[This is the 2nd in a series of "First semester 1L wrap-up" posts...]
Last year, when the idea of law school was still kind of foreign (I'd taken the LSAT in October, and I applied in early-mid November), everyone that I talked to about law school generally reacted in one of three ways: "Wow, that's great," (generally, random people who found the idea of law school to be somehow prestigious or mythical) - "Of course," (generally, people who already were in law school, or knew me through a particularly law-oriented extra-curricular activity) - or, "Good luck. I hear it's a lot of reading."
Here's the truth: law school IS a lot of reading. That is, it WOULD BE a lot of reading, if I did it all. Which I don't. Thank goodness.
I found in college (if not earlier) that one of my greatest skills is to somehow understand what a teacher's expectations are, insofar as reading or class participation or test answers go...and then, to perform at that level, or slightly above, but not to over-exert myself unnecessarily. As a doctrine I've since religiously adopted, it tends to get me what I want (a good grade, a pretty deep level of understanding) without the burden of stressing over school work all the time.
I thought maybe I'd turn over a new leaf in law school. You know - read everything. Underline. Or highlight in various colors, for different parts of case law (facts = blue, holding = pink, etc.). Take notes in the margins. [I did NONE of these things systematically in college.] This new system worked, for all of three days. Maybe. [NB: I might have had more motivation to keep it up had we actually been graded on our work this semester. But, uh...no.]
Since then, I found that by the end of the semester I was really only comprehensively reading regularly for (maybe) two classes. [It is no coincidence that those were the two classes where it was at least marginally possible that I'd get called on during any given class session.] I had, in the mean time, become well-acquainted with three of a law student's best friends: Lexis Nexis headnotes (short summaries of the major points in a given case, available online in seconds), Wikipedia (mostly for constitutional law cases - I mean, c'mon...do I *really* need to read that Scalia dissent?), and a good ole Google search. In a pinch, those tools and a few minutes before class (or, a few seconds in class) can pretty much get you what you need to know in order to survive a 2-hour class session. I'm not ashamed that a quick, strategic search plus CTRL+F saved my classmates and I from literally "seventeen minutes of silence" in small group a few weeks back.
So go ahead, call me a slacker. But selectively NOT doing my reading has made law school a ton more enjoyable. I've been able to spend a lot of time getting to know my classmates, and getting involved in extra-curricular activities that I otherwise wouldn't have, had I decided to dedicate myself completely to my studies. Sure, I've got a bit of catching up to do before exams (but I am certainly NOT the worst among my classmates, some of whom haven't been to a certain early-morning class in two months)...but (hopefully) it's nothing a few hardcore days of studying and a few outlines won't be able to solve.
Happy Holidays!
***
Friday, December 26, 2008
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Semester's End: Small Group & Social Stuff
[Note: I'm going to try to do a series of semester-end reflection posts...we'll see how that goes...]
We've come to the end of classes for the semester [like Cat, we also have exams in January, which at this point seems pretty distant - it's next YEAR], and I don't think I could be any happier. I am always really into the holidays, and although New Haven hasn't yet (but might tonight?) been blanketed in sparkly snow that sticks, there's a lot of cheer to go around.
On Monday, my small group (the 15 1Ls with whom I take all my classes, plus our two 3L TAs, and our professor) assembled at our professor's house to mark the end of the semester and our time together...after today, there likely won't be any case when all 15 of us are in the same class again. (Tear!) We had dinner & drinks and had many versions of the following conversation/question stream:
"When are you going home?"
"Where are you going for break?"
"What classes are you going to take next semester?"
"What're we gonna do the rest of the week [now that we can blow off the last few days of class]? Who's having a party?"
"What're we gonna do without each other?!?"
It's really amazing how close we've become in the past 3 1/2 months, so it was nice to see everyone in a relaxed social environment one last time before break. As our professor snapped candid photographs of everyone, a couple people surprised the rest of the group by announcing special "awards" - "Best use of Latin in class," "Best in-class 'save' when nobody knew what the professor was asking," "Best future governor," etc. There were lots of inside jokes, a couple cheap shots, and tons of laughter. We gave our TAs and our professor some "thanks for being awesome" booze, and they closed with some loving/awww-inspring warm & fuzzy thoughts.
We left our professor's house and went to one of our small group member's apartment for the after-party. There was lots of good wine, free-flowing conversation, and (as the wine began to flow freely) some bad jokes. We were also lucky enough to have our friend break out his guitar and serenade us for a while, after which it became a sing-along. All-in-all, a totally awesome night with some of my favorite people at YLS.
Last night, after most everyone was done with classes, there was a big joint birthday party for three of our classmates at the VIP room inside Toad's (generally, Toad's is kind of townie/sketchy, but the VIP room - Lilly's Pad - was surprisingly nice). [Earlier in the night, I'd gone to a smaller dinner party hosted in one of the birthday girls' honor...the food was fantastic, and the company was even better.] At the big party, people had baked cakes/cupcakes, and someone else played iPod DJ. While the atmosphere was really different than my small group's party on Monday, it was totally awesome - it was great to see a bunch of people before they left town, and people were generally in a fairly nostalgic "I love law school! I love you!" mood. We'll see if that holds up once exams roll around....
***
We've come to the end of classes for the semester [like Cat, we also have exams in January, which at this point seems pretty distant - it's next YEAR], and I don't think I could be any happier. I am always really into the holidays, and although New Haven hasn't yet (but might tonight?) been blanketed in sparkly snow that sticks, there's a lot of cheer to go around.
On Monday, my small group (the 15 1Ls with whom I take all my classes, plus our two 3L TAs, and our professor) assembled at our professor's house to mark the end of the semester and our time together...after today, there likely won't be any case when all 15 of us are in the same class again. (Tear!) We had dinner & drinks and had many versions of the following conversation/question stream:
"When are you going home?"
"Where are you going for break?"
"What classes are you going to take next semester?"
"What're we gonna do the rest of the week [now that we can blow off the last few days of class]? Who's having a party?"
"What're we gonna do without each other?!?"
It's really amazing how close we've become in the past 3 1/2 months, so it was nice to see everyone in a relaxed social environment one last time before break. As our professor snapped candid photographs of everyone, a couple people surprised the rest of the group by announcing special "awards" - "Best use of Latin in class," "Best in-class 'save' when nobody knew what the professor was asking," "Best future governor," etc. There were lots of inside jokes, a couple cheap shots, and tons of laughter. We gave our TAs and our professor some "thanks for being awesome" booze, and they closed with some loving/awww-inspring warm & fuzzy thoughts.
We left our professor's house and went to one of our small group member's apartment for the after-party. There was lots of good wine, free-flowing conversation, and (as the wine began to flow freely) some bad jokes. We were also lucky enough to have our friend break out his guitar and serenade us for a while, after which it became a sing-along. All-in-all, a totally awesome night with some of my favorite people at YLS.
Last night, after most everyone was done with classes, there was a big joint birthday party for three of our classmates at the VIP room inside Toad's (generally, Toad's is kind of townie/sketchy, but the VIP room - Lilly's Pad - was surprisingly nice). [Earlier in the night, I'd gone to a smaller dinner party hosted in one of the birthday girls' honor...the food was fantastic, and the company was even better.] At the big party, people had baked cakes/cupcakes, and someone else played iPod DJ. While the atmosphere was really different than my small group's party on Monday, it was totally awesome - it was great to see a bunch of people before they left town, and people were generally in a fairly nostalgic "I love law school! I love you!" mood. We'll see if that holds up once exams roll around....
***
Monday, December 15, 2008
Examing
So, classes are done and the real work now begins - studying for exams. Unlike SB, our first semester isn't pass/pass. We have actual gradations (although far fewer of them than 1L's here last year.) I'm trying to make a plan. I'm trying to stay out of vacation mode, in which I watch 7 hours of Law and Order a day. I'm trying to keep my apartment clean, myself in reasonably good health and shape, and my family happy. I know, I know....grossly unrealistic.
