Friday, May 27, 2011
Law School Is Done!
There! Done law school! Now on to bar exams. And work. And the new house. What am I doing wasting time on my blog again?
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Helicopter Mom
This article appeared under my byline in the Obiter Dicta, on January 31, 2011.
Like Luke, my partner in editorial crime, I also had strong feelings when I read Amy Chua’s story and book excerpt. “Horrified” might not be too harsh or exaggerated to describe what I felt as Ms. Chua tells us of threatening to leave her three year old daughter out in the cold and under-dressed if the little girl didn’t practise her piano lessons. This horror was only slightly reduced by the fact that Ms. Chua apparently was bluffing, and relented when her daughter stubbornly refused to submit to this threat. Unlike Luke, however, I read the article with the uneasy feeling that as harsh as Ms. Chua’s methods seem, when she talks about Western parents coddling and over-protecting their children, she may have a point.
Like Luke, my partner in editorial crime, I also had strong feelings when I read Amy Chua’s story and book excerpt. “Horrified” might not be too harsh or exaggerated to describe what I felt as Ms. Chua tells us of threatening to leave her three year old daughter out in the cold and under-dressed if the little girl didn’t practise her piano lessons. This horror was only slightly reduced by the fact that Ms. Chua apparently was bluffing, and relented when her daughter stubbornly refused to submit to this threat. Unlike Luke, however, I read the article with the uneasy feeling that as harsh as Ms. Chua’s methods seem, when she talks about Western parents coddling and over-protecting their children, she may have a point.
So You Wanted To Manage Your Work/Life Balance....
This article appeared under my byline at the Obiter Dicta, on January 10, 2011.
For most of us students here at Osgoode, work/life balance isn’t much of a concern. At this stage in our lives, we are mainly pre-occupied with getting ourselves through all the work of law school, getting established in our new careers, and using what free time we can find to blow off some steam. However law school is not forever, and articles shall also pass, and eventually each of us is going to come to grips with deciding just how much time we want to spend working, as opposed to having “normal” lives.
Some of us, however, have already given this matter some thought. Those of you who know me, for example, will already know that I have a wife and daughter, living some distance away from me. Work/life balance for me is an immediate problem, as raising a toddler is a full-time job in itself, and my wife is also working two jobs to help put me through school. Every spare minute I can spend at home with my family is one she doesn’t have to do the work of a single, working mom. Alternatively, too much time spent at home helping my wife reduces my grades, and defeats the point of coming to law school in the first place. As you can imagine, I have gained extensive experience in balancing my work life and home life in my two-and-a-half years here at Osgoode. My aim in this article is to share the fruits of that experience with you.
For most of us students here at Osgoode, work/life balance isn’t much of a concern. At this stage in our lives, we are mainly pre-occupied with getting ourselves through all the work of law school, getting established in our new careers, and using what free time we can find to blow off some steam. However law school is not forever, and articles shall also pass, and eventually each of us is going to come to grips with deciding just how much time we want to spend working, as opposed to having “normal” lives.
Some of us, however, have already given this matter some thought. Those of you who know me, for example, will already know that I have a wife and daughter, living some distance away from me. Work/life balance for me is an immediate problem, as raising a toddler is a full-time job in itself, and my wife is also working two jobs to help put me through school. Every spare minute I can spend at home with my family is one she doesn’t have to do the work of a single, working mom. Alternatively, too much time spent at home helping my wife reduces my grades, and defeats the point of coming to law school in the first place. As you can imagine, I have gained extensive experience in balancing my work life and home life in my two-and-a-half years here at Osgoode. My aim in this article is to share the fruits of that experience with you.
A Long Absence
Okay, so I haven't posted anything here in while. School has been crazy, family life has been crazy, and I've been following events in the Middle East pretty closely these last few weeks. So to make up for this, I"m going to publish the more recent articles I wrote for the Obiter, and hopefully begin a more regular (or at least more frequent) schedule of posting thoughts.
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