Time Flies

How can it possibly already have been a month? I meant post a blog two weeks ago, after completing my first month on the job, and here we are practically staring August in the face. I know that this is actually a good thing because one of my biggest fears about life post-Princeton was having too much free time. As outrageous as this sounds, my schedule has always been structured due to various commitments between classes, varsity sports, and other extracurricular activities. So much so that I actually get anxious when there's nothing to do.

As my mom warned me after helping me get settled into my sublet before heading back to Ohio, "If you can't be entertained and happy in New York, then you will never be happy and entertained elsewhere." Life is what you make out of it, and in a city like New York there is as much, or as little, to do as you decide. What was most surprising about working 9-5 was how exhausted I felt after coming home from work. The first couple of weekends were actually spent sleeping since I had little energy to do anything else. Nevertheless, I made sure to join my bureau's softball team, which is actually tons of fun, and have tried various meetup group activities (all of which have been equally enjoyable). My body finally adjusted by the third week of work, and was off exploring flea markets and various local coffee shops.

One of the advantages about working for the City at the District Attorney's Office is that we receive discounts on transportation, and as it turns out on fitness (we get a special discount at the New York Sports Club.) Consequently a lot of my free time during the week has been spent doing yoga, pilates, and spinning classes. The apartment hunt, however, has also cut into much of my free time. For current PP55 graduates I highly recommend joining one of the regional listservs via TigerNet since there are constantly ads for individuals looking to sublet their apartments, or even adds from people looking for roommates to renew current apartment leases.

Work has equally been a busy, challenging, and enthralling experience. My ability to multitask has been enhanced tremendously. Normally in college you have set times for everything, such as class from 10-10:50am, grab brunch, practice, and then study History, French, and Politics. In the work world, you can be interrupted while in the midst of one project, and be expected to drop everything to pick up another more pressing project. One of my favorite aspects about working in Appeals is the variety of cases to which I'm exposed. Already, I have proofed briefs ranging in subjects from drug busts to assault, and am currently in the process of writing my own brief in response to a defendant's appeal that his sentence was excessive. There is only so much that books and classes can teach you, so far it has been incredibly rewarding to gain an appreciation for how organizations, in my case a form of bureaucracy, works to ensure structure and stability in the real world. Also, for anyone who has been following the DSK case on the French or national news, or who watches suits on USA, then you've probably seen the entrance to my office and/or scenes from areas that I pass on a daily basis when walking to work!