Calling find method on partial render

Rails
1

I want to add a display of personal links to my users. Is there a way
I can call a .find method when a partial is rendered?

This is in my website’s template:
<% if !session[:user_id].nil? %>
<%= render :partial => “/layouts/personal_links” %>
<% end %>

The contents of the partial are:

  • My Links
      <% for links in @personal_links %>
    • <%= link_to links.name, links.url %>
      • <% end %>

The trick is, I need to set @personal_links (or something similar),
but it will only be valid when a user is logged in. What is the best
way to accomplish this? A session variable of some sort?

Thanks,
-justin