My last post

Well, as i'm writing this i have mixed feelings. In one hand i'm happy of have ended this subject with satisfaction, but in the other hand i'm nostalgic because this is my last semester as an undergraduate student, certainly the best time in my life.

I really enjoy this course, it was a great blowoff valve among all the stress of the week. All you had to do was attend to class and interact with the teacher and with the classmates; and at blog session i noticed that progesively, week by week, i started to think in english while writing the post. Some of them proved to be funnier that i could think, like the one with the movies. And in class, sessions like the one when we were World leaders and have to decide if you tell people we were all gonna die, was remarkable!

About the aspects of my english to improve, i believe that the fluency on the oral part it is a need for me. I also will like to improve my reading, specifically, more complicated stuff like papers with a more advanced vocabulary. I'm actually doing something for it: i partipate in sessions with native english talking at Providencia's “café literario” this has been a really good experience. And about the second, i imagine that during the summer i'm gonna have more time to read and read in english.

Sometimes i also talk with my friends, chileans friends, in english as a way of practicing; in addition with that i talk with my younger sister as well.

So, i'm very satisfied with this subject, the teacher and classmates it has been a really good experience, totally enriching. I encourage to all of you, to keep learning and practicing this useful language.

My future job

I’ve always thought in make the living as a lawyer and along with that teaching in the University as a way to compatibilize both activities. I’d like this double work because I’m attracted to both areas: professional and academic.

To the first one because I’m actually studying to become a lawyer and it is a necessary requirement having professional experience to apply for an academic career.

I think that this option has a regular difficulty, because nowadays is always necessary to endeavor yourself in order to have a job that lets you develop all your plans, ideas, dreams, and interests. I know it’s going to be hard, but I’m sure of achieving it.

For choosing this double job I consider my preferences for the academic activity and professional development as a lawyer, probably working in criminal cases, either as a prosecutor or public attorney. In order to accomplish this, I haven’t taken any major because the undergraduate program doesn’t include it but I’ve signed up in electives of my preference: criminal law. So, in a manner of speaking I’ve made a minor in criminal law during the undergraduate period.

About weakness and strengths, last semester I went to several job interviews for work as procurator and I learned to be honest when it comes to that question. I said I was diligent, good at teamwork and persevering. And about my weak side, I recognized being perfectionist and having what I call “paralysis by analysis” sometimes.

Job interviews are a great experience, even though I couldn’t continue the process of job seeking because I had an unlucky surprise meanwhile.

It will be grateful for me to have this double work, as academic and independent lawyer so nowadays I’m putting all my energy in this aim. 

Myself in two years

My plan for the next two years is to complete the process to become a lawyer. For that I need to pass all my subjects this semester (8), my last as an undergraduate student. This great amount is because I need to end in the 5 years since I can’t pay an extra year –the University credit doesn’t cover it- and I’d rather work hard that keep increasing the debt. So, I’m having a fully loaded semester, dealing with that and it has been tough.

Next, from March 2013 I have to start the most traumatic and stressful period: preparing the degree examination. This is a big step in the way to achieve the final goal. I’m gonna need full dedication for an average of an eight-month period. And it is gonna be hard deal with that, because in one hand you have a lot of available time or you’re exposed a lot of distractions pretty much interesting that study the hole day; but in the other hand you feel the anxious and stress.

I think the key is the organization, I have friends that already pass the exam and they gave me this advice: “You can do whatever you want, but in predefined times”. So the best way will be to weigh up the present and the final objective: Pass the exam.

Once I pass the degree exam, I’m gonna finish my thesis project. A good point is that I have the 60% finished and only rest to complement it. That way I will only left to do the practice experience that last 6 months and maybe in that time I would need a job so maybe I look for one.

If every goes right, on June 2015 I’ll be ready to go to the Court and do the oath to be invested as an attorney.

My life is definitely going to change, it is gonna be hard but it will be for something better so I only need to put all my energy on and be persevering.  All the changes will represent a challenge, with costs and benefits. What I’m going to do is having a big holidays to get rid of all the stress and then scheduling the studying and the free time.

Maybe I won’t have much time as I like to be with my girlfriend, family and friends, but it is the required effort to make my dreams come true.

