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Post by coltonharrison on Apr 25, 2022 6:43:52 GMT
This weekend was a big/little weekend, so my pledge class and I each went out with our bigs for the weekend to hang out with them and get to know them better. My big is Lucas, but his big is Adrian, who is also Vedant’s big. We planned to do a group activity as a family line, so we went to brunch as a group. I woke up at 9 AM on Saturday morning and I showered and brushed my teeth for the day. I put on a fairly nice brunch fit and I walked down to the De Neve turnaround to meet up with the group. I was the first one there, before Vedant and Lucas arrived. We sat on the steps outside of Acacia and talked about the pledge process thus far while we waited for Adrian to arrive. He was locked into his driveway so it took him longer than anticipated to arrive. With the extra time on our hands we went to get some water bottles from the vending machines inside. Adrian arrived around 10:55 AM and we embarked on our drive. The ironic thing was that no one had decided on a brunch location ahead of time, so we tossed around ideas before settling on the Society Kitchen in Santa Monica. We arrived shortly after 11:00 AM and we ordered before being seated. I ordered a breakfast burrito with bacon, Lucas ordered a salmon and rice bowl, Adrian ordered gluten free pancakes and a gluten free breakfast sandwich and Vedant ordered an egg dish. We also each ordered unlimited fancy orange juice and some of us ordered coffee as well. We sat down and would spend the following two hours talking about a variety of topics. We spoke about the history of our line in Empire and Adrian’s big Terrence. We also briefly recalled the events of the retreat for Adrian, and talked about our experiences interviewing active members thus far. Furthermore, we spoke of complicated religious and social identity dynamics in the world around us. Out of pure coincidence I also saw some of the girls who live on my floor there as well. We also briefly spoke of each other's experiences with toxic relationships in the past. Lastly, we spoke about the differences in the pledging experiences between the virtual and in person pledge classes. We continued to talk for a while before the acidity from the orange juice started to get to our stomachs. Lucas was the first one who needed to take a break while we continued our conversation. I think that between the lack of water and substantial food, the orange juice was not a good combination with our systems. The influx of sugar from the juice did not help the situation and many of us began to feel ill just as our time with unlimited orange juice was coming to an end. The waitress that had been serving us had grown tired of our antics and we slowly collected ourselves to return home. Thankfully, the drive back was swift and we were back on the hill just in time for me to go back to bed and sleep off my food coma. I slept for multiple more hours and woke up at 5PM to meet up with my friends for food before returning to bed. In total, I would say that I had a very successful big/little experience and I am glad that I had the opportunity. I know so much more about both my big and grand big, but also my own pledge brother Vedant.
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Post by coltonharrison on May 2, 2022 6:56:14 GMT
The area of law that I am most interested in is Finance Law. I am also interested in business and consulting, so I believe that this will be a solid balance between the two aspects. Business lawyers can provide advice like a business consultant but they specialize in the legality of business moves. Finance lawyers provide advice to business leaders during acquisitions and strategic moves. They are responsible for negotiations between business leaders and to ensure that terms of a deal are followed through with. Furthermore, I know that business lawyers are responsible for ensuring rates of exchange are followed when negotiating between international parties. In short, finance and business lawyers are in charge of negotiating settlements and transactions between two parties. They keep track of the flow of funds and argue the legality for or against large mergers and acquisitions. They are also very much in charge of overseeing large accumulations of debt and investing. They ensure that both parties will uphold their end of business transactions and that the debt is paid in full. Furthermore, they are crucial in solving and negotiating terms of the debt accumulation. Their clients tend to be large corporations, banks, and hedge funds. They can also practice in more niche sectors where business transactions are prominent; some of these include in winemaking, solar and green energy, and professional sports teams. The aspect of business law that intrigues me is the ability to take it into nearly any sector or field. In comparison, immigration law is almost exclusively going to shoehorn someone into working with immigrants and their negotiations. I am also interested in the Entertainment field, and pursuing a career in business law would allow me to work in entertainment if I determine that is something that I am truly passionate about and enjoy. I also hope to pursue business law because typically finance and business attorneys work in large group based firms. I enjoy working with a group of other hard working individuals and by working together it allows each attorney to specialize in a more specific aspect and narrow their knowledge. In contrast a law firm owned and operated by one to three individuals requires that each individual has broad but most likely more vague knowledge of each piece of the process. It is not uncommon for a large business oriented law firm to provide services to the entirety of a business, for example during my research I came across multiple law firms that catered to the entirety of one industry. One such firm provided assistance to the hospitality industry and had lawyers to negotiate for real estate, workers litigation, and financing issues. Lastly, it is not uncommon for businesses to hire a finance and or business lawyer for in-house legal advice. This allows the lawyer to become an employee of the corporation and saves the lawyer from negotiating with its own employees and acquiring their own insurance. The lawyer becomes the employee of the company and is on hand to provide advice and insight to the parties in each transaction. It is also not uncommon for lawyers that are hired by large multinational corporations to travel frequently. My parents chose to bypass a professional career right out of college and pursue traveling instead. While that is not the path that I am currently on, I still would love the opportunity to experience the world and the cultures it has to offer. It is merely an added bonus that the traveling is at the expense of another party. I have no aspirations of starting a family at a young age, and this would remove any guilt I may have for traveling and allow me to be successful and make money and enjoy traveling the world.
