Tuesday, 17Nov09, I attended another Phi Alpha Delta chapter meeting at the University of Kansas in the English Room at the Kansas Union. I am not blogging every meeting I go to because that would be boring and repetitive, but I thought this one was interesting enough to mention. We broke into three groups and received three different mock law school applications. The exercise was for us to review the candidates as if we were an admissions panel, picking the applications apart and deciding who we thought was best. On top of that, each team was assigned a different applicant to make a case for to the others teams. We were to factor in that the law school was looking to improve GPA averages, LSAT score averages and to diversify the ethnic composition of the student body.
So, put fifteen wannabe-lawyers into a room and require them to make convincing arguments. Let’s just say it was a passionate and vigorous discussion. Afterward there was a blind vote where everyone chose which candidate they really thought should be admitted, rather then the one they were assigned to advocate for. It was interesting to me that as heated as the argument got at certain points, the result of that vote was overwhelming. And the exercise itself was very illuminating. I think the point of the whole thing was to make us think about our own applications, and to be exposed to how each aspect of it was going to be scrutinized and picked apart. It’s an intimidating idea to think about, really. Some of us are going to have a harder time than others being admitted, that’s just a reality to deal with. And unfortunately so is the reality that not everyone gets admitted. I don’t know about you, but I love challenges, and this may be my biggest challenge yet. We’ll see.
After the PAD meeting I had to rush over the hill to the Burge Union, where the KU College Republicans were hosting a Q&A session with Dr. Art Hall, the Executive Director for the Center of Applied Economics at the University of Kansas. I got there about fifteen minutes late and the conversation was in full swing when I eased into the room. Dr. Hall was discussing the current state of the economy, and there was a lot of talk about the relationship between China and the U.S. Now, I screwed up my chance to look like I knew anything when addressing Newt Gingrich, but I don’t think I made that flub this evening. China-U.S. relations is something that I’ve been slightly more than casually following, and anyone who has been on the business end of my occasional political tirades on Myspace knows how important and dangerous I think China is going to be in the 21st Century. I have a few theories about what’s really going on in the world, and having an honest to god expert on the subject to ask questions of was exciting. I got to ask about a half dozen of them, and the replies were interesting. Jim Mullins, a Field Director for Americans for Prosperity, a conservative political advocacy group, was there as well. I don’t think he was on the card, rather he was fulfilling what I believe to be the AFP’s mission by asking questions and making comments, which were also interesting.
This “being involved” business is pretty cool.
Reviresco!
Romantic Antihero™ 