The Road Less Traveled

nomad (noun)
1. A member of a group of people who have no fixed home and move according to the seasons from place to place in search of food, water, and grazing land.
2. A person with no fixed residence who roams about; a wanderer

So I was talking to my roommate the other night and he pretty much concluded that I love moving to different locales each year and that I would most likely transfer out of San Antonio at the end of my first year of law school--I thought he was just being silly, but this got me thinking. First of all, I drive a Toyota Corolla and there is already over 75,000 miles on it. Considering I bought this sucker brand spanking new off the lot during the summer of 2006, this equates out to be around 1,875 miles of driving a month. If you include the six round trips I've made between Texas and California, countless trips to and from Austin, Houston, and Dallas, I guess it all adds up. Also, I've bought three different mattress sets in the last three years haha. I constantly forget what my zip code is. So now I'm asking myself, am I ever going to slow down? Will I ever be able to stick in one place? Am I moving all the time because I want to or because I have to?

To help you see what I'm referring to, this is what happened after I graduated from Plano Senior High School:
Fall of 2003 - Moved to Arlington, TX
Summer of 2004 - Moved to Keller, TX
Summer of 2005 - Moved to Antioch, CA
Spring of 2006 - Moved to Brentwood, CA
Fall of 2006 - Moved to Concord, CA
Summer of 2007 - Moved to Irvine, CA
Fall of 2008 - Moved to Austin, TX
Fall of 2009 - Moved to San Antonio, TX

8 different homes in 6 years. I never really sat down and thought about it, but that seems pretty amazing to me. I guess if you are too close to the situation, you never see the entire picture. Honestly, I can tell you that I don't have any major regrets these last few years, sure I've made mistakes but I've enjoyed every step of the way. So... where does this leave me in the future? I DO want to settle down; I DO want a wife and kids; I DO want a nice house; I'm just taking the long way =]

Anyways, let's talk about how law school is going. During the first three weeks, the amount of work and reading completely shocked me. I knew going into the semester that there would be a lot of reading involved but I am the type of person that doesn't believe something until I see it for myself. Because of this, I was hit really hard and I was stressing every night because I wanted to be fully prepared each day for class. Fortunately, I've gotten used to the amount of reading and analysis that I have to do on a nightly basis so I don't get as stressed out anymore. I still spend the same amount of time in the library, but I've learned how to deal with the workload and the mental fatigue that comes along with it a lot better. Since Hao's school is just across the street from where we live, we head up to that library every night from dinner time until it closes (midnight), and those 4-5 hours are enough for me to get everything done for the next day. Ultimately, my usual day consists of about 5 to 6 hours on campus, then 4 to 5 hours at the library; so I still have about 5 hours to myself to relax and hang out, not including sleep. That is pretty much my routine so for those who see my gchat status as "studying", I really am studying lol.

I've met a few people at school that I talk to and eat with everyday. A couple of them went to UT, a couple of them are from California, and a couple of them were in the military. So, there's a good mixture of different backgrounds in our group which makes for some very interesting conversation. It's pretty crazy for me when I look around school and I see future lawyers that I'm going to be going up against, or future lawyers that I'm going to be partnering with in a particular case, or even future judges that will decide my cases. Three more years... just keep swimming... just keep swimming...

Rant:
Tony Romo is the most overrated superstar in the NFL during the last decade. A lot of the attention and aura that surrounds him is because he is the starting quarterback of America's team. To the media, he is a very charismatic guy. That part I completely understand, it's good for exposure and it's good for business. But, when a quarterback has a great game one week, then an average or terrible game the next--it's a glaring sign that he isn't that good. Consistency is what sets good players from great players. There's a reason why he wasn't recruited heavily out of high school, there's a reason why he wasn't drafted out of college, and there's a reason why he didn't play in his first NFL game until his 4th year in the league. With that being said, I love the Cowboys and I'm going to defend them until my last breath. I want Tony Romo to do well. I want him and the team to succeed. I want him to prove me wrong and lead us to #6.

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Make lots of memories and don't forget the joys of life.

Faith and trust in Him,
Albert Nguyen