It hasn’t been easy making long-term plans this past year.
Initially, this semester should have been my last. My 2019 self planned on studying in LA for a year (where I would work on that sweet, sweet tan that is so hard to come by in the Netherlands), before graduating and entering the next phase of my life. However, since I chose the Flex LLM (an option due to COVID19), I will finish the LLM in two years rather than one. Therefore, graduation—along with a lot of my plans, the most pressing of which was to finally get a cat and a driver’s license—has been pushed to a later date.
This, in turns, means that I will have a summer vacation before the start of the new academic year. I am committed to spending at least two weeks screen-free to give my eyes a break from all the hours spent staring at a computer screen (I’ve probably had more headaches this year than I have in my entire life. I’m exaggerating, but only slightly (although I do tend to procrastinate whenever I have access to the Internet, so some of it is on me)).
I’ll be spending the break in the Netherlands, but I’m not too sure what I’ll be doing yet. I will most likely try to find a summer internship or a part-time job since there’s (according to my calculations) 3+ months to fill before classes begin again. But in all honesty, right now I’m more focused on final exams and trying to keep the stress eating under control than I am on any future plans.
I might moan a bit (or a lot) about being stressed right now, but I’ve had a great year at Loyola. It’s been so fun getting to know my fellow LLMs, many of whom are already lawyers in their home countries, and having basically the same conversation every time consisting of how we can’t wait to go to LA and meet each other in person. I’ve loved the in-class discussions and learning just how engaging and helpful Loyola’s professors are. Needless to say, I look forward to returning in Fall 2021!