No one will tell us what the grading curve will be, which I think is actually decreasing anxiety. One of our professors has said that between 40-10% of us will get honors, and another has said that only 3/80 will. Of course, that same professor mentioned that if he announced he was only giving out one "H", that would be enough for your average HLS student to fight for it. I'm not 100% sure that he's wrong. Overall, my classmates seem remarkably calm about the prospect of exams. Of course, that may well change once we get closer to the actual exam date.
On a non-school note, the holidays are here! I'm (unsuccessfully) trying to figure out how to buy Christmas presents for all my three zillion relatives with a law-student income. I tried hard to figure out a place to put a very very tiny Christmas tree in my very very very tiny apartment, but no luck. I think I may go with the "Christmas bush" option instead. Or maybe just a wreath. Hmm...these decisions suddenly seem so much more important than exams....
No one will tell us what the grading curve will be, which I think is actually decreasing anxiety. One of our professors has said that between 40-10% of us will get honors, and another has said that only 3/80 will. Of course, that same professor mentioned that if he announced he was only giving out one "H", that would be enough for your average HLS student to fight for it. I'm not 100% sure that he's wrong. Overall, my classmates seem remarkably calm about the prospect of exams. Of course, that may well change once we get closer to the actual exam date.
On a non-school note, the holidays are here! I'm (unsuccessfully) trying to figure out how to buy Christmas presents for all my three zillion relatives with a law-student income. I tried hard to figure out a place to put a very very tiny Christmas tree in my very very very tiny apartment, but no luck. I think I may go with the "Christmas bush" option instead. Or maybe just a wreath. Hmm...these decisions suddenly seem so much more important than exams....
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Not-so-Secretly Scavenging
What recession? The much-discussed economic downturn has resulted in some uncertainty about summer jobs...those who want to work in the private sector are being encouraged to spread their net as widely as possible, pulling some geographic strings if possible; those who were thinking public sector/government/non-profit work are suddenly faced with more competition for their spots as previously firm-oriented people look elsewhere for employment. We're blessed to be a bit more isolated than perhaps students at some other schools, and certainly nobody is reaching panic mode yet, but it's still a little disconcerting to find what might be the perfect opportunity, only to be told "Sorry, we can't hire 1Ls this year." Bah humbug! So the search continues...
One thing that's not lacking - even as endowments spiral south - is free food. I have to admit to being a bit spoiled in that regard. In my pre-law school life, I never cooked all that much (because I didn't have to in college, and because I went out to eat a lot in "the real world"), so I came in anticipating the need to sharpen my culinary skills (to save money, etc.). I was sad to be moving somewhere far away from my beloved Whole Foods, but I figured Trader Joe's was a fair substitute. I was pumped to make use of my pots and pans.
I'd heard, of course, that law school was basically a non-cook's dream - free food at lectures and lunch presentations and dinner meetings and weekend conferences. But I was planning to reserve judgment: I'd also heard that an awful lot of these free food opportunities featured pizza. New Haven pizza. Let's be clear - New Haven pizza & I have a complicated relationship. And by that, I mean that the last three times I ate pizza here before starting school, I threw up. So lots of pizza would be like lots of brussel sprouts: the equivalent of no edible food. And a renewed requirement that I procure my own sustenance.
Truth: there IS a lot of pizza. But people have gotten smart: students get tired of pizza. You have to offer something else if you really want people to show up to a non-obligatory event. In New Haven, that means food from any number of Thai, Indian, Mediterranean, Chinese, or Italian places. Every day, there are numerous lunch events that offer free food, usually to accompany a visiting speaker or a career panel. At dinner time, it's inevitable that two or three school-wide emails go out alerting people to the presence of leftovers from club events - you don't even have to go to the event to get food! A few entrepreneurial 3Ls bring tupperware and stock up for later. Smarties.
Today I had TWO scrumptious free Indian meals: lunch at Thali Too and dinner from Sitar. Lunch was courtesy of the Dean of Student Affairs, who took a small group of us 1Ls out to lunch to see how the semester was going. The food was so good, I didn't really want to go back to school for con law (it became pretty obvious that none of us really wanted to be there/we'd all been out late together last night when halfway through class people stopped talking...but I guess such is the case the day after oral arguments?). For dinner, I had the pleasure of hosting a small group dinner with a handful of fellow YLS women and one of my favorite new-to-YLS professors; he came over to my apartment and talked to us about his experience when he was in school here and what it's like being a professor. He asked us all what we want to do with our lives, and kept us entertained all night with jokes and stories. Best part about hosting the dinner: I got to keep the tasty leftovers. Yum!
**
One thing that's not lacking - even as endowments spiral south - is free food. I have to admit to being a bit spoiled in that regard. In my pre-law school life, I never cooked all that much (because I didn't have to in college, and because I went out to eat a lot in "the real world"), so I came in anticipating the need to sharpen my culinary skills (to save money, etc.). I was sad to be moving somewhere far away from my beloved Whole Foods, but I figured Trader Joe's was a fair substitute. I was pumped to make use of my pots and pans.
I'd heard, of course, that law school was basically a non-cook's dream - free food at lectures and lunch presentations and dinner meetings and weekend conferences. But I was planning to reserve judgment: I'd also heard that an awful lot of these free food opportunities featured pizza. New Haven pizza. Let's be clear - New Haven pizza & I have a complicated relationship. And by that, I mean that the last three times I ate pizza here before starting school, I threw up. So lots of pizza would be like lots of brussel sprouts: the equivalent of no edible food. And a renewed requirement that I procure my own sustenance.
Truth: there IS a lot of pizza. But people have gotten smart: students get tired of pizza. You have to offer something else if you really want people to show up to a non-obligatory event. In New Haven, that means food from any number of Thai, Indian, Mediterranean, Chinese, or Italian places. Every day, there are numerous lunch events that offer free food, usually to accompany a visiting speaker or a career panel. At dinner time, it's inevitable that two or three school-wide emails go out alerting people to the presence of leftovers from club events - you don't even have to go to the event to get food! A few entrepreneurial 3Ls bring tupperware and stock up for later. Smarties.
Today I had TWO scrumptious free Indian meals: lunch at Thali Too and dinner from Sitar. Lunch was courtesy of the Dean of Student Affairs, who took a small group of us 1Ls out to lunch to see how the semester was going. The food was so good, I didn't really want to go back to school for con law (it became pretty obvious that none of us really wanted to be there/we'd all been out late together last night when halfway through class people stopped talking...but I guess such is the case the day after oral arguments?). For dinner, I had the pleasure of hosting a small group dinner with a handful of fellow YLS women and one of my favorite new-to-YLS professors; he came over to my apartment and talked to us about his experience when he was in school here and what it's like being a professor. He asked us all what we want to do with our lives, and kept us entertained all night with jokes and stories. Best part about hosting the dinner: I got to keep the tasty leftovers. Yum!
**
Monday, December 8, 2008
Closing Out the Semester
At long last: five days until the end of classes this semester! It's a little surreal to think that only a few months ago we were brand new 1L's, and now we're about to finish up classes for this half of the year. Some of my section-mates and I were amazed the other day at the amount of stuff they've managed to cram into our heads over the course of the fall. I don't know that we've learned to think like lawyers yet, but we've certainly learned to think like law students (i.e. study...alcohol...sleep...coffee...repeat).* Just this morning I was reading this article in the NYT, and I thought "I DO know what declaring force majeure means when you want to break a contract!"
Of course, the semester is not quite over. We still have 22 days until exams. People have been complaining about this like mad. I can understand why no one wants to study over their holiday break, but I definitely prefer not to have to take my exams right now. I need a VERY lengthy session with my Property book, and I can't imagine hammering that session into the crazitude that's been the last month.
*Although in the interests of full disclosure, I rarely drink more than a glass of wine in one sitting anymore, and I usually go to bed by 10pm. Yes, I am a little old lady, but learning the law makes me really tired!
