Reading

People always say that law school changes you... and it's true, to an extent. I do think that the people who take the LSATs, apply to schools, then enter law school generally already have that competitive, ambitious, hard-working attitude - that's not what changes. In my experience so far, law school teaches a method of thinking and analysis - how to take the words on the page and construct an argument; how to relate the facts of one case to a set of similar yet distinguishable facts; how to see the weaknesses and strengths of a particular position; how to buttress your argument against potential attacks, and the list goes on.

This happens subconsciously - I definitely could not do this on Day 1 or probably even on Day 20. However, around Day 100 I looked up and realized that the analysis was becoming more comfortable and I was less intimidated and swamped by my assignments. I know that I have miles to go still before I can become a proper "lawyer," but I can recognize that I have the tools to get there, if I put the work in. 

On that note... funny story.

This past semester was pretty demanding and tough in terms of workload and expectations (moreso than first semester, for sure). Thus, I spent all of second semester missing and looking forward to reading for FUN. After the finals were done and the write-on was submitted, I rushed down to the library to check out some books to read before starting the externship. 

As I paged my way through the first book, I realized I was having trouble "just" reading. I seem to be out of practice reading for pleasure. I caught myself distilling the chapters into their most important points (with the voice in the back of my head saying 'remember that for later! that could be on the final!'). I realized that I would mentally skim the 'less important' parts and focus on the 'important' stuff. This approach works well with casebooks, however is not conducive to enjoyable pleasure-reading. For the first book or two I ACTIVELY had to slow my brain down, had to remind myself to stop and savor the words, focus on the 'feel' of the language rather than its content - basically, I had to remember what it was about reading that I used to enjoy and had to get back to that place.

Very funny what brains can do when you don't pay attention to it...

K

Externship day 1

As of today I am gainfully employed! Today was the official start of my city attorney externship. Because I haven't had Evidence yet, I can't be "certified" and thus am not able to do anything in court (which is the reason why I couldn't work for the moot court judge this summer). Bummer. The good news, however, is that the city attorney has several divisions (including a civil and a criminal division) and I will be assisting ALL the attorneys. Hopefully this will help me in my search for a career path - if nothing else, I should be able to determine the things I particularly like/don't like about day-to-day attorney work!

So... this morning I did the little kid first-day-of-school thing and woke up about 2 hours earlier than I needed to. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to drive to work either, so I ended up getting there about half an hour too early (so I called C who is in DC for three days for work). When 8:00 am finally rolled around I went in, much to the surprise of the attorneys who were not expecting interns until June 1st (my school designated May 27th as the official start of the externships. Apparently the other externs arranged their start dates for June 1st and no one told me). 

They were very friendly and accommodating, though, and I was set up at my own desk with my own computer. One attorney was more than happy to outsource some legal research to me as well, so I spent most of today reading an extremely interesting criminal case and researching on Lexis (a search engine for all things law - good thing the office uses Lexis too - I much prefer Lexis over its competitor, Westlaw).

I also ended up going to lunch with three of the attorneys today as well - three very boisterous and extroverted people who told some very amusing stories and gave me some good in-the-field advice (e.g. be extremely nice to your clerks who can make your life very easy or VERY difficult). 

All in all a successful first day!

ALSO I didn't get lost either on my way to work or on my way home = double plus!

Off to work again tomorrow

K

P.S. Torts

I realize that I said I would write about the Torts exam but I never did...

Now that two weeks have passed, I am less upset/anxious about it. Walking out of the exam I felt so crushed. I studied very hard, I thought I knew everything I needed to know, and I thought I had my professor's style figured out. If only.

One of my classmates said it best - he said he would have done well on the Torts exam if the test was written about a class we took. It seriously felt like we were taking a final for a completely different class. The multiple choice were brutally tough (on several I was honestly unable to narrow the four choices down because I wasn't sure what issue the question was testing). The essay questions were equally unclear. Additionally, I was so frazzled by the multiple choice that I ended up writing what felt like awkward, stilted answers that didn't clearly or properly answer the questions. As I was writing I knew in my gut that I wasn't doing my best, but for some reason I was unable to change my path. It was a pretty awful experience over all. Essentially, Torts kicked my butt. Good thing I did well in other classes - I'm hoping it all balances out!

K

Write-on done!

