Waitlisted, with “excellent chance” scores.  Reason?  They’re full.

Round 2 of the LSAT?  Apparently in June.

Rolling admissions takes on another term entirely.

There have been several examples of instigated change in my life over the past five years.  Each one of them involves men, and each one of them involves New Orleans. 

I work in the commercial maritime industry.  Most of our companies thrive on the Gulf, and many of our clients and staff live in and around New Orleans, and we put on our largest tradeshow of the year there in December.  In late August 2005 I had been working here for three months, trying to find my way professionally and personally after breaking off a long term relationship and diving headfirst into a summer of partying.  As Katrina gathered steam my coworkers and I sat glued to our phones and Internet updates.  We know what happened next.  The city was broken.

I sought comfort in a friend who had been blatant in his declarations that I was his dream girl.  It was the easy way out, and I took it.  We spent little time apart after that, and quickly bought our first house together and were engaged by the following August.  A moment of weakness on my part, years of settling to muster.  Life moved along, and the company brought the show back to NOLA in 2006 when the stigma of the convention center began to lift. 

In 2006 I had a new titanium plate and eight screws in my wrist, a giant engagement ring, and a dwindling supply of pain medications.  I fell in love with the city, as damaged as it remained, and let the music and flavors and people lift a vicodin haze for a few days.  When I returned home there was cancer and weddings to cancel and re-plan and life to attempt to live.

In 2007 I returned to the Crescent City with a wedding band, confidence in my career, and a failing marriage.   I met M and his friends (the heads of his company) and we somehow turned one boat ride into three nights of ridiculous debauchery on Bourbon St.  I’ve never been out that late.  I’ve never had that much fun.  And I felt free for the first time since August 30th2005.   These intelligent, fun, good-looking guys WANTED to hang out with me.  I had forgotten what that might be like.  Absolutely nothing romantic or inappropriate happened, and I was grateful for new friends.  A round of emails followed and we kept in touch while my husband and I began to work out the details of our separation and subsequent divorce.

This year I returned to New Orleans for what looks to be my final show there.  M and I had started emailing again, and I wondered if I might see him there.  We hadn’t really gotten closure after my run-away last spring and I didn’t know what might go down.  We visited the same restaurants but stayed out of the bars. 

I took my LSAT in New Orleans.  My first choice school (now that the dust has settled) is in New Orleans.  And if by some miracle of overlooking Tulane’s terrible admissions cycle this year I get in, I’ll be starting another chapter of my life there.  And if not?  I hope somebody is taking me there for Mardi Gras/my birthday next year…