Of course, the semester is not quite over. We still have 22 days until exams. People have been complaining about this like mad. I can understand why no one wants to study over their holiday break, but I definitely prefer not to have to take my exams right now. I need a VERY lengthy session with my Property book, and I can't imagine hammering that session into the crazitude that's been the last month.
*Although in the interests of full disclosure, I rarely drink more than a glass of wine in one sitting anymore, and I usually go to bed by 10pm. Yes, I am a little old lady, but learning the law makes me really tired!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Procrastination Playlist
My revised "final" brief is due in 16 hours, 'flexibly.' [One weird thing about YLS is that deadlines/rules seem not to exist. Students freely hand in papers hours, days, weeks, semesters, even years late (I know one 3L who has a paper outstanding from two years ago, and he's in no rush to finish it)...and professors don't bat an eye. Deadlines, in other words, seem pretty false. Especially this semester (pass/fail grading in all classes): if we hand in a brief "late," what are they going to do - fail us??] Let's just say that I'm far from finished with my revisions. I may have just spent a few hours shopping online/cleaning my room/hanging out pre-Bar Review with some fellow 1Ls. And I took a gloriously long nap this afternoon. As I mentioned to someone at dinner earlier tonight, basically any incentive structure I may have had coming into this semester is kaput.
After ushering my friends out the door under the guise of "briefing," I sat down to do some edits. And failed. In the interest of further procrastination, I thought: "Well, I guess I could write a blog post..." but I had really no idea what to write about. So I present to you the playlist that's been on loop for me the past few days. A great sorta-hipster friend of mine sent me (via snail mail! it still exists!) a mix CD of some of her newest favorites...and I, trusting her hipster taste, have been bopping along ever since [NB: I'm not a huge fan of ALL of the songs below, but making a playlist is an art, I'm told, so I'm presenting it here in full...].
1. My Dick - Mickey Avalon
2. Way Too Much - Chromeo
3. Many Moons - Janelle Monae
4. Something/Blue Jay Way - The Beatles
5. Fake Palindromes - Andrew Bird
6. If You Fall - Azure Ray
7. If She Wants Me - Belle & Sebastian
8. It's Not You It's Me - Coconut Records
9. The Wildfire - Mando Diao
10. Before I Fall to Pieces - Razorlight
11. Tired of Being Sorry - Ringside
12. You Were Always the One - The Cribs
13. Dropkick Queen of the Weekend - The Dudes
14. Skull and Bones - The Ordinary Boys
15. Old Enough - The Raconteurs
16. Either Way - Wilco
17. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
18. Ayo Technology - Milew
19. Tenderoni - Chromeo
20. Forever Lost - The Magic Numbers
21. All 'Cause of You - The 88
And now, back to "edits"...
**
After ushering my friends out the door under the guise of "briefing," I sat down to do some edits. And failed. In the interest of further procrastination, I thought: "Well, I guess I could write a blog post..." but I had really no idea what to write about. So I present to you the playlist that's been on loop for me the past few days. A great sorta-hipster friend of mine sent me (via snail mail! it still exists!) a mix CD of some of her newest favorites...and I, trusting her hipster taste, have been bopping along ever since [NB: I'm not a huge fan of ALL of the songs below, but making a playlist is an art, I'm told, so I'm presenting it here in full...].
1. My Dick - Mickey Avalon
2. Way Too Much - Chromeo
3. Many Moons - Janelle Monae
4. Something/Blue Jay Way - The Beatles
5. Fake Palindromes - Andrew Bird
6. If You Fall - Azure Ray
7. If She Wants Me - Belle & Sebastian
8. It's Not You It's Me - Coconut Records
9. The Wildfire - Mando Diao
10. Before I Fall to Pieces - Razorlight
11. Tired of Being Sorry - Ringside
12. You Were Always the One - The Cribs
13. Dropkick Queen of the Weekend - The Dudes
14. Skull and Bones - The Ordinary Boys
15. Old Enough - The Raconteurs
16. Either Way - Wilco
17. A-Punk - Vampire Weekend
18. Ayo Technology - Milew
19. Tenderoni - Chromeo
20. Forever Lost - The Magic Numbers
21. All 'Cause of You - The 88
And now, back to "edits"...
**
Sunday, November 30, 2008
I Hate pdfs and Excel and Everything else...
In 15 minutes, 1Ls across the country are allowed to start submitting applications to summer employers that are members of NALP (mostly, big private firms and some big non-profits), and employers are allowed to begin contacting 1Ls. While the current state of the economy has created some uneasiness among those people who had hoped to work for big bucks, everyone else just seems happy (and overwhelmed!) to begin to think about the exciting opportunities available to us this summer.
Personally, I hadn't really thought seriously about working for a big firm until a few weeks ago, when I realized that it couldn't hurt to apply to a handful of places that have practice areas specific to my area of interest...I could send out a few targeted applications, see who (if anybody) took the bait, and then decide whether I really want to work in "biglaw" (or in my case, "biglaw" or "midlaw") this summer, or whether I'd go ahead with my original plan to work at a non-profit or governmental agency or two.
Of course, I didn't really think about how long it'd take me to send out "a few targeted applications." First, I had to think about what cities I'd be willing to go to. Then I had to run advanced searches to find firms in those cities that have the specific practice area I want. Then I had to make a freakin' spreadsheet: firms, contact people, specific names of special practice groups. Write specific cover letters. Fix up resume. Prepare e-mails, with attachments specific to each firm.
What seemed like forever hours later, I've got a bunch of drafts in gmail ready to send tomorrow. Now it's nearly midnight, and I haven't even started my con law reading for tomorrow, and we've got a special guest speaker coming to class expecting us to be knowledgable about a recent CT Supreme Court case. I guess a working lunch isn't the end of the world, especially after a nice, long relaxing holiday weekend...
**
Personally, I hadn't really thought seriously about working for a big firm until a few weeks ago, when I realized that it couldn't hurt to apply to a handful of places that have practice areas specific to my area of interest...I could send out a few targeted applications, see who (if anybody) took the bait, and then decide whether I really want to work in "biglaw" (or in my case, "biglaw" or "midlaw") this summer, or whether I'd go ahead with my original plan to work at a non-profit or governmental agency or two.
Of course, I didn't really think about how long it'd take me to send out "a few targeted applications." First, I had to think about what cities I'd be willing to go to. Then I had to run advanced searches to find firms in those cities that have the specific practice area I want. Then I had to make a freakin' spreadsheet: firms, contact people, specific names of special practice groups. Write specific cover letters. Fix up resume. Prepare e-mails, with attachments specific to each firm.
What seemed like forever hours later, I've got a bunch of drafts in gmail ready to send tomorrow. Now it's nearly midnight, and I haven't even started my con law reading for tomorrow, and we've got a special guest speaker coming to class expecting us to be knowledgable about a recent CT Supreme Court case. I guess a working lunch isn't the end of the world, especially after a nice, long relaxing holiday weekend...
**
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Belated Harvard-Yale Recap
From our Dean:
****
Cat & I spent part of the Harvard-Yale weekend together! Cat cooked a *fabulous* dinner (THANK YOU!!) for us and two of our best friends on Friday night, and we consumed a substantial number of cookies and a not-insignificant amount of alcohol in her blissfully warm Cambridge apartment before I had to head out into the blustery night.
Saturday was the storied Game day, full of a blistering cold tailgate, an even colder shutout of a game, and some post-Game parties. The extent to which I partook (or didn't partake) in the aforementioned activities is absolutely not an accurate gauge of my fan-dom, but it was FREAKING COLD. And the bed was SO warm! Plus, it kept the sting of our loss a bit out of mind...