Done and done! A few hours ago I finished and submitted 6 1/2 pages of write-on... I do hope that it was good enough to make Law Review. The chances of making it are slim (see previous entry), but at least I did my best with the cases we were given in the time we were given. I am glad that I tried for it - but I'm mostly glad that it's over!

The grades are starting to come back in... so far I have an A+ in legal writing (HECK yes!), a B in contracts (not so great, but at least it's only 2 credits), and an A in criminal procedure (heck yes! I felt good about that exam, so I'm glad that it came out well). So far I am on track to make my goal for this semester, which was to improve upon last semester's performance. I make this statement tentatively because I haven't gotten my Torts grade back yet... but at least I'm doing well so far. Fingers are crossed!

Now I have one full week of glorious freedom before my externship starts. On my agenda for this week:

-apply for Moot Court

-read books!

-watch movies

-clean the apartment

-finish the wedding photo album (I've selected most of the pictures - the hard part will be to get them printed)

-write emails to people I ignored all semester

...that's it! 

[I do realize it's crazy that I made a checklist and schedule for my free time... that's just how my brain processes things! I don't do well with tons of unscheduled, unstructured time. I have to make mini-deadlines for myself or I go nuts.]

Movie time!

K

Write-on

Well... finals are over yet here I am, sitting in the study room of the library, getting geared up to write a paper. More specifically, the write-on competition for Law Review. Even after my success in Moot Court (and in my Legal Writing class this semester - the only grade we've gotten back so far but I rocked it!), I still am anxious about this write-on.

To make it on Law Review, you have to be top 10% grade-wise (which I am not) OR you have to write a brilliant paper (that must be grammatically pristine). AND it's super competitive because it looks amazing on a resume. I'm not even sure how many people will be submitting entries or how many people they accept - all I know is that I have to be brilliant in order to make it. Also, the write-on lasts two days; thus, I not only have to be brilliant, but I have to do so in a ridiculously short amount of time. No pressure...

I'll update about the write-on, if I have time, over the next two days (not sure how much of a time crunch there will be). All I know is that I'll be writing my brain off for the next two days and hopefully it'll come out well.

ADDITIONALLY when the write-on is done, I'll have a week to write and submit a personal statement to apply for the competitive Moot Court team next year. Even though I did well in the competition, I still have to apply and interview (which means more writing... of course). I guess I'm never really "done"!

Anyway, I'm off to prepare...

Bring it on, write-on...

K

It is finished.

I am sitting on the couch, willing my body to remember what it feels like not to stress. Yesterday was my final final as a 1L (the exam was great - it was straight-forward, I knew all the topics, and I wrote a decent essay. I don't know how that will translate into grades because of the curve, but at least I know I did a good job). Today, for the first time in several months, the calendar square on my refrigerator-white-board-calendar is blank!

Somehow the end of finals this semester was not the same boisterous, exuberant celebration as last semester. I think that we were just pleased/surprised/proud/amazed that we had survived last time. Perhaps we are wiser this semester? This time, leaving the exam room, I did not feel the same rush of relief and accomplishment. Instead, I felt more sedated and wistful. I am definitely relieved that this semester is over (it was much more strenuous and demanding than last semester; or at least, I knew what to expect from class and finals this time around); however I also feel the weight of my upcoming summer externship, my 2L classes, the bar (distantly) and the need to find a fitting career path. 

Yesterday after the exam, the school provided some beer/pizza/soda outside as a reward for completing another round of finals. We stood around, holding red Dixie cups, blinking in the sunlight we've been avoiding for months, saying our goodbyes. It was interesting to hear what everyone is doing this summer - many of my friends are studying abroad in London, some have externships, some working for judges, some with paying jobs that are not law-related in the least. I think back to the first days of school, when we were all fresh, energetic pre-law students, so excited about starting school and so unaware of what we were beginning. In the course of one short yet interminable school year, we have evolved into confident, battered, strong, somewhat cynical 2L's, joined by the shared experience of suffering through and surviving the first year of law school. It's hard to believe that in another two years we'll be taking the bar, and then hopefully a short time after that, will be lawyers. Somehow I feel like 3 years isn't enough time! Such responsibility!

