs of Chuck Taylors.

I am now in Newport Beach. I did a personal visit to Vanguard Univerity last night and met with their debate team! They are a great group of students. Perhaps they were just happy to see me because I brought pizza! I love the personal visits! I feel like they are more meaningful since the students have my full attention and can ask anything they want! It was a lot of fun. Now I am off to two more visits today at Concordia University and Azusa Pacific! Then hopefully sometime at the beach again before another fair tomorrow and Las Vegas this weekend with Jeff's family for his cousin's wedding!

The Rollercoaster Ride of a Lifetime....and I was the driver!!

2009-09-19T13:31:00.000-07:00

Well, Thursday was my first full day out on the road!! It finally came and I LOVED it!! I woke up bright and early to get to the Graduate and Professional Fair at the University of Nevada, Reno! Of course, as many would suspect, I was the first person there two hours before the event started! :-) It helped though because I was able to ask the staff if I could move to a better location and end up just by the door where the students came into the building! This meant I had a lot of students automatically coming by my table as they walked in! It was a lot of fun to be back on a college campus and talking to students about their dreams and future. In addition, during the morning I was able to meet some other colleagues who are recruiting for their schools! it should be fun to see who I run into along my travel route!

After the fair ended at 2pm I had five hours to kill before I was to meet with the pre-law fraternity at their weekly meeting on campus. So I went to the gym! But I had not packed a gym bag...so I wheeled my suitcase into the gym! and I hadn't packed a towel since ....so I used clothes to dry off! Hilarious and I am sure people thought I was strange!!

The meeting with the students of the pre-law fraternity was a great success! My colleague from Gonzaga School of Law and I just told our "story" of how we got to law school and some of our experiences and then opened it up for questions. This allowed the students to ask all the things they have been wondering about! The question and answer time lasted over and hour. Many of the students were very interested in Pacific McGeorge since this is the closest law school to Reno! Hearing the students quetions brought me back to the time I was considering law school. I remember sitting at my parents back table crying because I was so overwhelmed by the decision. It is a life changing decision that will demand a lot from a person and put you into a lot of debt...thus, I of course, suggested that the students follow their dreams but don't be afraid to take "time off" after college to make a well thought out decision about whether or not they will go to law school!

Okay, okay, okay! you all want to know about this rollercoaster! Well, it was my drive home on I-80 from Reno to Sacramento. You see, I drove through South Lake Tahoe on my way up to Reno via Highway 50, so I had never experienced I-80...and let me say, Westbound I-80 at 10pm is an experience!! At one point there were cement pylons on both sides of the one lane freeway with only centimeters to spare! I had the whitest knuckles you have ever seen...it was pitch black and huge bright lights were coming at me from the cars driving in the opposite direction! Yikes! However, I at least was smart enough to get behind a semi-truck as the freeway was going into one lane...this allowed me to drive VERY slow without those behind me getting mad (cause I was behind a big truck I couldn't go any faster than he was going!!lol) The drive ultimately was one big adventure with lanes merging and changing, construction everywhere and even a freeway closure taking me on back roads somewhere in the middle of the night! I obviouly arrived safely though and have lived to tell of the rollercoaster ride home!

Next, I fly to Southern California for two weeks! Much to take care of before then!

Location: Sparks/Reno Nevada

2009-09-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned earlier today, my first stop is Reno, NV! I have been waiting for this day since August and am so happy to say that I have arrived at my first destination! However, I think the drive today was the best part of the day. I left Sacramento around 1pm and headed to South Lake Tahoe! It was an absolutely beautiful day! Imagine this: only afew clouds in the sky, driving rental car (much nicer than my own!), satellite radio blarring, windows rolled down...and around many corners awaits an AMAZING view of mountains, forest, and of course Blue Lake Tahoe! Here are a few pictures I took from my phone (because my camera battery was dead!).

Upon arriving in Lake Tahoe, I grabbed lunch and headed to the beach! Yep...pit stop on the shores of Lake Tahoe to take in the view and enjoy a yummy lunch! I loved it!

Then it was off to Sparks, NV! The drive from South Lake Tahoe through Carson City to Reno/Sparks, NV is more beautiful than I imagined! There is a lot of beauiful country!

I am staying at the Western Village Casino & Inn. I chose it because it is located right next to a Marina (i.e. great place to go for a run!). Well .....to my surprise, this place was cheap for a reason!! While I have a refrigeraor in my room and two beds...I have no hair dryer and no iron!! and there is no gym in this hotel! All well..only two nights! Tomorrow I meet with a member of the Pacific McGeorge Alumni Board and then Thursday I will be attending a Graduate and Professional fair before meeting with the Pre-law fraternity of the University of Nevada, Reno! I will then be heading home and arriving there hopefully before midnight on Thursday!

Any way, it looks like the journey has truly begun ...I miss Jeff tons! I miss home and being near to friends and family, but I am excited to see what is in store... I am so blessed to have this job! It is the fulfillment of a life long dream and comes at the perfect time of my life! What better way to take time away after the madness of law school and the bar exam...all while still getting paid!:-)

And so it begins....

2009-09-15T08:26:00.000-07:00

Today is my first day of travel. I will be going to Reno to meet with an Alumni tomorrow and attend a Graduate and Professional Fair at the University of Nevada, Reno on Thursday! I am excited to finally be traveling and hope everyone enjoys the posts along the way! There will likely be more to come later today after I arrive in Reno...until then mark the website and be sure to check back during the coming months! Picture and excitment are sure to follow! :-)