Some dates quietly blend into the fabric of time, while some pack a poignant punch. For me September 9 is one of the latter as it's the birthday of an ex-boyfriend (sadly, an ex-friend altogether.) Why oh why did he have to have such a numerically memorable (9/9) birthday? Could it have not been something more bland and innocuous, say, December 5 or March 23 or, even better, February 31?
I'm being facetious of course; I'm not really that bitter (really!) and it's silly to get too emotionally worked up over a numeric splotch on the calendar. But I mention it as an overture to describing the iteration of September 9 that I experienced yesterday.
There was a social put on by the law school for the students in my section and the professors teaching and advising us. It provided a nice forum for interacting with the faculty because it was much more relaxed than during office hours or during class. My professors aren't the menacing kind that eat students for lunch, but still... A few professors were there who have interests in IP and I used the opportunity to articulate some of my thoughts about the state of intellectual property laws and what I want to do about them.
It's with almost a desperate sense that I want to convert the law school experience into opportunities to make a difference in this area. To the extent I will be better educated on the underlying issues, to the extent that I'll be able to distinguish myself in the field, to the extent that I will be able to make contacts with other people whose energy can be harnessed to fight the battles that need fighting, and to the extent that within the law school experience I will have an opportunity to start making a difference -- for all these reasons I want to milk the experience for all it's worth. Up until now, when I talked about the (disgraceful) state of IP, I spoke with a certain wistfullness, wishing I could be one of the people who could do something about it. I went to law school though so I COULD do something about it, and yesterday was the first time I finally had the sense that I was on my way.
(As a fringe benefit, I now plan to reclaim all future September 9ths as the anniversary of my new beginning. Numerical splotch or not, I'd rather have the day be about me for a change.)
Edit 9/11: Edited for content by removing several sections that were not well-articulated.