Pro Bono, Charley Horses and Cool People

Our school has a mandatory requirement of fifty hours of pro bono service for graduation. Pro Bono is basically volunteer-work on legal issues facing mostly indigent and under-represented communities. Today I went to a panel highlighting some of the pro bono projects our school has set up. A few of my favorites include the Homeless Advocacy Project (helping homeless people with their legal issues particularly housing and welfare), Project Peace (teaching elementary school students mediation and dispute resolution) and Child Advocacy Services, where we're basically assigned to a foster child or other child whose parents are fighting for custody for him or her and we act as a pseudo-parent/legal guardian. What I like about all these projects is that they are very client-oriented. I feel like once I start doing some pro bono work, I'll hate law school less.

First my pinky toes and now charley horses. Well, I finally figured out what that term meant after having experienced a severe one yesterday. I was doing Pilates when while stretching, my calf tightened up to the point where I could feel a ball-like knot in the back of it that caused me to fall on the floor and grab my leg in excruciating pain. I've had these before, in fact I had one a few weeks ago out of nowhere in the middle of the night while sleeping. I explained this to a friend of mine and she immediately diagnosed it as a "Charley Horse"; apparently either I'm potassium deficient or dehydrated. Anyway, it is still sore. Gah the things I get myself into!

Cool People. I love being surrounded by artists, especially dancers and singers. My roommates have created an atmosphere where I can be daily reminded of the best feelings, thoughts and emotions life has to offer. I'm definitely making it a goal this year to attend a concert of some sort. Although my roommate Emily plays the occasional Mozart or Chopin when she's practicing her vocals, there are no Philly stations like in NYC that exclusively play classical music. I think the lack of it is directly correlated with my sleep deprivation; I normally can't fall asleep unless I'm listening to the classical station. Technically, I could probably just find a station on my computer, but that would mean leaving it on all night which I'm trying to avoid. Oye, I'll just have to stick to the headphones.