So, i invite you all to comment! See you in class

Post 7 (Week 9) >> HOW GREEN ARE YOU?

"Half green"

In the last years enviromental care has been a recurrent topic in media. Almost every day you can read news about pollution, toxic accidents and eco-organisations claiming about it. As well, every day there is many information avalaible about how friendly practices with the echo system and i think both ways, among others, have contributed to install the issue in the citizenship.

As an example, last year in Chile there was a big controversy about HidroAysen, a big proyect that will build several Mega-dams in the south of the contry and besides, it will cross thousands of territory with the high tension towers, causing an irreparable damage for the nature and the people who lives there.
As a consecuence of this, people have learned much more about the impacts in the enviroment that the economic growth has, perhaps a deeper learning that the schools gives.

I've seen a lot of documentaries about echo-system and i like'em pretty much, but i haven't made a considerable change or acquired recycling habits for that. Something that i actually do, and it can be considered as a recycling habits are simple things like write on the both sides of the paper, turn lights off that i'm not using or unplug the appliances in order to safe electricity so imagine that way i'm reducing my carbon footprint.

Nowadays I don't have a bike but i really want to have one, not only for health, but also for reduce the pollution and the hundreds of cars in the city. I'd like to join to “Furisosos ciclistas” a gruop of bikers that makes peaceful demonstration of opposition to the city's desings claiming for more bike's roads in the town. This could be an option to minimize the air pollution.

I think that in Santiago year by year population continues growing so that way the enviroment suffers for contamination and lack of enviromental concern due the big mass of people that never stops (or without time to do it) to think how they're living and what they could do to improve the echo system.

Post 6: Thrash Metal

Today, I’m posting about a musical stream I like a lot: 

Thrash metal, a subgenre of heavy metal. To talk about thrash metal we need to go back to the 80’s -a decade that brought out a huge amount of new bands and music styles- and land in San Francisco, specifically in the Bay Area where a new wave of young musicians reacted to the glam fever, with its long hairs, sticky rhythm and money-making records, creating music characterized for being faster, heavier, and with lyrics about social issues and criticisms to the establishment.

Some say that the first expression of thrash metal is on the song “Symptom of the universe” released by Black Sabbath in 1975, but it wasn’t until the different bands began combining elements of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with the speed of hardcore punk, that the thrash came out. Bands like Venom, Metallica, Slayer, Anthrax; and in Europe: Kreator, Sodom, Destruction.

I like this music because I’ve always had an inclination for rock and playing guitar influenced me to listening to bands like Metallica and Slayer. They have great guitar compositions and for me it was a challenge to learn the songs and play them. I used to hang out with my friends and make covers from all this bands, and spent the summers playing loud in one of my friend’s basement.

Nowadays, I’ve been a little away from the thrash because the university consumes almost the 100% of my time and so I don’t have much time for listening, playing and knowing new bands, but every time I can I put some CD’s on, and I feel great about it.

So, I invite all you to comment,

See you in class!

A guide to surviving law school

Probably all of you have already experimented high levels of stress when it comes about preparing a final exam or an oral test or a week with several evaluations. “Nothing surprising” would say a person that knows you’re studying Law, but there’s actually a long way between that idea and our hard reality as law students.

The article published by The Guardian presents “A guide to surviving law school” with 6 tips to make the student’s life easier.

On the basis that legal training requires students to absorb vast amounts of fairly dry information in a short timescale, the first recommendation is “to see the years of university as the first years of the professional lives”. The second recommendation is to: “Find the quickest route to completing the work in a way which means you have learned what you need to learn”. The third tip is to never lose sight of the end game, preferring find a good job that collect good marks. “If the endpoint is a training contract and a few marks less, then so be it”.

From a social point of view, the author advices that it is a good idea “to make allies in your class” because it will help you to socialize but also can make you a better teacher.

In other hand, something that could be very useful for us, it is the tip about “blogging with care”. This means that “Participation in these mediums is a great way for students to enrich their law school experiences and forge useful contacts by engaging with practicing lawyers, although it's unlikely to land them a job directly” But in my opinion, this advice is looking for students providing justification for whichever opinion or view is claimed.

