Culminating Blog Reflection

Shadowing an attorney wasn't my first option for this capstone project, so I wasn't too sure how to feel about shadowing a lawyer in the beginning. However, throughout the project, I learned so much about the career that really got me thinking. My paper really helped shape my views on becoming a lawyer. My main goal for this project was to determine what type of law I want to study in the future. And by doing my research paper, I actually found out what type of lawyer I want to become: a Juvenile Delinquent Lawyer of Defense. I'm not too sure if I want to be on the defense side, but that's what I'm leaning towards to so far. The reason for that is because as I was researching juveniles and the social factors that affect their inadequate behavior, I learned the understanding that minors have a story as to why they behave a certain way. And I believe that all teenagers should get the opportunity and chance to share their story and be heard.

Personally, I gained a new perspective on becoming a lawyer because I realized how much hard work it is to become a successful attorney and that's what fears me the most. Socially, I developed better focus and better social skills with other people as my mentor brought in his clients to talk to. At times my mentor would ask them about their personal life which made me feel overwhelmed to hear because I never thought such things could be true. Another aspect that I gained was new knowledge such as cross examination and direct examination. I also attained the knowledge of the judicial system and small facts such as: did you know that only the District Attorney is allowed to choose which side is being charged? I really didn't know that!

Some challenges that I encountered is actually public transportation because I'm afraid to ride public transportation alone. So since my mentor was all the way in Redwood City, I always had to take Caltrain there. I'm still really scared of it, but I think I've gotten better at it. Another challenge that I faced is the abundance of reading I had to go through. I enjoy reading, but I have the tendency to stop when my eyes feel tired and heavy, but because I would have to read many cases and some police reports, I couldn't necessarily stop and I found that very difficult. I still have yet to overcome that but I'm sure it wont be much of a problem in college.

This capstone project really helped me because it made everything feel so real to me. I can't believe that I really got the feel to be a lawyer. I'm excited to study these majors in college. I still have the fear of being successful or not, but I know that only hard work and dedication will get me to where my mentor is now. I'm really glad I got to know my mentor as well because he became a really big inspiration to me. And I want to be just as successful as he is.

Mentor logs #7

May 13, 2013, 5pm-9pm

Today I read over a two books that my mentor had given me. They're called the Practical Guide to Juvenile Law. One book was from 1997 and another is from 2009. He gave them to me so I can compare the two and observe how much has changed in 10+ years. It was pretty interesting to read because things are pretty different from 1997. One thing that I can name that's different is the age limit as to what age you can arrest someone. My mentor actually told me that he defended a seven year old kid once before because he was convicted of a crime. Its so overwhelming how young a child can be to commit a crime. That seven year old child was in prison for at least 7 years or so.

Reading is a pretty big obstacle for me to overcome. I don't really enjoy it and I get really sleepy. I have to find other ways to keep myself up, but then again, I also have to adapt to the fact that I have get used to reading a lot if I really do want to pursue the career of becoming a lawyer. Total Time: 26 hours

Mentor Logs #6

May 13, 2013, 9am-12pm

Today I met up with Attorney Jeffrey Hayden in Redwood City. We actually did some cool stuff today! He took me through the steps of the court system such as right when you get arrested and the different types of hearings that you have to go through if something happens in your favor or not in your favor. He told me the difference between a preliminary hearing and a preliminary trial and also the settle conference! The coolest part was as he was telling me the process of the court system, he suddenly began questioning me like a defense attorney. He told me the difference between direct examining and cross examining. Direct examining is when the attorneys ask you questions where you'd have to explain your answer, more in a broad way where you're telling the jury your story. Cross examining is when the attorneys ask you simple questions like yes/no questions as if the attorney is telling the jury the story instead of you. I found it really cool because it was really different and he caught me off guard when he began questioning me. Afterwards, he gave me some paper work to take home like an article on how to do a closing argument. I'm really excited to read that because I can hopefully start on it and make one for my physical project.

Total Time: 22 hours

Mentor Blogs #5

May 12, 2013, 10am-2pm.

Today I took the time and read another case that my mentor gave me. Its another Romero Motion, but this time it's about a person with a DUI. This one was a private case so I cant talk much about it because it is client privileged just like most cases, but it was a really long case. It took a while to get through the reading because I wanted to make sure that I got a thorough understanding of the case and background of the person. It took me about two hours to finish the reading and then took me another two hours to analyze the case as to why the person did it or why it happened. As I analyzed it, I summed up my thoughts as being a defense attorney that the person who did the crime doesn't necessarily have to do the time.. in jail. In fact, there are other alternatives for them such as a rehabilitation center or community service.

I've come to the understanding that by becoming an attorney comes with the joy of reading because you do a lot of reading. This is something I would really need to work on because although I do enjoy reading, it's not something I consider my hobby.

Total Time: 19 hours

Mentor Logs #4

April 30th, 2013 - Total time: 3 hours

Today I spent time working on one of the cases that my mentor gave me to read. It's a Romero Motion. He replaced the names and everything so I'm allowed to share it here this time. This lady basically had a really messed up life. She was married twice, widowed both times and in those two marriages, both her husbands beat her. In her life, she did drugs and became a prostitute. She was introduced to heroine during her teenage years and finished her GED in prison. I thoroughly read through this case and analyzed it. I realized that life can be really messed up for some people. And that I really should appreciate the things I have because others aren't as lucky as I am, even if life gets hard for me.

