another picture...

Here is another picture of me and my friends the day of the softball game. (Left to right: Matt, me, Jeremy, Matt). If looks had talent, we would have been unstoppable!!! ;p

Wohlschlegel, please stand up

Greetings. Fighting off a bit of a cold I caught over the weekend. (Might have something to do with a midnight swim in the ocean??) I felt really tired throughout the whole day of classes, especially my 8:15 a.m. Christian Foundations class. I have never fallen asleep in a class yet, including undergrad, and I would like to keep it that way. They tell me sleep is good for that...might have to try that out sometime. ;)

I still have yet to face that certain fear that grips every 1L daily in classes - to hear the professor say your last name (or butcher it in my case) and ask you stand up and answer a question infront of all your peers. I have been prepared for the most part for all my classes thus far, hence the late nights (though in the morning until I look over my readings and find the highlighted spots, I couldn't tell you what it was I read). There are some classes that I feel pretty confident that I could give the teacher what he is looking for, as in Christian Foundations. It all comes out of the readings. There is one class however that causes me to cringe everytime the professor goes to call a name. This is Civil Procedure with Prof. Madison. I believe we are all scared in that class. The subject matter is very foreign to me...basically it is all about what cases can be heard in federal courts, and what cases must be heard in state courts. Now the professor is a great guy, and does make it interesting, but the concepts are somewhat hard to grasp, which the professor openly admits. The professor could also be described as a pretty intimidating guy. There are times I feel lost in that class. One of my fellow students will be called upon and he will give take his best shot at an answer, and I will be saying to myself "Am I supposed to know that??" LOL, oh the joys of being a 1L. All and all, it is a good class, but definitely one that keeps me on my toes, as I wrestle through the concepts. My good buddy, a 2L at George Mason, warned me about Civ Pro. Turns out that he was not far from the truth.

At this point, I will not be shocked if next time I write I will be relaying how the rest of the week my name came up for every class. (Knock on wood.) That is just the way it works, right? Oh well, might as well get it over with. I keep hoping with a last name like "Wohlschlegel" they will give up and skip to the next name, but it seems that most all the professors are comfortable in pronouncing it now from taking rolls. So, I may be out of luck there. At least this week will be short for me.

This Thursday I will be at PHC for a "Regent Recruiting Trip". Friday & Saturday is the big 5 Year Anniversary of Patrick Henry College, combined with our annual Alumni Meeting. This means missing 2 days of classes, (one of each class). But as Vice President of the Alumni Board, I have duties to perform, and plus it will be nice to see old friends again. I am looking forward to it. Good times.

Well, I best go give that 'sleep' thing a try, though right now I am not feeling too tired. What am I going to do with myself. I'll have to get back to you on that one. Night.

It's Four A.M., I must be lonely...

Not really. My roommate Jeremy and I just came back from a nice walk around our neighborhood. I think we both had a little too much coffee, this coupled with the fact that we were coming down from a "paper-writing" high. Our very first graded assignment is due on Friday for our Legal Research and Writing Class. Why am I working on it now, you might ask?? Well...last week, when I handed in our practice assignment (essentially the same thing), mine was hot off the printer because I had just finished it 12 minutes before class!! I was within 2 minutes of handing it in late. So, inorder not to repeat that episode (at least this week), I decided to get a draft done tonight, and have a chance to look over it tomorrow night before handing it in on Friday for a grade. I have to say, I feel really good about the paper, but...it is 4 a.m. and I could just be delirious. I really enjoy writing up these memorandums. Basically we take the rule and facts from one case already decided and apply them to a given similar scenario to determine how the court would rule. The reason I like these assignments is because this is where the rubber meets the road. This is in a real sense me applying what I am learning. I remember too enjoying this in Con Law back at PHC. Good times, then and now.

Oh, and about that election, I did not win. I am not sure how close it was, nor have I decided whether I want to know at this point. I think the guy who won will do a great job. While a little disappointed, I am not so much for it is one less thing to apply to my already busy schedule. I had left it in God's hands. My roommate Jeremy did not make VP either. There is always next year.

WATCH OUT!! THE "W" & "SILENT G" WILL BE BACK!!! :)

Thanks for all your support and prayers out there. Much appreciated. Till, next time...

Grace & Peace!

Final Results...

...Still to come!!

This past Thursday and Friday were the votes for 1L class officers. I received an email late Friday night with the results...I am in a run-off with one of my fellow classmates for President. I have to admit that I did not do as much campaigning as I wanted to. I meant to get a flyer up with my picture on it for some face recognition, but ran out of ink for my printer when I made up bookmark to hand out. Since I am in a run-off I definitely going to get up some flyers around school. The vote will take place on Tuesday. It is crazy how fast they make this, but again, not a bad thing, for the campaigning time is not dragged out.

I learned today at my dance lessons (more later) from the candidate that didn't make it that I was the underdog in this upcoming vote. I don't know how true that is, but I do believe that this will be an uphill battle. My roommate Jeremy puzzle is also in a run-off for Vice President. Time will tell. Its in the Lord's hands.