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Post by coltonharrison on May 9, 2022 5:35:23 GMT
I hope to attain either a law degree or a master’s of business administration in my future, as I am still undecided as to which path I will take. I have recently learned of JD/MBA combination programs that allow you to get a law degree and an MBA at the same time. They are typically an abbreviated combination program of both majors, but because of the rigor of both programs they are still highly regarded. JD/MBA graduates can often work as legal counsel for large businesses or as the head of a large law firm. They are not restricted to these opportunities however and it is a very broad degree to attain and can apply to a variety of different careers in law and business. When considering the top JD/MBA programs in the country, it is common to pick the schools with both law and MBA programs that have garnered prestige. The top JD/MBA school in the country is currently Stanford and while I would love to go there, it is not currently my top choice to attend. The school that I would love to attend for this dual program is Columbia University in New York City. Out of the two major universities located in the Big Apple, I appreciate Columbia’s unified campus as opposed to NYU’s separated buildings spread throughout the city. The single major campus that Columbia offers allows for a community atmosphere while still maintaining all of the benefits of being in such a large and important international hub. Furthermore, New York City is known for being a large business epicenter, and home to some very established and successful law firms. This would provide me access to great internship and work opportunities while I am in school so that I can further my knowledge and expertise. Also, in a more typical MBA program setting it is extremely common for students to have taken a couple of gap years before returning to school to attain their masters degree. Business school is primarily of classes where you are responsible for solving issues and problems in hypothetical business situations, so some experience is highly encouraged before applying to such positions. On the flip side, while it is healthy to take a gap year before attending law school, it is not required. JD/MBA programs allow for students to apply without much business experience. A location in New York City would allow me to gain the experience that is often required for a business degree so that I am not a disadvantage when compared to my peers. The challenging aspect of applying to Columbia’s combination program is the fact that it is an accelerated three year program and they require that you gain acceptance to both schools independently of each other. Because of this, I am currently planning on taking some gap years so that I may gain the experience necessary to warrant admission into Columbia’s program. Furthermore, Columbia has a wealth of Alumni connections and encourages their graduates to take full advantage of their network to attain opportunities in both business and law. The difficulty of this program cannot be understated however, as it is an accelerated study program to achieve what is essentially two majors. Because of this fact, the first year requires about 31 credits in law programs, the second year requires 15 law and 31 business credits, and the third year requires 26 law and 15 business credits in order to finish the program. With that being said the courses appear to be interesting with some of the topics covered including corporate finance, business analytics and a choice of a variety of law elective courses.
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Post by coltonharrison on May 23, 2022 7:14:50 GMT
The non-governmental organization that I am interested in is Greenpeace. They are a nearly 50 year old organization that fights to combat climate change, and has also grown to promote social justice throughout the world. They are seeking to rebuild the “country’s unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first” (Greenpeace). They are an international organization with branches in many countries around the world. In an effort to avoid and defend against corruption Greenpeace is committed to never endorsing a political party or candidate. Similarly, they do not make or accept political donations so that they may make decisions that keep them independent from any political interests. I think this is an extremely important pillar of their function as our government and politicians are so tied up in outside interests, and it prevents them from accurately representing the will of the people that they are supposed to represent. On the other hand, by keeping the organization out of political alliances, they are free from the constraints of politicians needing to appeal to a wide constituency. Furthermore, this organization does not even endorse political candidates or parties entirely, so that they may remain impartial and not associated with candidates changing views and opinions. While I obviously find their separation from the government admirable, I also am a big supporter of the causes that they support. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues facing us today, and unfortunately no politician seems to agree with that sentiment and they are all too happy to allow the special interests from fossil fuel to delay the necessary transition to clean energy and clean living. Greenpeace conducts peaceful nonviolent protests to draw attention to environmental destruction, and they believe in nonviolent confrontation to raise the quality of debate surrounding environmental issues. Most importantly, when seeking the transition to cleaner energy greenpeace has centered their actions around marginalized communities around the world. It is clear that in many plans for a green future there is no clear plan to ensure that the costs of a green world do not fall unfairly on marginalized communities that are already disadvantaged by structures that make upward social mobility much harder if not nearly impossible. Furthermore, not only will the cost of a green society fall on marginalized societies, they are often the first ones that face the adverse effects of climate change. With this in mind, Greenpeace pursues racial and social equality while they also fight for climate justice. With this in mind, they are also committed to ensuring the independence of indigenous communities. Essentially, today’s exploitation of the environment can be traced back to colonizers stealing the land from indigienous peoples and deploying mass genocide to decrease their population. When pursuing a green future, this organization is committed to recognizing the independence of indiginous communities and their claim to the land. They run campaigns that reinforce their autonomy and authority while seeking climate justice. Climate change is a topic that I am very passionate about as I feel that politicians today are all too happy to put off important decisions while ultimately screwing our generation over. The damage that is being done to the environment is coming to a point where much of it will be irreversible and it is important that we act fast to halt the destruction before it is too late. Already we have witnessed disasters caused by climate change such as wildfires, extreme hurricanes, and drought, all of which disproportionately affect marginalized communities. In conclusion, I hope to work with Greenpeace one day because they seek to solve climate change in a way that will not further the wealth gap in America.
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