Mentor Logs

Monday, April 22, 2013. 9am-1pm

Today my mentor and I discussed more about analyzing a case and the actual process of investigating and getting evidence for the case. He and I put together a prosecution and defense theory for the investigation write-up. It was really cool because we had to look at the case in different angles. One of his clients came in for an appointment and I was able to stay in the office and listen to his case. Attorney Hayden also had him share his story. I realized that he asked the client to share a little bit about himself not just to get to him better, but to do some analyzing of his own about his client. As I heard his case and his story, I found it amusing that this could really happen in real life. It gave me more inspiration to become a Juvenile Delinquent lawyer because I believe every kid has a story behind their reason of why they do something inadequately.

Theme of 1984

The theme in 1984 that I see is Hot&Cold. I see it as that because the level of authority is very fragile. If authority reaches too high, it becomes chaotic. If authority reaches too low, it becomes dull. Power needs to be balanced. I chose the theme hot and cold specifically because of the game. If you're too hot, you're going over the maximum. If you're too cold, you're no where near the boundaries of the item.

Mentor Logs

April 18, 2013, 9am-1pm

Today I met up with my mentor, Criminal Defense Attorney Jeffrey Hayden. I made out a list of goals that I would like to attain from him. The goals I listed were: to understand the process of analyzing the case and learning the certain vocabulary they discuss in the courtroom. He gave me a 50 page police report to read and analyze. Obviously I cant speak about the case itself because it's client privileged, but it was really interesting to see that it was a real case. I never knew that things like that could actually happen. He also gave me a piece of paper that was for the investigator to see. The lawyer is supposed to fill it out and after he is done making analysis over the case, he hands it to the investigator to do his job. Hayden also spoke to me about thinking differently and thinking about what the other side (prosecution) would be presenting to the judge. I found that super cool because I actually really never thought of that. Afterwards, a client of his came in and I got to meet him and listen to their discussion about his case. It was really cool, but then again, I cannot speak about it because it's client privileged. We also got to speak about college and whatnot and the steps in order to become a lawyer. After that, we went out to lunch! It was was a great meet.

Mentor Logs

Yesterday on Wednesday, March 13th, 2013, I spent a day researching different types of cases such as ones that involve Juvenile Delinquency, Immigration and Civil Rights. These three types of law interest me the most.

The reason why I want to be into Juvenile Delinquency is because I believe that all children have a different story that deserves to be heard. I'd like to defend their title especially if a teenager has committed a crime who's experienced child abuse or neglect or an imbalanced family structure. Based on my research for my research paper, children become more prone to committing bad crimes because of those various reasons.

I am interested in Immigration because I think people who have a clean criminal record and have lived in America for a long time, deserve to be a permanent resident and a citizen. It isn't  fair that innocent people have to be deported all because they want to start a new life over here. I think children should definitely be able to stay in the country because in most cases, they were so little and young when they came to America and they didn't know what was going on. And if they spent their life here and studied and suddenly have to go back home all because they don't have papers? I think that's plain wrong. I want to fight for those people.

Lastly, I chose Civil Rights because ever since I went to Sojourn, I realized how important civil rights are to everyone. Before, they were just two words to me, but as I learned more about the Civil Rights Movement and peoples' rights, I got more into it. Everyone has rights and I want to defend those whose were violated in the past, present, and future. I learned in Sojourn that crimes from the 1940's committed by the Ku Klux Klan weren't brought to justice until the early 2000's. It's really upsetting and it gave me a lot of motivation to fight back. Total time: 4 hours

Narrator's Fiction

When I first started watching the Narrator's Fiction, I thought it was a bit weird. I was really lost in the beginning when I realized that he heard the lady talking in his head. The differences between an author and a narrator are that an author takes the time to write and create the story. They actually create the plot and set the scenes for readers. Whereas for narrators, they just tell the story. An example from the movie is when the writer took her time writing her book and even had some difficulties to finish it. She was creating the story and making sure that the readers have an understanding of the plot by the time they finish the book. Another example from the movie is when the narrator would narrate Harold's life, the voice didn't have much feeling in it. It was actually more monotone rather than anything. This proves that narrators just tell the story instead of actually understanding it.

The way I wrote my paper is that I made sure that it ended to be an actual research paper because I really suck at writing research papers. I made sure that my paragraphs were organized and remembered all the materials I learned from Mr. Migdail's honors class last year. In my paper, it definitely speaks out mostly to teenagers because the topic is Juveniles Being Tried as Adults. It conveys statistical evidence about teenagers' past records in 2012, popular arrests, and psychological and social issues that affect a child's inadequate behavior. This impacts mostly teenagers and parents because the children are the ones who behave this way and the parents are responsible for them.

P.S. i'm sorry this is late Mrs. D, it slipped my mind because of musical rehearsals and it was the night before I left for sojourn.