"You say it best when you say nothing at all"

Recently, people keep asking me why I'm doing my fellowship or how I can be this crazy.  My response, however, is pretty standard at this point--this fellowship is a great opportunity to help others while helping myself, by being exposed to people different from myself and by gaining valuable experience practicing law.  My interactions with clients this week have really reaffirmed how awesome it is.  Of course, balancing bar studies is a little challenging, but I feel like the fellowship is also keeping me on my game because I don't have time to just hang out.  While this is a sacrifice, it's a worthy one.  In a selfish way, I feel like I'm getting the better end of the bargain because I gain more from serving my clients than I would from shopping, chilling by the pool, etc.  The clients are so incredibly grateful, even when the news isn't good. It's just an unreal kind of relationship they have with their lawyers and with Land of Lincoln as an organization.  As a result, I feel proud to have been invited to be a part of this.

Not to toot my own horn, but there is something else I've been involved with for which I feel quite proud. One of my mentors (yes, you MN) has been very active in lending money to entrepreneurs and business people in third world countries.  A few months ago, due to her fondness for Kiva, I jumped on the bandwagon.  Tonight, I decided to make my third loan.  I've focused my lending on female-owned businesses in Latin America, and I hope it has made even a marginal difference in their lives and the lives of their families/communities.  For those of you who haven't, you should really check out Kiva.org or contact me for an invite.  You can lend $25 as part of a free trial, which does not require any funding from you.  This means that the loan is free for you.  Why should you not do it?  I'm not sure honestly, unless you really think your time is that important that you can't spare two minutes to do something for someone else.  In other words, do it, and, when you do, please email, call, or otherwise contact me. :)

Well, there's another happy post.  I hope that this trend continues, and I think it just might.

Besito,
A