Finally, and not less important, the article encourages law students to take pro-active steps of their own to keep themselves in good mental shape, in order to prevent the road into madness derivate from the stressful subjects to study, like in my experience, Commercial Law.

You can read the complete article on:

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/sep/06/surviving-law-school-gdl-lpc-bptc

Post 4: My favorite movie

I have a lot of predilections when it comes about movies, but I’d say that my favorite one is the “Back to the future” trilogy released in 1985. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd. This movie is about a regular teenager named Marty Mc Fly that travels through time with his friend, a mad scientific who creates a machine able to do that and go back 30 years to 1955, to the future in 2015 and then back 100 years to 1885.

I like this movie since I was a kid, and I still like when I watch nowadays. It has a pretty fun argument, something curious about the time travelling and its paradox. Besides, it has good rock music on its soundtrack like Van Halen and Chuck Berry.

Every time I watch this film I think about what would I do if I can travel through time, where or when I would go? Or what it would be if this machine actually exists and some people can travel in time.

If you want to spend a great time, I recommend you this movie! Let me know if you know any other must-see film, I’d be glad about it

So, I invite you to comment, go ahead! See you all in classes 

Post 3: My best holidays

Last summer my girlfriend and I were  to Valle del Elqui and La Serena for vacation. It was the first time we went on a trip together and it was so good! We went on February after a pretty hard and stressful semester that include classes in February so we were anxious about it. We were camping in a place named “Rio Mágico” located in the elqui valley, three hours away from La Serena. We get there, unfortunately, by night so it was hard to build up the tent and also we were starving!

During the days we went swimming in the river and the water was amazing, surrounded by trees and a wonderful sun. Preparing meals was my mission because my girlfriend doesn’t like it, but she helped with other things like bringing water to cook.

A very funny activity we made was riding horses. It was our second-third time doing it and a local guy guide us in a ride. He liked to go faster and I thought it’ll be fun so I hit the horse side back and I run very fast like 250 m! it was extreme. In other day we rent bikes for travel around the town and we could see very nice places like a vineyard and viewpoint where you can see the mountains, the valley and the houses.

We spent like 10 days and it was a really good time, beautiful places and perfect to get rid of all the stress and relax a lot!

Rio Magico it is a place that makes you want to come back! Look at the pictures

                            

So, I invite you to comment, go ahead! See you all in classes 

Post 2: A country i'd like to visit

The answer for that question could be a lot of countries, I love tripping. It could be the rest of south America –I already know Peru and Ecuador-  but I think that the country I’d like to visit is Australia, specifically Tasmania . The first idea that comes around when you mention that city is “Taz devil”, and that’s funny. As a matter of fact when I was  a kid I imagined the same.

I have an uncle that has live there since the 80’s and done an entire life there, with a wife and family. I don’t know them only know that my cousin’s name is Luke like in Star Wars. I would like to go to get to know them, hang out with my family and visiting all the beautiful places over there, like Sydney or Melbourne. Also it would be cool going to the beach and swim in the other side of the pacific ocean.

Maybe  if I weren’t studying here, I’d try out working at Australia, it’ll be a nice experience that would allow me to earn probably more money than here and let me improve my English. But well, I think I’m going to go someday soon for vacation and to study and practice English.

So, I invite you to comment go ahead!,  See you all in classes

My first post

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog. I baptized it "andrew paint" because it's the translation of my name, Andrés Pinto. This is the second time I run a blog, before I had one that is called <beyondmapocho.blogspot.com> where I write music reviews, short stories, reflections and some poetry.

Improving my English I think it is pretty challenging and this blog could be a very appropriate tool for reach that goal. Also reading the blogs of

my class mates it’s a way to improve our English.

My expectations for this blog are to improve my writing, grammar, and learn about my classmates’ interest, likes, and way of thinking. So that we can share experiences and points of view. And also, to express my ideas in the blog.

I’d like to write about things I like, movies, music, literature and reviews about places to visit for holidays and I hope I can do it.

So, I salute you and let you invited to keep visiting my blog ‘cause you’ll find new posts from time to time.

Andrés