We did manage to get out into Cambridge for dinner (and I wore my blue & white striped shirt with pride!), which was tasty and full of good college friends currently in law/grad school at Harvard, Yale, and MIT. There was more drinking and reminiscing and catching up on each others' lives, then I was back to the comfort of a toasty cocoon in the midst of a crisp New England fall....an absolutely scrumptious brunch on Sunday, and I was more than content with my version of Harvard-Yale in Cambridge, despite a lack of direct football observation. I was tempted to stay forever, had there not been work to return to...
All in all, a *very* enjoyable weekend! And next year, we Elis will welcome ya'll down in New Haven. Word is, we party better.
**
Having reported earlier on our Faculty Basketball win, I now have received a fuller report from our bloggers in Cambridge:
In the Student Basketball Game, Harvard 60 - Yale 44. While our intrepid but outnumbered student team fell to a human wave of HLS players, moral victory was secured by our team' s support from 65 Yale Law Students, who traveled to the game to support our team. The YLS contingent vastly outnumbered their (fewer than 10) Crimson counterparts in the crowd, who were playing at home.
In the YLJ/ HLR Touch Football game: YLJ 20 - HLR 13. In the first play of the game, third-year student ABC went deep for an 80 yard touchdown turn. On the second play of the game, starting receiver XYZ broke his nose on a tough play on the outside, but we are advised that he is doing fine on the morning after.
In the Undergraduate football game, our offense was stymied, and Yale lost 10-0.
(And finally, while I am shocked, shocked to learn that some of our students engage in gambling, apparently our YLS poker team -- featuring several former professional players -- also prevailed over its HLS counterpart).
****
Cat & I spent part of the Harvard-Yale weekend together! Cat cooked a *fabulous* dinner (THANK YOU!!) for us and two of our best friends on Friday night, and we consumed a substantial number of cookies and a not-insignificant amount of alcohol in her blissfully warm Cambridge apartment before I had to head out into the blustery night.
Saturday was the storied Game day, full of a blistering cold tailgate, an even colder shutout of a game, and some post-Game parties. The extent to which I partook (or didn't partake) in the aforementioned activities is absolutely not an accurate gauge of my fan-dom, but it was FREAKING COLD. And the bed was SO warm! Plus, it kept the sting of our loss a bit out of mind...
We did manage to get out into Cambridge for dinner (and I wore my blue & white striped shirt with pride!), which was tasty and full of good college friends currently in law/grad school at Harvard, Yale, and MIT. There was more drinking and reminiscing and catching up on each others' lives, then I was back to the comfort of a toasty cocoon in the midst of a crisp New England fall....an absolutely scrumptious brunch on Sunday, and I was more than content with my version of Harvard-Yale in Cambridge, despite a lack of direct football observation. I was tempted to stay forever, had there not been work to return to...
All in all, a *very* enjoyable weekend! And next year, we Elis will welcome ya'll down in New Haven. Word is, we party better.
**
Friday, November 21, 2008
Groupies
When I was trying to decide where to go to school, one of the things that was most attractive to me about Yale is the "small group" system of instruction for 1Ls. During the first few days of orientation were were kept in suspense about "whose group" we were in...but then when we got our class assignments, people had an instant identity as part of one of the 12-13 (I'm not actually sure how many there are) small groups of 15ish people.
Each small group has all of their classes together, and one class that is ONLY those 15 people plus a professor and two or three TAs (3L students who are primarily there to serve as mentors/buddies and legal writing helpers - ours like to take us bowling and out drinking, and occasionally they give us tips about how to write memos, or what classes to take, or how to get our dream summer job). The professors really make an effort to get to know the people in their small groups, and they tend to serve as a good first letter of recommendation writer...plus, the seminar style of the small group class is awesome (especially for con law, which is my small group class, where discussion really helps you work through complicated issues).
By default, the people in your small group are the people you see most often. Literally, every single day. Sometimes for 6 hours of class! So you have to like, or at least be able to tolerate, the people in your SG.
I really really love my small group! It took us a while to get bonded at the beginning of the semester, in part because we all also had friends in other small groups and through activities...we were pretty independent, as a bunch. But as we began to get tougher assignments and as we spent more time together, we found out that we all get along really well...luckily, nobody in our small group is a "gunner" in our larger classes, so we have begun to make snarky comments to each other on gchat during class making fun of said people who seem to want to just listen to themselves talk. You'd be amazed how much bonding can go on in a group gchat window!
We've also started hanging out a lot more outside of class...this week, we went out for drinks three nights in a row! It helped, of course, that we just turned in our big project for the semester - our "open universe" mock appellate court brief. So it's time to - finally! - relax, breathe, sleep, and socialize again. This weekend is the annual Harvard-Yale football game (and the annual HLS/YLS basketball game!), so a bunch of people are making the trek up to Cambridge, myself included. Go Bulldogs!
Each small group has all of their classes together, and one class that is ONLY those 15 people plus a professor and two or three TAs (3L students who are primarily there to serve as mentors/buddies and legal writing helpers - ours like to take us bowling and out drinking, and occasionally they give us tips about how to write memos, or what classes to take, or how to get our dream summer job). The professors really make an effort to get to know the people in their small groups, and they tend to serve as a good first letter of recommendation writer...plus, the seminar style of the small group class is awesome (especially for con law, which is my small group class, where discussion really helps you work through complicated issues).
By default, the people in your small group are the people you see most often. Literally, every single day. Sometimes for 6 hours of class! So you have to like, or at least be able to tolerate, the people in your SG.
I really really love my small group! It took us a while to get bonded at the beginning of the semester, in part because we all also had friends in other small groups and through activities...we were pretty independent, as a bunch. But as we began to get tougher assignments and as we spent more time together, we found out that we all get along really well...luckily, nobody in our small group is a "gunner" in our larger classes, so we have begun to make snarky comments to each other on gchat during class making fun of said people who seem to want to just listen to themselves talk. You'd be amazed how much bonding can go on in a group gchat window!
We've also started hanging out a lot more outside of class...this week, we went out for drinks three nights in a row! It helped, of course, that we just turned in our big project for the semester - our "open universe" mock appellate court brief. So it's time to - finally! - relax, breathe, sleep, and socialize again. This weekend is the annual Harvard-Yale football game (and the annual HLS/YLS basketball game!), so a bunch of people are making the trek up to Cambridge, myself included. Go Bulldogs!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Decisions, Decisions
Spring registration has rolled around already. It's a little surreal, because I definitely still feel like I'm in my first weeks of law school. Nevertheless, we've already got to pick classes for next semester. When we arrived in October our classes were all picked out for us, but now we've got a bit more choice. Every 1L here has to take Torts, Contracts, Property, Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, and Legislation & Regulation with their section. We took four of them our first semester, and will take two in the spring. We also have a year long course called Legal Writing and Research, which is simultaneously the most boring and most useful class we'll ever take (or so we've been told). SB tells me that this type of course is called "HLS classes" by Yalies, on account of how boring they are. On the bright side, I hear passing the bar exam is a lot less stressful when you've taken the basics. **
So, even given all those requirements, we still have a little bit of choice our spring semester! We can pick among 7 international/comparative law courses. I'm taking one on international business law, which is super exciting. Other options include International Public Law, The Constitutional Order & International Law, Intro to Chinese Law, and European Legal Theories.
Then, we have one straight elective. Here, I have basically no idea what to pick. The choices are overwhelming. We can pick between larger or smaller classes, and I think I'd like to take a smaller class. So far, every class has been with a group of the same 80 folks. There, though, all decisiveness on my part vanishes. How to pick between Family Law and Disability Law? Poverty Law and Local Government Law? Everyone I've talked to is in the same spot, and we all admit to being pretty excited to find out what class we get into to. (And thrilled to be paging through the course guide.) Daily, my pre-law school worries of "Harvard Law Student: Master of the Universe" is replaced by the reality of "Harvard Law Student: Gentle Geek."
** There are other snarky comments I could add in here concerning YLS's supposed inability to prepare students for an acutal lawyering job, but they're probably not true, and anyway, we still go to school in Boston and not New Haven.
