Today, Rachael, Luna and I traveled to the City of Orange to visit Fowler School of Law at Chapman University. This is the school that has offered Rachael a full scholarship. Neither of us had been to Chapman before so we didn’t know what to expect.
The gist: the admissions officer knew exactly who Rachael was, the people at the law school were welcoming and the campus was pretty. The downtown area of the city was covered in antique shops and cute restaurants and the drive took 45 minutes from Rachael’s door, not bad by LA standards.
We spoke to a 3rd year law student who told Rachael that she loved the school and couldn’t recommend it more highly. The students who were studying at desks in the library and down on the patio looked focused, but not panicked (that might come more towards exam time). Everyone we met seemed to confirm the #7 ranking for “Quality of Life” that Chapman has earned among all law schools nationwide.
The campus – small in comparison to Rachael’s beloved alma mater, UCLA – is nicely designed with lots of green grass, fountains, and places for students to study outside. The gym is half a block from the law school and the train stop is 10 minutes away. The restaurant where we had lunch was a block and a half away. There was a small town atmosphere to the campus and the downtown area. Traffic was light and there was none of the hustle-bustle so common with LA. Everything felt relaxed and low-key.
Two weeks from now, Rachael will be attending a “Scholars Weekend,” where 40 law school scholarship recipients will meet each other and spend two days together learning more about the school. They are staying at the Anaheim Hilton, which is not far away.
Luna behaved herself quite well during this outing. She understood that she needed to be quiet when we chatted with the admissions officer and when we toured the law library. She shouted goodbye to the whole Admissions office as we were leaving, which brought a big smile from the people there.
At the end of the day Rachael said, “I love it. I can see myself here.” That was what we both hoped she would feel. Hooray.
Here is Rachael in front of the law school:
Here is Luna playing:
Here are Rachael and Luna at the restaurant:
A lovely way to spend the day. One more step towards Miss Rachael Marie Beaty moving forward with her life. I am pleased and proud.
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