One week down and many many more to go. It was not so bad, but tiring. I felt so exhausted by Wednesday. Just completely out of it. Like my mind had been running a marathon.
The professors are good. None of them are too scary, yet. There had been some stories about Professor Contracts, but he was nice the whole first week. Apparently he'll be kind of...moody sometimes and will snap at everyone. Hopefully that's not the day I'll be on call.
Professor Civ Pro is great, but Civ Pro, the subject, isn't. It's complex and confusing and I don't know. I spend today reading the about the federal civil rules, specifically rule 12, and reading the International Shoe Co. v. Washington case. Oh what joy that was. At least it was better than Pennoyer v. Neff.
Professor Lawyering talks extremely fast and the class is basically just ADR 101, which is fine by me. I haven't been working as hard to prepare for it and I know that needs to change. Fortunately it's only been one week and I'm not realizing this half way through the semester.
Today was my brother's birthday. It's so nice that he's so close to my apartment. I love it.
Also, last night there was a law school happy hour social thing. I went. I didn't notice anyone making too big of a fool of themselves, but I was mostly just focused on taking care of myself. One of the kids in the other section doesn't seem to understand the concept of tact, but I think it's more amusing than annoying. Though I seem to be in the minority...
Should be a fun, exhausting, scary year.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
First day!
Today was my first day of law school.
Fortunately, this day didn't start until 3 pm. I had Torts and Legal Research and Writing. Professor Torts spoke with a good pace. A bit soft spoken, but I sit fairly close to the front, so that shouldn't be a problem. Professor Legal R & W is fairly young and has a day time job outside of the law school, but is nice and included their cell phone on the syllabus... Whoo. Not that I'll probably ever call it, but it is there on the syllabus to be called.
All in all I survived the first day and brother survived his first day of college! Yay. So a successful day thus far.
Surely tomorrow will go just as smoothly.
Also, tomorrow will be my one year anniversary on blogspot. Exciting stuff, my friends.
Fortunately, this day didn't start until 3 pm. I had Torts and Legal Research and Writing. Professor Torts spoke with a good pace. A bit soft spoken, but I sit fairly close to the front, so that shouldn't be a problem. Professor Legal R & W is fairly young and has a day time job outside of the law school, but is nice and included their cell phone on the syllabus... Whoo. Not that I'll probably ever call it, but it is there on the syllabus to be called.
All in all I survived the first day and brother survived his first day of college! Yay. So a successful day thus far.
Surely tomorrow will go just as smoothly.
Also, tomorrow will be my one year anniversary on blogspot. Exciting stuff, my friends.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Orientation: A review
Day 1: It was such a long day. I started the morning by participating in the community service project. I like volunteering, so it was fun to me, but getting up at 7 for it? Not so much.
After that there was a picnic at the law school with other students and the faculty and for the rest of the day we just had people talking to us. Various "welcomes" and a student organization fair. I would have liked to have signed up for everything, but I picked three organizations that interested me most and signed up for those.
The law school gave us packets when we first arrived and registered. In these packets was a myriad of information, including our homework for the rest of orientation. Joy. The case and the chapters I read altogether took me around 3 hours, which I was okay with.
Day 2: We were divided into our two sections for this day. My section had an analysis section in the morning to go over our homework. Basically the instructor just told us how to write a case brief and gave us an extremely helpful handout for it. Yay! So, that session was particularly helpful.
Later that afternoon, we were divided further into our legal r & w sections and went on various law library tours and were talked to about research and the like.
At the end of the day I had a terrible headache and still had to brief a new case, but it also took me about 2 hours. Would have taken less time if I hadn't been checking facebook off and on...
Day 3 (Today): We started this morning by being introduced to our professors for the year.
Then we were gave a speech about the honor code and basically just scared shitless. Then after that we received a speech from a Bar employee about taking the bar and registering for that. Once again, we were scared shitless.
Then appropriately enough, we were presented with a counseling presentation.
We had a luncheon with professionals in the law field and that was really enjoyable. Also very informative.
The afternoon was spent with other presentations, like "How to succeed in law school" and the like and another analysis session. This one was more entertaining than the last and still quite helpful, so it was a good way to end the day and the session.
Admittedly by the end of the three days I was tired of hearing this question:
"Any questions?"
After that there was a picnic at the law school with other students and the faculty and for the rest of the day we just had people talking to us. Various "welcomes" and a student organization fair. I would have liked to have signed up for everything, but I picked three organizations that interested me most and signed up for those.
The law school gave us packets when we first arrived and registered. In these packets was a myriad of information, including our homework for the rest of orientation. Joy. The case and the chapters I read altogether took me around 3 hours, which I was okay with.
Day 2: We were divided into our two sections for this day. My section had an analysis section in the morning to go over our homework. Basically the instructor just told us how to write a case brief and gave us an extremely helpful handout for it. Yay! So, that session was particularly helpful.