So, even given all those requirements, we still have a little bit of choice our spring semester! We can pick among 7 international/comparative law courses. I'm taking one on international business law, which is super exciting. Other options include International Public Law, The Constitutional Order & International Law, Intro to Chinese Law, and European Legal Theories.
Then, we have one straight elective. Here, I have basically no idea what to pick. The choices are overwhelming. We can pick between larger or smaller classes, and I think I'd like to take a smaller class. So far, every class has been with a group of the same 80 folks. There, though, all decisiveness on my part vanishes. How to pick between Family Law and Disability Law? Poverty Law and Local Government Law? Everyone I've talked to is in the same spot, and we all admit to being pretty excited to find out what class we get into to. (And thrilled to be paging through the course guide.) Daily, my pre-law school worries of "Harvard Law Student: Master of the Universe" is replaced by the reality of "Harvard Law Student: Gentle Geek."
** There are other snarky comments I could add in here concerning YLS's supposed inability to prepare students for an acutal lawyering job, but they're probably not true, and anyway, we still go to school in Boston and not New Haven.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Colder Calls in Boston
Since I was thinking on posting about exactly the same thing this week (and am obviously too lazy to come up with a new topic): Cold Calls Part II. In Boston, they are a little colder than New Haven. Like the weather, I guess.
Cold calling, obviously, varies a lot from class to class. There is one professor who sort of lets you know ahead of time if you're going to be on deck by picking people who are associated with the case of the day. For example, if the case set is in Idaho, and you're from Boise, it's better to pay close attention to the reading. However, this doesn't always work. Rumor has it that during the class on International Shoe, he looked at a girl in the front row and said "X, I see you're wearing shoes. Care to enlighten us on the background to this case?" Another professor literally calls on every single person in the room during every class.
Sarcasm levels vary a lot also. I think that the vast vast vast majority of professors are extremely gentle with people who are having trouble, and move on quickly if you can't answer the question. There are, though, one or two who I'm pretty sure feel nostalgic for the days of the Paper Chase. After all, twenty years ago many of them were sitting more or less in exactly the same seats we're in now. And their professors were not nice, or so we've been told. Consequently, every now and then, you hear of a professor saying something on the extremely sarcastic side. For example, I've heard the following exchange took place after a professor asked a yes/no question.
Hapless Student: Is the answer...yes?
Professor Snark: Could you come up with a shorter and more accurate answer?
Cold calling, obviously, varies a lot from class to class. There is one professor who sort of lets you know ahead of time if you're going to be on deck by picking people who are associated with the case of the day. For example, if the case set is in Idaho, and you're from Boise, it's better to pay close attention to the reading. However, this doesn't always work. Rumor has it that during the class on International Shoe, he looked at a girl in the front row and said "X, I see you're wearing shoes. Care to enlighten us on the background to this case?" Another professor literally calls on every single person in the room during every class.
Sarcasm levels vary a lot also. I think that the vast vast vast majority of professors are extremely gentle with people who are having trouble, and move on quickly if you can't answer the question. There are, though, one or two who I'm pretty sure feel nostalgic for the days of the Paper Chase. After all, twenty years ago many of them were sitting more or less in exactly the same seats we're in now. And their professors were not nice, or so we've been told. Consequently, every now and then, you hear of a professor saying something on the extremely sarcastic side. For example, I've heard the following exchange took place after a professor asked a yes/no question.
Hapless Student: Is the answer...yes?
Professor Snark: Could you come up with a shorter and more accurate answer?
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Too Hot for Cold Calls
One of the things that most, if not all, incoming law students are afraid of at the beginning of first semester is being “cold called” in class. Some people saw the movie “The Paper Chase” or read “1L” [personally, I refused to do either] and determined that professors want students to look stupid or screw up in front of the entire class. Luckily, at my school, that is most certainly not the case – although each professor has a different way of cold calling (or not), they’re generally a good-natured bunch, and the modified Socratic method actually does force you to learn quite a bit (which is good, in a semester where we’re graded pass/fail - or, as the Dean says, "pass/pass").
Each of my four professors has a different method for the use of cold calling. My torts professor, Guido (who S.G. wrote about here), likes to assign a section of the class to be “on call” for each section of cases. Supposedly, people sitting in that section are supposed to be extra-vigilant in their reading so that they’re ready to answer questions…but usually, so many people volunteer that everyone forgets who’s on call in the first place.
My procedure professor expects everyone to be prepared to talk about the reading, but he usually hints as to whom he’s planning to call on during the next class so that those people can be ready. In procedure, we’re often asked to take on the persona of a Supreme Court justice and give our opinion about how we’d have ruled on a particular case – to be put on the spot like that is sometimes scary, but it helps you really understand the underlying legal principles (and it can be fun to pretend to be Scalia or O’Connor...especially when it results in the professor doing impressions of the esteemed justices).
My small group class (with only 15 1L students) is constitutional law. For each day of class, only one person is on call. I’m on call tomorrow: I’m supposed to be the expert on the various affirmative action decisions of the Court. I’m a little worried I’ll get some of the dissenting opinions mixed up, but our professor isn't too aggressive, and the seminar style of the class means that everyone pitches in to help you out if you’re not sure of an answer – small group love.
In contracts, my professor calls on just one or two people a day, out of the blue – no warning. Today I ended up being on call for AN HOUR AND A HALF, and it went just fine since I’d done the reading. Talking with the professor about the arguments in the case definitely made me focus on the most important points, even if it meant that I was too busy participating in class that I didn’t get to take notes. [And, a friend of mine, who heard that I'd been put on call, decided it'd be funny to frantically gchat me for the entire time...hilarious.] Luckily, my small group members (with whom I have all my classes) sent me notes before I even left class...as the work piles on, we're realizing that it's a good idea to stick together to get stuff done. Speaking of work...back to my brief (due Monday! eek!)...
Each of my four professors has a different method for the use of cold calling. My torts professor, Guido (who S.G. wrote about here), likes to assign a section of the class to be “on call” for each section of cases. Supposedly, people sitting in that section are supposed to be extra-vigilant in their reading so that they’re ready to answer questions…but usually, so many people volunteer that everyone forgets who’s on call in the first place.
My procedure professor expects everyone to be prepared to talk about the reading, but he usually hints as to whom he’s planning to call on during the next class so that those people can be ready. In procedure, we’re often asked to take on the persona of a Supreme Court justice and give our opinion about how we’d have ruled on a particular case – to be put on the spot like that is sometimes scary, but it helps you really understand the underlying legal principles (and it can be fun to pretend to be Scalia or O’Connor...especially when it results in the professor doing impressions of the esteemed justices).
My small group class (with only 15 1L students) is constitutional law. For each day of class, only one person is on call. I’m on call tomorrow: I’m supposed to be the expert on the various affirmative action decisions of the Court. I’m a little worried I’ll get some of the dissenting opinions mixed up, but our professor isn't too aggressive, and the seminar style of the class means that everyone pitches in to help you out if you’re not sure of an answer – small group love.
In contracts, my professor calls on just one or two people a day, out of the blue – no warning. Today I ended up being on call for AN HOUR AND A HALF, and it went just fine since I’d done the reading. Talking with the professor about the arguments in the case definitely made me focus on the most important points, even if it meant that I was too busy participating in class that I didn’t get to take notes. [And, a friend of mine, who heard that I'd been put on call, decided it'd be funny to frantically gchat me for the entire time...hilarious.] Luckily, my small group members (with whom I have all my classes) sent me notes before I even left class...as the work piles on, we're realizing that it's a good idea to stick together to get stuff done. Speaking of work...back to my brief (due Monday! eek!)...
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Election Day Post-Mortem
Now, 24 hours later, the gravity of last night still hasn't really sunken in for me. Of course, it was the topic of conversation all day today - most classes spent a significant portion of the class period, if not all of it, discussing the presidential election, the in-limbo Senate races, and the various ballot initiatives (Arkansas, really?!?). Still, inauguration day is a couple months away...and my heart ached to be back home in DC last night as the returns were coming in, as much as I loved watching the historic event with my classmates.