Back to my mention of dance class...yes, I am taking dance lessons. Regent is offering a special, seven lessons for only $10. No, this is not ballet dancing (sorry Jon). It is more of ballroom dancing class. Today we learned the "cha-cha", and the "rumbling" steps. It is actually a lot of fun. I guess they offer this, for at the end of the semester there is some big December ball. I figured that dancing might be a good skill to have on hand - you know, to have on hand next to my numb chuck skills, and bow hunting skills. ;p Hey, if Jeremy Purves thinks that it is okay for a guy to dance, then it must be fine. Thanks Jeremy! ;)

Well, I better get back to being a law student. Sometimes I think I am having way too much fun to be a law student. So far I am keeping on top of everything...grasping it all...well that is another story. :)

Grace & Peace, out!

Its Official...

Just got the email late last night. I am in the running for 1L Class Presdient of Regent's Student Bar Association (SBA), the student govenment body of Regent. My roommate Jeremy had decided he was going to run for Vice President, and said I should think about running as President. The position and is very similar to that of Patrick Henry College's Student Body President, i.e., serving as a liaison for the 1Ls to the upperclasses and the Regent Administration and Professors.

I have to say I am pretty excited about the possiblity. I really enjoyed my experience serving in that role while at PHC. I enjoy the challenge of brainstorming and finding solutions that satisfy both parties. If this a place from where my fellow classmates think I can best serve them from, than that is where I want to be. More importantly, if that is where God wants me, that is where I want to be. There are quite a few qualified fellow classmates running. If I don't win, that is fine too. God's will be done.

Missing my campaign manager from my undergrad days, who is now in Georgia. Need to revive the "Matt" party. LOL! My new group of friends are supportive so far. We'll see what happens. I will be sure to provide updates. I should come up with some flyer over the weekend to hand out. We have 1 week to campaign, and a speech next week (public speaking - yikes!). Here we go again! :)

Oh, and good news - my family is down visiting for the weekend. They are crashing here at my pad. It is good to have mother cooking again. ;) They came down to help me celebrate my 25th Birthday, today. A quater of a century old!!! Crazy, huh? Oh, and more great news! My roommate Jeremy saved 50% on his car insurance by switching to Geico!! No, really, I am serious.

Allow Me To Introduce...

Allow me to introduce the Dukes of Glyndon!! "Why Glyndon," you might ask? Well let me tell you. That is the name of the street we live on. :)

These are my fellow roommates down here in Virginia Beach, all fellow 1Ls at Regent Law. Starting on the far right....

Jeremy Puglia (in dark gray t-shirt). Comes from Philly, die-hard Eagles fan. He is Italian as they come, and cooks his own spaghetti sauce. God brought us together in an unusual way - thru someone my sister met while cutting her hair. We basically decided to be roommates before we even met. It is he who found this house, and pulled this group togeher. We have the same exact class schedule, and are rarely seen apart.

Jamison Raspberry (dark blue t-shirt). "J-Mason", as we call him, hails from South Carolina. Plays guitar, and is quite the ladies man. He is a regular at the local Thrift Shop, and actually helped me find my current bed that someone was giving away for FREE! He is a resourceful guy, and the third addition to our abode.

James "Matt" Mundy (cowboy hat, orange t-shirt). Gotta love those good ol'e Tennessee roommates. Matt comes from Chattanooga, TN and is the elder of the group. He was the last to join our group, but a not a bad last edition. :) Makes great sweet tea.

The Lord blessed us with a great 4-bedroom townhouse - over 2,000 square feet!! We love to have people over, and in fact have started a weekly Wednesday night prayer time, providing many of our fellow 1L classmates a chance to come pray and fellowship for a while. We always have a lot of fun.

Well, that is all the introductions I have for now.

Grace & Peace ~ Mark

Still alive

Hey all, yes, I am still alive. I have a feeling that I might be saying that a lot in the future. Things have been busy, but good. I am two weeks through law school, 11 more to go till my first bout with finals.

By the way, happy Labor Day!! My sister Kariann flew down this week to hang out with me. She has got to meet all my new crazy friends (give us all haircuts too - yea!!). She flew in on Saturday to Norfolk, and her luggage went to Chicago. This meant we had to get up early on Sunday to fetch her luggage, which came in on the 9:45 a.m. flight. Needless to say, we were a little late for church. Jeremy made his specialty for lunch - pasta! Then at 5 p.m. my roommate Jamison had this radical idea of going kyacking. Kari really wanted to go since she had never been, and well...it didn't take to much convincing on Jeremy and I's part - though we both had a lot of homework. It was alot of fun. Perhaps the highlight was Jeremy spilling his kyack - the face was priceless!!! I swear, that guy never gets embarrassed. We had a blast.

Today, I spent my morning of Labor Day laboring over Civil Procedure. I worked from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. straight (yea for me) and got done what I needed to for tomorrow. Then Kariann and I went to the beach. It was really windy and a bit chilly, so we walked around the Boardwalk.

Kari leaves on Wednesday. I am looking forward to this short week. Come Friday I turn 25!! I think the rest of my family will be down the end of next week. Yea, more family!!

Well, Kari and I finally decided on a movie to watch tonight. It took a while. Well goodnight. I will try to be better on blogging.

Nite.