I overheard people wondering why a certain legal aid lawyer wasn’t there yet. One mid-July day, he sent me to meet with a group that was strategizing about raising the state minimum wage as a possible solution. In an effort to educate me, my boss dispatched me to meetings throughout the city so I could learn from more experienced activists who were grappling with how to rebuild their communities in the aftermath of the uprising. Thankfully I met a handsome guy on Bumble. Affairs: I’m 30, anxious and my mom drives me to datesĪfter the end of my five-year relationship, I was back in the dating game.

This was probably the only useful thing I could offer the nascent nonprofit, as my Korean language skills were lacking and, despite my ideals, I had little experience in community organizing.

at the time the headquarters for the Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates. While my classmates spent their evenings in box seats at Dodger games hosted by their Century City law firms, I taught English in a strip mall on 8th Street in L.A. My newfound community had suffered the brunt of a discontent borne of decades of inequality, not of our making. It was 1992, and rage and frustration still simmered in the rubble and singed buildings from the recent uprising. After almost a year of dating, I’d be lying if I said it took me by surprise when he said he wanted an open relationship.Īlthough my boyfriend’s declaration wreaked havoc on my heart, I plunged myself into my first summer in L.A., learning that there was much to discover east of the 405. Soon, however, small relationship cracks appeared, such as his tendency to yawn during what I thought was an interesting conversation or his reluctance to make the drive from his apartment in West L.A. We had both gone to law school to pursue public interest law, scorning classmates whose sole ambition was to land a job at a big firm and make six figures upon graduation. Like me, he was Asian American and politically progressive. During our early 1L (first year of law school) days, I thought I’d found my soulmate.

My law school boyfriend had left me no choice.

Holiday Ever After by Amy Andrews