While lots of people went to smaller viewing parties at friends' homes, a bunch of people also watched the night's events at school. We had fruit, cookies, lemon bars, and abundant bottled water to get us through...I added a couple bottles of Mountain Dew, since it had already been a pretty long day (full disclosure: I didn't have class till 1, but woke up at 8:30 naturally...still, I made myself stay in bed till 11:30 because I knew I'd be a wreck otherwise). Most people were constantly refreshing CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and fivethirtyeight on their laptops - one girl's dad apparently works at CBS News, so he gave us the "insider" word that they were going to call it for Obama a couple minutes before 11. (Of course, we fivethirtyeight addicts already knew that PA/VA/OH - or any combination of two of the above, or maybe even just one - was going to be enough).
Celebration ensued. Interestingly, a TON of the LLM students were in attendance, and they seemed near the most excited! The African-American crew was also elated, as expected...but honestly I think the general population at school didn't see this as a "race thing" as much as a "human/national progress" thing [there are, of course, conservatives at school - a vocal minority, to be sure - but by this point in the night, most of them had realized what McCain's camp knew weeks ago: the man is old, Palin's a wacko, and Grant Park wasn't set up to be the location of a concession speech; moreover, nobody can deny the historic nature of the win].
There was champagne! Corks were popping! One bottle was apparently brought back after a failed attempt to celebrate in 2004.
We watched the speeches. I was misty-eyed the whole time, but I was crying unabashedly by the end. Oh, to be in that park...but the energy was still electric.
We walked home, my roommates and I, only to find along the way that a ton of the university's students had assembled on Old Campus to celebrate. They didn't get the same treatment as some kids in Baltimore did (Don't tase me!), but they were jubillant nonetheless - the enthusiasm was undeniable as people ran to greet one another and be a part of the hysteria.
Today, our professors were tired (they stayed up, too!), we were tired, and we uniformly hadn't done our reading as assigned...but it didn't seem to matter. There were lots of Obama t-shirts and stickers and buttons on display - some worn by those just now returning from their posts doing voter protection in key battleground states. We speculated about possible SCOTUS nominations...we debated the dress...and we were shocked that Ms. Palin apparently knows less about Africa than I know about moose hunting...but in the end, we still have writing assignments to attend to, resumes to revise for the impending summer job search, and sourcecites to do...
***
While lots of people went to smaller viewing parties at friends' homes, a bunch of people also watched the night's events at school. We had fruit, cookies, lemon bars, and abundant bottled water to get us through...I added a couple bottles of Mountain Dew, since it had already been a pretty long day (full disclosure: I didn't have class till 1, but woke up at 8:30 naturally...still, I made myself stay in bed till 11:30 because I knew I'd be a wreck otherwise). Most people were constantly refreshing CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and fivethirtyeight on their laptops - one girl's dad apparently works at CBS News, so he gave us the "insider" word that they were going to call it for Obama a couple minutes before 11. (Of course, we fivethirtyeight addicts already knew that PA/VA/OH - or any combination of two of the above, or maybe even just one - was going to be enough).
Celebration ensued. Interestingly, a TON of the LLM students were in attendance, and they seemed near the most excited! The African-American crew was also elated, as expected...but honestly I think the general population at school didn't see this as a "race thing" as much as a "human/national progress" thing [there are, of course, conservatives at school - a vocal minority, to be sure - but by this point in the night, most of them had realized what McCain's camp knew weeks ago: the man is old, Palin's a wacko, and Grant Park wasn't set up to be the location of a concession speech; moreover, nobody can deny the historic nature of the win].
There was champagne! Corks were popping! One bottle was apparently brought back after a failed attempt to celebrate in 2004.
We watched the speeches. I was misty-eyed the whole time, but I was crying unabashedly by the end. Oh, to be in that park...but the energy was still electric.
We walked home, my roommates and I, only to find along the way that a ton of the university's students had assembled on Old Campus to celebrate. They didn't get the same treatment as some kids in Baltimore did (Don't tase me!), but they were jubillant nonetheless - the enthusiasm was undeniable as people ran to greet one another and be a part of the hysteria.
Today, our professors were tired (they stayed up, too!), we were tired, and we uniformly hadn't done our reading as assigned...but it didn't seem to matter. There were lots of Obama t-shirts and stickers and buttons on display - some worn by those just now returning from their posts doing voter protection in key battleground states. We speculated about possible SCOTUS nominations...we debated the dress...and we were shocked that Ms. Palin apparently knows less about Africa than I know about moose hunting...but in the end, we still have writing assignments to attend to, resumes to revise for the impending summer job search, and sourcecites to do...
***
Monday, November 3, 2008
Election Day
It's been approaching for a mighty long time, but it's finally here! The steps that the law school has taken to accommodate it have been pretty sweet. They're taping all the classes so that people can feel free to campaign, vote, go home, whatever. We're having a school-run election party, at which we've been promised, and I quote, "a non-lame" gift. And of course, the fact that one of the candidates is an alumni of the school hasn't hurt at all.
Unfortunately, my feelings on election night are basically mixed. I've already voted by absentee ballot in a state where my vote will make no difference. I hate watching the returns come in, because I find it super stressful. Plus, the fact that I have to get up the next morning and go to class is kinda sucky. Still, happy election day! Go vote!
Addendum on November 5th: It was pointed out today that the law school now controls two out of the three branches of government (presidency, majority on the Supreme Court.) I can't decide if I find that troubling or not.
Unfortunately, my feelings on election night are basically mixed. I've already voted by absentee ballot in a state where my vote will make no difference. I hate watching the returns come in, because I find it super stressful. Plus, the fact that I have to get up the next morning and go to class is kinda sucky. Still, happy election day! Go vote!
Addendum on November 5th: It was pointed out today that the law school now controls two out of the three branches of government (presidency, majority on the Supreme Court.) I can't decide if I find that troubling or not.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Happy Halloween! (And Happy Birthday, Mom!)
Overheard on the way to school today:
(Undergrad) girl, complaining to parking enforcement officer outside of Starbucks, as she's just been ticketed for a parking violation: But it's Halloween!
Officer: You still have to follow the parking laws, ma'am.
Girl: But it's Hall-o-ween. Like, it's a hol-i-day.
Officer: Not exactly. [Something about it not being a real holiday...]
Girl: F***in' Halloween! Thirty bucks?!?
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Class Isn't All Fun & Games...Sometimes It's Cake, too.
This week we're [at my school, and at Cat's] on fall break - woot. I had been anxiously awaiting vacation for the past couple weeks. I'll admit - I skipped a couple classes this past week (we had a memo due! I hadn't slept! there were gunshots! - but really, on Wednesday, I *did* have a really bad headache, RP, I promise!). NOBODY, though, skipped torts @ 8:30 on Friday morning, the day before break. There was important business to be done afterward - Saturday was Guido's 76th birthday, and there was a party to be had! I've included some pictures below:
* Here's the cake: Guido's a proud Italian, and the whole party had an Italian theme - we sang "Happy Birthday" in Italian, there was a coffee bar, and of course, there was an Italian flag on the cake.
* Here's Guido, posing with the stuffed animal "J.S.", the pig-like dog. "J.S." makes regular appearances in hypotheticals. He's also featured on the t-shirt everyone's sporting in these pictures, which were commissioned especially for the occasion: they depict a number of the cast of characters that are commonly mentioned in class. I'll wager the shirts become a hot commodity - who wouldn't want one?!?
* Here's most of our class (1Ls and a few LLMs), wearing our cool t-shirts!
* Here's the cake: Guido's a proud Italian, and the whole party had an Italian theme - we sang "Happy Birthday" in Italian, there was a coffee bar, and of course, there was an Italian flag on the cake.
