On rejection, further education and the Easter Bunny

Right, here I am again. After having been stuffed the entire weekend (family lunches, dinners, teas, and whatnot... My god, these people eat more regularly than hobbits, and I love it!), I find myself full of energy and totally unwilling to sleep. So I thought it's about time I make a post (seems to be turning into a weekly thing... God help us all.) so that those people who care may be enlightened. Here I go...

Since the last post, I have received a letter from a law firm. And, before you ask, it's not exactly of the "Oooohhh, we love you and want to have your children so that they can also work for us one day" variety. Now, make no mistake, I do not for one second think I am God's gift to anything (except maybe 80's music trivia...), and most people tend to get rejected once or twice before they actually get a job, but I was hoping that I'd be able to get it first time. The fact that the letter was from one of the firms I really, really wanted to work for made it a bit harder to accept as well.

I like to think of myself as someone that deals with rejection well (due to having so much experience at it... Or am I being too self-deprecating?), and I am definitely not going to blame anyone else for my current state of affairs. If there's one thing I hate, it's making excuses where they're not needed or wanted. No one ever seems to think that the fact that they screwed up in the interview, or that their academics could have been better played a significant role in why they weren't chosen. I know where my faults lie, and I try to use experiences such as these to make sure I can downplay them in the future.

The other day my father made quite possibly the craziest suggestion of his life. Being a lawyer himself, he knows that there is immense pressure on the South African legal industry (among others) to transform and become more diverse among racial and gender lines. OK, so maybe affirmative action does come into play with regards to all of this just a little bit (I'm not going to rant about affirmative action, quite frankly it has a place and I view it as simply another variable that has to be dealt with while job hunting... Refer to the above paragraph). Anyway, back to the story. In an unusual display of deductive logic, my father asks me this simple question: If I seemingly have difficulty getting a job at a traditional law firm (due to the fact that I'm pale and male and they still need to transform), then why don't I simply apply to firms that don't have this particular issue (i.e. black empowerment law firms)?

Now, far be it from me to point out the incredible irony that a Koornhof is considering becoming a token white guy (for any of you that know anything about South African history, you'll understand what I'm going on about...), but the above-mentioned idea, as bizarre as it may seem, is actually quite brilliant. So, there I go, sending off a bunch of applications yet again (this time to up-and-coming 'black' firms). Already things are looking quite promising, but that's all I'm going to say for now, because I have no intention of jinxing my second chance as well...

In between the time I got the first letter and my dad having his odd-ball idea, I started seriously considering what to do if I didn't get a nice, semi-decent paying job. Slowly but surely my thoughts started wondering to the prospects of further education. Now, I have always had this morbid fantasy of getting a Ph.D so that one day, if and when someone needs a doctor (let's say on an airplane or at an opera, or some place else melodramatic...), I could walk up to the person in question, give him a thorough examination, and then ask "Son, do you have a last will and testament, or would you like me to draft you one right now?", and then go on about my merry way; for the first time in my life, this seemed to be a distinct possibility... After having to think long and hard whether I would put myself through the experience of another year at varsity (five years is long enough, and a sixth one would be quite lonely, seeing as most people have already left...), I decided that I would be willing to pursue an LL.M (I might have to wait a couple of years for that Ph.D, though). If that turns out to be the case, this is a pre-emptive request for all of my friends who will (hopefully) be working next year to look me up and buy me tons of drinks (the positive karma you will receive will more than make up for the money spent...)

Lastly, I want to wish everyone a wonderful Easter. Whether you celebrate it for religious or chocoholic reasons (or, in my case, probably both...) I hope you all have a great time to reflect and relax with family, friends, loved ones and the rest...

Right, as promised, here are you're "Of the days" for the week:

Music Lyric of the day: "The Colgate Invisible Shield finally got 'em!" (Alice Cooper, Generation Landslide)

Arb 80's trivia of the day: Michael Bolton's (thesedays very rare, for obvious reasons) first album was actually heavy metal.

Suggestion of the day: Try not judge or think about people based on their first impressions, age, gender, race, or what they study, but rather who they are. As difficult as this may seem, if you can pull it off, you might just be able to treble your circle of friends within a year, and you will have WAY less issues in relationships.

Quote of the day: "We all go a little mad sometimes." (Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates, Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho)

Before I go, I promised to post this... There you go, Tim!