Law school really has changed the way I think, the way I perceive the world, the way I argue and the way I speak (for example, the Classics major created my obsession and deep respect for words and language. Law school has magnified and expanded my respect for words astronomically!). It has altered my view of the future as well. I have never had a clear career path/concept of what I want to "do" or "be" in the future. Though I'm still working on choosing a proper "path," I think law school has given me some much-needed direction and has forced me to start planning ahead in ways that I never have before. I both hate and appreciate law school for this. 

I will write more about this as the summer progresses. For now, I must enjoy this "free" time (if I can still remember how!). My short-term goals are to CLEAN the apartment, to search for houses (yes, we're still looking), to apply/interview for Moot Court, and to get ready to start my externship!

K

Law school = brain damage

Words I never used before law school but now use constantly and often gratuitously:

-Fungible

-Dispositive

-Litigation

-Subjective/Objective

-Disincentivize

-Precedent (I guess I used this sometimes before, but never quite as often)

-Prejudicial

-Exigency

...there are more...

K

(Studying Civ Pro like a fiend today - lots to memorize - brain is beginning to reject new information...)

P.S.

The torts exam yesterday was awful. Just awful. Both the test and my performance on it. I'll talk about it later when I've mentally recovered from it...

Brain getting hurt-y

Burn-out beginning... have been studying the past two days straight, working on Torts non-stop. I secretly spent this time being jealous of people who were enjoying their weekends. Also studying for Torts. Did I mention my brain hurts? 

Hopefully I'm more eloquent on my test tomorrow. This one will be tough because it's 4 hours (9am - 1pm). The last hour is always the worst.

Last two finals as a 1L in T-1, T-4.

K

Two down, two to go!

Criminal Procedure today!

I felt really comfortable going in to this exam - knew the issues, knew the rules, had a great number of cases names memorized to drop strategically into my essays. It was one of those tests where there were no real surprises and I just went in and did what I had planned to do while I was practicing. What a great change! I haven't felt this comfortable about a test since college. 

The bad news (as always) is that we're graded on a curve, so my grade will depend on how well everyone else did. Most people probably knew all the rules and understood the issues as well, so I hope that I was able to hit enough of the point-rich issues (as always). 

The good news is that I'm done with two exams and I only have two more to go before I am officially done with my 1L year! Expect a post-mortem on my first year of law school this time next week!

(Off to study for Torts then have a nice dinner out with the husband)

K

One down, three to go!

Contracts is done! What a relief - even though it's only a 2 credit class, it's the class where I felt the least comfortable based on the complexity of the topic. This exam was tough for one, because we only had 2 hours for it, so it was a huge sprint to get through the essay, but  particularly because the question was open-ended (= did the party breach the contract?). After the exam a bunch of us were quickly de-briefing and realized that we approached the question quite differently - hopefully I hit enough of the right points and issues to get me a solid B or a B+. At least it's over...!

The good news is that, in retrospect, I think I'm getting better at studying for exams. Looking back, I realize how much time I wasted last semester reviewing things that weren't very important, or memorizing things that weren't going to earn very many points. I felt that I did a good job prepping for Contracts, now that I've taken the final. Hopefully this translates to the rest of the classes! 

Little breather now, then on to Criminal Procedure (incidentally, the class I feel the best about).

How did it know...?

This morning I was particularly cranky because of the stress of studying for finals, so I wasn't very nice to C before he left for work. After studying for about an hour, I took a break to play Wii fit, to blow off some steam.

I turn on the game and the first thing that pops up is a question (usually it asks something like, how are you doing today? Did you eat breakfast this morning? Did you sleep well?).

Today the Wii asked: Have you seen C lately? How does he look?

me: umm.... the same?

Wii: Are you sure? Maybe you're not paying enough attention to C... (not joking, the Wii told me this)

me: You're so right, oh wise Wii! How did you know?

...so because the Wii told me so, I called C at work to apologize and thank him for dealing with my crankiness during study time. Thank you, Wii! What a worth-while investment!

P.S. Thank goodness for the Wii too, because C's been playing Zelda for the entirety of the week, so I feel less guilty that I've been ignoring him for my studying... just a few more days!

Yikes

Brain... rapidly... imploding...

Memorizing/practice essays/multiple choice/review/reading... I have spent over 14 hours per day for the past 5 days STRAIGHT preparing for finals. The more I practice and study, the more I feel that I don't know enough. I think that's normal for law school, but it makes me nervous.

Contracts all day today and tomorrow, then contracts final on Wednesday.

Finals in T-2, T-4, T-7, T-10

K