* Here's Guido, posing with the stuffed animal "J.S.", the pig-like dog. "J.S." makes regular appearances in hypotheticals. He's also featured on the t-shirt everyone's sporting in these pictures, which were commissioned especially for the occasion: they depict a number of the cast of characters that are commonly mentioned in class. I'll wager the shirts become a hot commodity - who wouldn't want one?!?
* Here's most of our class (1Ls and a few LLMs), wearing our cool t-shirts!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Learning to Read Again
In keeping with SB's studious theme (a theme I could adopt right now) I thought I'd write a little bit about reading. Reading in law school is definitely not like reading in college. There is a lot less of it, but it's super dense, and you have to understand pretty much all of it in case you get cold-called. This is difficult, because reading case books is boring. Boring in the kind of way where you sit down to read in the library and wake up two hours later still on the first page. To try to combat this problem I:
(a) fortify myself with a bag of M&Ms or animal crackers
(b) skim the reading once to get a sense of where it's going
(c) read it in depth, taking notes in the margins (this is more to keep myself awake than anything else), and
(d) quickly brief the fact pattern, the legal question, and the holding/rationale (what I brief varies from class to class).
Of course, this is not possible on days when I'm desperately trying to catch up on two days worth of reading during the lunch break. Then, I generally opt for just trying to remember the party names. SB, what's your strategy?
(a) fortify myself with a bag of M&Ms or animal crackers
(b) skim the reading once to get a sense of where it's going
(c) read it in depth, taking notes in the margins (this is more to keep myself awake than anything else), and
(d) quickly brief the fact pattern, the legal question, and the holding/rationale (what I brief varies from class to class).
Of course, this is not possible on days when I'm desperately trying to catch up on two days worth of reading during the lunch break. Then, I generally opt for just trying to remember the party names. SB, what's your strategy?
Essential Elements of Writing in Law School
The following things, I have come to note over the past three weeks, are (not an exhaustive list of) essentials to have on hand when writing a paper for law school:
* Post-It flags. They mark important passages in case law. They also can help create an artificial sense of accomplishment when, if you remove the flags as you insert their corresponding points into your paper, you accumulate a pile of discarded/completed flags.
* Laptop charger/power cord. Obviously. My computer can make it through 4ish hours of class without being plugged in, which seems pretty decent...but Rome wasn't built in a day.
* A big glass of water. Or juice. Or lemonade. Not vodka. Staying hydrated is important. For me, more important than being caffeinated.
* Saline solution or eye drops to keep my eyes hydrated. I think my eyes are getting worse, honestly, but regardless, they are certainly drier now that I live in New England. That is a problem come 3am.
* Chocolate, or something else sweet to make me feel better when I realize that I am, in fact, still awake at 3am because, let's face it, this paper isn't writing itself...
Monday, October 13, 2008
Columbus, You Creep, I'm Pretty Grateful Right Now
Yay for federal holidays! (Even those celebrating a man who maybe shouldn't be celebrated that much.) I think the craziness of law school just makes the time off that much better. Yesterday, I went apple picking with some friends, which was pretty much the greatest thing ever. Although I nearly killed myself falling out of a tree, I am now the very proud owner of a bag of Concord apples, and am concocting plans about applesauce. Today, some other 1Ls and I are going shopping for winter clothes. The Californians in my class are looking distinctly nervous about the approaching deep freeze.
So, it is possible to be a law student and have fun. Who would have guessed? A friend of mine who is also a 1L told me he spends at least 8 hours day asleep, makes sure he exercises, and spends his weekends just walking around the city with his wife. That, I think, is the right way to do law school.
So, it is possible to be a law student and have fun. Who would have guessed? A friend of mine who is also a 1L told me he spends at least 8 hours day asleep, makes sure he exercises, and spends his weekends just walking around the city with his wife. That, I think, is the right way to do law school.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Love at First Sight
This weekend was alumni/reunion weekend at school. A bunch of old people (and a few young people) showed up to see their former classmates and professors and to see what the school is like today. They got to sit on panel discussions and hear lectures, take tours of the law school (and the building acquired by the law school, to be opened in a few years - presumably, to encourage them to donate to its development). They also got to hear a particularly esteemed fellow graduate talk on Saturday afternoon - your good friend and mine Bill Clinton stopped by to talk a bit about his time in law school, the current financial crisis, the upcoming election, and his work since leaving office. Overall, it was a really good speech - we heard about how he met Hillary in the law school library (she couldn't come this weekend because she's campaigning for Barack - something "much more important" - a comment about which received thunderous applause from the audience), and about how he missed class a lot to help with campaigns. It seems he was quite a maverick in his time.To put it simply, I am absolutely in love with Bill Clinton. I have been in love with him forever. I'll admit, my 14-year-old self was somewhat enraptured when the Starr report came out - I read the whole thing cover-to-cover in one sitting [and I'll freely cop to having been more than a little bit jealous of Monica]. I was flabbergasted when a friend of mine quit his job with Bill's office in Harlem last fall - who says no when asked to off Bill's dry cleaning and getting his watch fixed?!? I may have gotten a little teary-eyed when, on Saturday, he told us all to "do what [we] like, and help others" because that will ultimately make us happy.
It's really amazing to spend the weekend surrounded by people - Fmr. President Clinton is just one example - who have made such awesome contributions to society after having sat in my chair, taken my classes, and been in my same student groups. It's simultaneously encouraging (look at everything you can go on to do!) and intimidating (can you ever achieve the scale that these people have?)...but it's thrilling, regardless.
Why I Hate My Bluebook
This weekend, I spent about 7 hours checking footnotes on three pages of an article that will be published in one of the school law journals. This is called "subciting", but should be renamed "a miserable way to waste a Sunday."
First, I found the works that had been referred to in the footnotes. Then I tried to figure out if the facts being footnoted were correct. This took .5 hours. The other 6.5 hours was spent ensuring that the footnotes were in the correct format according to the Blue Book. I had only 20 footnotes to check, but there were three problems: (1) the Bluebook has 400 pages (2) all of my sources were in a foreign language, and (3) I had no idea what I was doing.
On the bright side, we get a free coffee mug from the dean tomorrow. Also, on the actual bright side, it seems that my former housemates, including SB, are coming to town on Friday. Sweet!
First, I found the works that had been referred to in the footnotes. Then I tried to figure out if the facts being footnoted were correct. This took .5 hours. The other 6.5 hours was spent ensuring that the footnotes were in the correct format according to the Blue Book. I had only 20 footnotes to check, but there were three problems: (1) the Bluebook has 400 pages (2) all of my sources were in a foreign language, and (3) I had no idea what I was doing.
On the bright side, we get a free coffee mug from the dean tomorrow. Also, on the actual bright side, it seems that my former housemates, including SB, are coming to town on Friday. Sweet!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Breaking News!
1. Most people in law school (and professors at law school) are flamingly liberal. In class yesterday, somebody responded to, "How do we fix that?" with "Elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States," and nobody laughed or giggled or reacted at all. It was just taken as fact.
2. My "memo" is now "completed." It is probably not actually a memo, and most certainly is not completed. It is, however, only a draft of an ungraded assignment in a class in which we're all-but-guaranteed to pass.
3. I will now fall asleep at the ungodly hour of 11pm, which is 6 hours earlier than I went to bed last night.
2. My "memo" is now "completed." It is probably not actually a memo, and most certainly is not completed. It is, however, only a draft of an ungraded assignment in a class in which we're all-but-guaranteed to pass.
3. I will now fall asleep at the ungodly hour of 11pm, which is 6 hours earlier than I went to bed last night.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
This Blog is Temporarily Suspended...So I Can Focus on the Economy
Well, not it's not *really* the economy...more like "geez, this is more work in a week than I've ever had to do before [except maybe when I wrote a 40-page graduate qualitative research paper in four days - but let's just say that was a BAD experience, in which I actually locked myself in my office, and one which I hope never to repeat again], so I probably won't have time to blog again before the weekend."