Later that afternoon, we were divided further into our legal r & w sections and went on various law library tours and were talked to about research and the like.
At the end of the day I had a terrible headache and still had to brief a new case, but it also took me about 2 hours. Would have taken less time if I hadn't been checking facebook off and on...
Day 3 (Today): We started this morning by being introduced to our professors for the year.
Then we were gave a speech about the honor code and basically just scared shitless. Then after that we received a speech from a Bar employee about taking the bar and registering for that. Once again, we were scared shitless.
Then appropriately enough, we were presented with a counseling presentation.
We had a luncheon with professionals in the law field and that was really enjoyable. Also very informative.
The afternoon was spent with other presentations, like "How to succeed in law school" and the like and another analysis session. This one was more entertaining than the last and still quite helpful, so it was a good way to end the day and the session.
Admittedly by the end of the three days I was tired of hearing this question:
"Any questions?"
Monday, August 17, 2009
A Letter to Myself
Dear Self,
Tomorrow is my first orientation day to Law School. There will be another orientation on Wednesday and the last one on Thursday before classes start on Monday, the 24th.
I know you're nervous. Tomorrow you'll be thrust into this new environment with all these new people, people who will be your colleagues in three short years. It's scary and you're shy and quiet, especially around new people, so these next couple of weeks are going to be difficult, but don't let that get you down.
Have courage, self. Be bold. Be friendly, but of course, professional. Remember to smile, maybe now and again. Also, don't be judgmental. I know it's a defense mechanism, but work to give people second chances. Yes, people will say things that will make them come off as incredibly pretentious, but give them a chance. It might be something you misconstrued, or even if not, there is still more to them. People (well, most) are like onions (ala Shrek). Just keep that in mind.
Have some fun too. Don't be the girl that gets wasted and makes a fool of herself, but do talk to people, enjoy yourself. Just don't do anything stupid. I know, easier said than done. Spend some time with the people that have been there for you through the years. Don't blow them off for your new law school friends, but don't blow your law school friends off for the friends that haven't been there and probably never will. But given that I haven't hung out with too many people this summer and that this usually isn't too much of a problem anyway, I don't think this is anything to really be preoccupied with right now. All of this usually ends up working out for the best anyway.
Study, self. Work hard. Don't be lazy. If you're are stressed out, by all means, take a break, but don't just watch tv because you don't feel like doing the readings right now. Just work through those feelings. Don't make excuses either. Just do the homework, like you're supposed to. Be excited about the material too. I know you're excited now, I heard the little squeal of joy you gave out when you were looking through those outlines you received... Hold on to that. Hold on to that interest, that passions. Don't let it slip away from you. Remember that the law is a new language, and you're learning it. Have fun and don't let yourself get to frustrated. Persevere.
Study. Make friends. Be good. These are the three things that I want most for the new school year. Yes, some other things as well, but those are three big main ideas.
Love,
Me.
P.S. Don't go overboard on joining organizations. Join a couple and be active in them. Really commit, don't just attend meetings (for the free food and drink).
Tomorrow is my first orientation day to Law School. There will be another orientation on Wednesday and the last one on Thursday before classes start on Monday, the 24th.
I know you're nervous. Tomorrow you'll be thrust into this new environment with all these new people, people who will be your colleagues in three short years. It's scary and you're shy and quiet, especially around new people, so these next couple of weeks are going to be difficult, but don't let that get you down.
Have courage, self. Be bold. Be friendly, but of course, professional. Remember to smile, maybe now and again. Also, don't be judgmental. I know it's a defense mechanism, but work to give people second chances. Yes, people will say things that will make them come off as incredibly pretentious, but give them a chance. It might be something you misconstrued, or even if not, there is still more to them. People (well, most) are like onions (ala Shrek). Just keep that in mind.
Have some fun too. Don't be the girl that gets wasted and makes a fool of herself, but do talk to people, enjoy yourself. Just don't do anything stupid. I know, easier said than done. Spend some time with the people that have been there for you through the years. Don't blow them off for your new law school friends, but don't blow your law school friends off for the friends that haven't been there and probably never will. But given that I haven't hung out with too many people this summer and that this usually isn't too much of a problem anyway, I don't think this is anything to really be preoccupied with right now. All of this usually ends up working out for the best anyway.
Study, self. Work hard. Don't be lazy. If you're are stressed out, by all means, take a break, but don't just watch tv because you don't feel like doing the readings right now. Just work through those feelings. Don't make excuses either. Just do the homework, like you're supposed to. Be excited about the material too. I know you're excited now, I heard the little squeal of joy you gave out when you were looking through those outlines you received... Hold on to that. Hold on to that interest, that passions. Don't let it slip away from you. Remember that the law is a new language, and you're learning it. Have fun and don't let yourself get to frustrated. Persevere.
