Now approaching two months since I moved across the country, I think I’m getting pretty well settled into my apartment and into Louisville in general. It’s definitely been a ‘restart’ in the sense that my entire life and environment feels way different than it was when I was working and in undergrad.

A few notes on some of the things that I’ve grown to appreciate so far:

1. I love living by myself (I miss my old roommates, for sure, but I do not miss the mess).
2. Getting the opportunity to try new things (I never thought I’d play basketball again in my life, but here we are.)
3. Actual city life (the bars here are way better than Corvallis. Sorry, Clod’s)

I find law classes to be a lot more engaging than my classes during undergrad. Legal concepts are a lot more challenging and difficult to grasp, but I have so much appreciation for learning now than I have in a long time. One of the first legal rules that we learned is intent and how it applies to the rule of law. There’s many ways you can think about intent:

1. In torts, battery occurs when someone intends to make harmful or offensive contact.
2. In contracts, we can act in good faith and intend to make a fair deal. Maybe the contract goes south, but the law has a higher chance of supporting our side if we intended it to be fair.
3. In the legal community, our reputation is dependent on how we work with our clients and how we act in the courtroom with our proceedings and motions. If we intend on being honest and fair to give our clients the best shot, we have a higher chance of being regarded well by others.

Our intent matters a lot in the context of law. But I believe that intent extends a lot farther than just legal issues. Every day we have the choice to do good wherever we go. I’m a firm believer that we should try to judge and understand other people’s intent. Sometimes we can be misunderstood. Bad actions can result from good intentions that were misapplied. It’s important that we take a walk in someone’s else’s shoes in order to understand where they are coming from. But it’s also equally important that we not excuse bad intent. If we are too empathetic and too understanding of other’s actions, we can be blind to bad intent and bad behavior. Bad actions can’t be learned from if we continue to excuse the behavior that caused them. So if you’re having issues with someone, try putting yourself in their shoes for a second. Understand what their intent is and why they’re doing what they’re doing. We should always strive to surround ourselves with people who intend to do good and try to make us and themselves better.

-Colby