i wonder if you can bilocate...

Okay, so I'll spill the beans. I submitted a transfer application to Harvard Law School back in late July, and I was accepted on Monday. I have decided to accept their offer of admission into the class of 2005.

My reasons for transferring from Stanford Law School are really quite specific to my own interests, and have very little to do with Stanford's quality of life or quality of education. In fact, I'm kind of sad to let go of the laid-back, perfect-weather living that happily sustained me for the last five years in Palo Alto. (I went to Stanford undergrad as well.) Stanford's quality of life was probably the most significant reason why I chose to go back there for law school last year (not to mention its sterling reputation).

Suffice it to say that Stanford's size became oppressively limiting to me. When I received my course packet for the 2003-2004 school year, I was extremely disappointed. There was all of one course open to second and third year students on issues of constitutional law. This is due to two distinct elements: (1) the small size of the school dictates that the number of courses offered will be correspondingly small, limiting variety; and (2) Stanford's constitutional law faculty has suffered two losses in the past year--Gerald Gunther (who died of cancer last summer) and Kathleen Sullivan (who has decided to discontinue teaching for some time on account of the fundraising duties of her Deanship.) The only other serious constitutional law scholar on the Stanford faculty is the infamous Larry Lessig. But his teaching interests of late lie mainly in IP law and the law of contracts.

But don't get me wrong here--Stanford's size is also its greatest asset, and for good reason. There was certainly a sense of camaraderie among many of the students that could not have been possible at a school twice the size of Stanford. Things are just more pleasant when you know everyone. At least, in theory.

I certainly don't regret spending my first year of law school at Stanford. I would do it all over again if given the chance. It was worth it for the few friends that I ended up making, and the lessons learned from them. There were some truly inspiring people, and some truly unbearable ones. The unbearable ones I expected. But the inspiring ones always surprised me.

I just came back from the post office. It was raining, and it was midnight. Inside the lonely building, I carefully placed a stamp on a thin white envelope. Inside the envelope were two checks: one check next to the line stating that I would enroll at Harvard, and another check for the $500 deposit. As I opened the mail-drop box, I couldn't help but feel that letting the envelope drop would mean that my life would be forever changed. It would mean that I would probably get a different job after law school, live in a different city, meet different people, and perhaps even marry a different woman. The fickleness of it all terrified me. And yet I could not deny the feeling of unbridled excitement at being on the brink of so much possibility.

As I heard the soft rustle of the envelope hitting the bottom of the drop-box, Nietzsche's words--always close to my heart--reverberated throughout my entire being, inspiring and frightening me all the same: "There is yet another world to be discovered—and more than one! Embark...!"