Study. Make friends. Be good. These are the three things that I want most for the new school year. Yes, some other things as well, but those are three big main ideas.
Love,
Me.
P.S. Don't go overboard on joining organizations. Join a couple and be active in them. Really commit, don't just attend meetings (for the free food and drink).
Sunday, August 9, 2009
The End of Summer
I feel like this is the end of summer, for me that is. I'm home until Wednesday, then I head to my Aunt's house where I will likely be until Monday, the 17th. Then Law School's orientation is the 18 - 20th. So, today is pretty much it. I'm home. I came home yesterday. I love it here.
Those are pictures of my backyard. I love being home. I wish that I had just stayed here this whole summer instead of in Undergrad town working.
I bought three of my books for Law School on Friday. The three of them ended up being almost $400. And two of those I bought used, though I made sure that they were the ones with the least amount of writing/highlighting. One of them was completely empty, I think it must have been bought by someone who either dropped out immediately or didn't believe in writing in their book. The other one, the writing is pretty light and they wrote in pencil, so I think I made a pretty good choice. I still have 8! books left to get. 4 for my legal research class, 2 for my lawyering class, 1 more for civ pro, and one more for contracts. Whoooo...
This is going to be a fun year.
Those are pictures of my backyard. I love being home. I wish that I had just stayed here this whole summer instead of in Undergrad town working.
I bought three of my books for Law School on Friday. The three of them ended up being almost $400. And two of those I bought used, though I made sure that they were the ones with the least amount of writing/highlighting. One of them was completely empty, I think it must have been bought by someone who either dropped out immediately or didn't believe in writing in their book. The other one, the writing is pretty light and they wrote in pencil, so I think I made a pretty good choice. I still have 8! books left to get. 4 for my legal research class, 2 for my lawyering class, 1 more for civ pro, and one more for contracts. Whoooo...
This is going to be a fun year.
Monday, August 3, 2009
New
I moved into my new apartment on Saturday. It's very nice. Hard wood floors, a very slow internet connection, and window air conditioning units, but those are my only complaints. Actually, the window units work a lot better than the central air conditioning system did at my last apartment. My new bedroom is huge too. I didn't realize how crappy my old apartment was. One of my friends came over yesterday and was completely enamored with my new place. Even said she was jealous. In remarking about my old apartment and how crappy it was, she was in total agreement. Admitted that she didn't like going over there that much last year because she was afraid it would collapse (the floors were very uneven). Haha, oh well. I don't live there anymore, thankfully, and I'm not ever going to live in another hell hole with a slum lord ever again (as long as I can avoid it, that is).
My law school finally put up orientation information. My orientation is August 18-20. We have an optional public service opportunity the morning of the 18th before the actual orientation begins. I signed up for it. Figured I might as well and it's at the food bank where I have volunteered before. They didn't say anything about dress for it, but I figured I would probably this advice though I probably won't be wearing any dresses, just some nice trousers and nice shirts - not jeans and t-shirts. That's the plan right now.
Also, my school posted my book lists. Good grief they are expensive. I'm planning on getting them this week at the bookstore. There is going to be a sale at the law school by the law students of their own books and other supplements on some of the days leading up to orientation, but I figured I would just check out the supplemental materials that they have instead of books. Besides I was thinking of buying most of my books new (I can hear my wallet weeping as I type...) that way I'll be able to make sure there is plenty of space in the book for me to make my own notes and highlight what I feel is important. I've noticed with books I got in the past that were used and people had highlighted in them that often times I would just read what people had highlighted. I don't think this is a good habit for law school. Especially with the earlier cases that we'll be covering.
It's already August 3rd and will shortly be August 4th. Hard to believe that law school is just three weeks away. The times they are a-changing.
My law school finally put up orientation information. My orientation is August 18-20. We have an optional public service opportunity the morning of the 18th before the actual orientation begins. I signed up for it. Figured I might as well and it's at the food bank where I have volunteered before. They didn't say anything about dress for it, but I figured I would probably this advice though I probably won't be wearing any dresses, just some nice trousers and nice shirts - not jeans and t-shirts. That's the plan right now.
Also, my school posted my book lists. Good grief they are expensive. I'm planning on getting them this week at the bookstore. There is going to be a sale at the law school by the law students of their own books and other supplements on some of the days leading up to orientation, but I figured I would just check out the supplemental materials that they have instead of books. Besides I was thinking of buying most of my books new (I can hear my wallet weeping as I type...) that way I'll be able to make sure there is plenty of space in the book for me to make my own notes and highlight what I feel is important. I've noticed with books I got in the past that were used and people had highlighted in them that often times I would just read what people had highlighted. I don't think this is a good habit for law school. Especially with the earlier cases that we'll be covering.
It's already August 3rd and will shortly be August 4th. Hard to believe that law school is just three weeks away. The times they are a-changing.
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