Things I gotta do:
* Twelve page memo (this only after reading 10 cases, about 400-500 pages total, maybe?) due Thursday
* Pleading written assignment due Thursday
* Compile a list of biographies for a journal-sponsored conference I signed up to help with
* Contracts reading for "tomorrow" which is really today since it's now 4:15 am; torts, procedure, and con law reading for Wednesday
* Secure at least one for-sure partner for my non-law-school-job, and work a bunch of other contacts
So....I hope you'll cut me some slack. I promise, my thoughts about Cat's school's new grading scheme are coming; plus, updates and other random stuff.
Things I gotta do:
* Twelve page memo (this only after reading 10 cases, about 400-500 pages total, maybe?) due Thursday
* Pleading written assignment due Thursday
* Compile a list of biographies for a journal-sponsored conference I signed up to help with
* Contracts reading for "tomorrow" which is really today since it's now 4:15 am; torts, procedure, and con law reading for Wednesday
* Secure at least one for-sure partner for my non-law-school-job, and work a bunch of other contacts
So....I hope you'll cut me some slack. I promise, my thoughts about Cat's school's new grading scheme are coming; plus, updates and other random stuff.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
To Grade or Not to Grade?
The dean has just announced that she's considering replacing A,B,C etc. grades with Honors, Pass, Low Pass, and Fail. This has prompted what I've nickednamed (not so fondly) the Great Grade Debate. I have no strong opinions on the subject, but everyone else seems to. Unfortunately, I think the heated arguments will continue until the dean announces her decision (and likely well after.)
In other law school news, we too have started writing briefs. Unlike SB, we have a special class just devoted to learning to write like a lawyer. Beore I started the class, I thought that just meant adding in a lot of "heretofores" and weird latin phrases. Unfortunately, it is not so simple - we get a fact pattern and then have to find, analyze, and apply the relevant law. Of course, we have no idea what the revelant law might be, since we've only had four weeks of law school. I had to have more than one beer before I could even take a stab at our brief. Luckily, we too get to meet with a 2L before handing in the memo. I'm not sure who this helps more - us, or the professor, who instead of reading astoundingly tragically awful briefs just reads somewhat tragically awful briefs. Either way, I'm grateful.
My apartment has reached that special level of chaos that only comes at the end of a week in law school. I'm not sure how to resolve this, other than constantly nagging my boyfriend. Also, I have the nagging feeling that learning how to think like a lawyer is just making solving my actual problems more difficult. Thank god I'm not getting a grade on life - under either system, I think I'd be in trouble.
In other law school news, we too have started writing briefs. Unlike SB, we have a special class just devoted to learning to write like a lawyer. Beore I started the class, I thought that just meant adding in a lot of "heretofores" and weird latin phrases. Unfortunately, it is not so simple - we get a fact pattern and then have to find, analyze, and apply the relevant law. Of course, we have no idea what the revelant law might be, since we've only had four weeks of law school. I had to have more than one beer before I could even take a stab at our brief. Luckily, we too get to meet with a 2L before handing in the memo. I'm not sure who this helps more - us, or the professor, who instead of reading astoundingly tragically awful briefs just reads somewhat tragically awful briefs. Either way, I'm grateful.
My apartment has reached that special level of chaos that only comes at the end of a week in law school. I'm not sure how to resolve this, other than constantly nagging my boyfriend. Also, I have the nagging feeling that learning how to think like a lawyer is just making solving my actual problems more difficult. Thank god I'm not getting a grade on life - under either system, I think I'd be in trouble.
Procrastination Leads to Political Action
I didn't make it to the group viewing of the debate at school tonight, but I caught the second half of the debate at home and followed it closely on Twitter. Then a college acquaintance of mine got angry about one of my (misinterpreted, on her part) tweets, and sent me an angry message on my Facebook wall. A few quick back-and-forths later, she realized I was NOT: a) insulting Michelle Obama or b) insulting Barack Obama. Well then.
On a rainy Friday night, what better to do post-debate than exercise some quasi-political views? A few days ago in the midst of my con law procrastination, I was paging through an issue of Marie Claire, which I generally find to be the most intelligent of the trashy women's magazines. That is, until I stumbled upon this gem of an article: How to Talk About Politics You Don't Really Understand - A shamelessly oversimplified cocktail-party guide to where the candidates stand on the big questions.
Some highlights:
Now, I'm not the MOST politically-aware person out there; I'll admit, there are a LOT of issues that I should learn more about - taxes, the economy, and energy policy being just a few examples. But, c'mon...that last one isn't even coherent.
So, I wrote an angry e-mail to the editor:
Dear Marie Claire,
I am *extremely* disappointed with your article, How to Talk About Issues You Don't Really Understand (by Yael Kohen and Lauren Iannotti, pg. 122 - October 2008). Rather than giving your readers "smarty-pants sound [bites]," why not encourage them to learn more about the complicated and important issues up for debate in the election? If you really want to empower women to act intelligently within the political system, give them the tools to exercise their well-informed voice in the voting booth - NOT at a cocktail party.
To be perfectly frank, I am insulted that you would encourage women - even tongue-in-cheek - to use any of the lines in your article. A woman who hasn't thought critically about the differences between the candidates most likely has no idea who de Tocqueville or Keynes were, or the effects they have had on society. Please stop promoting the idea that women don't (or don't need to) care about the future of our country; we're the majority of the electorate, but we have no hope of being elected to the highest office in the land if we limit our political involvement to "[kicking] back, [mixing] up some cocktails, and [watching] the returns roll in." Maybe you could have given instructions for how to register to vote? No partying without pulling the lever first.
I'm never reading your magazine again.
And that, dear readers, is the extent of my productiveness for this Friday. Zero class reading done. Zero laundry done. Meh. That's what the real weekend is for, right?
On a rainy Friday night, what better to do post-debate than exercise some quasi-political views? A few days ago in the midst of my con law procrastination, I was paging through an issue of Marie Claire, which I generally find to be the most intelligent of the trashy women's magazines. That is, until I stumbled upon this gem of an article: How to Talk About Politics You Don't Really Understand - A shamelessly oversimplified cocktail-party guide to where the candidates stand on the big questions.
Some highlights:
YOUR SMARTY-PANTS SOUND BITE [about the War]
"Well, Iraq isn't the first time we've overestimated an enemy. Hello, NSC-68? The intelligence report that grossly misrepresented Russia's capabilities, jump-started the Cold War, and pushed us into a decades-long arms race? Duh."
YOUR SMARTY-PANTS SOUND BITE [about Energy]
"You know, in New Zealand, where sheep outnumber people 10 to 1, over half of greenhouse gases come from the country's 50 million livestock. If only they could harness all that methane . . . could you pass the bean dip?"
Now, I'm not the MOST politically-aware person out there; I'll admit, there are a LOT of issues that I should learn more about - taxes, the economy, and energy policy being just a few examples. But, c'mon...that last one isn't even coherent.
So, I wrote an angry e-mail to the editor:
Dear Marie Claire,
I am *extremely* disappointed with your article, How to Talk About Issues You Don't Really Understand (by Yael Kohen and Lauren Iannotti, pg. 122 - October 2008). Rather than giving your readers "smarty-pants sound [bites]," why not encourage them to learn more about the complicated and important issues up for debate in the election? If you really want to empower women to act intelligently within the political system, give them the tools to exercise their well-informed voice in the voting booth - NOT at a cocktail party.
To be perfectly frank, I am insulted that you would encourage women - even tongue-in-cheek - to use any of the lines in your article. A woman who hasn't thought critically about the differences between the candidates most likely has no idea who de Tocqueville or Keynes were, or the effects they have had on society. Please stop promoting the idea that women don't (or don't need to) care about the future of our country; we're the majority of the electorate, but we have no hope of being elected to the highest office in the land if we limit our political involvement to "[kicking] back, [mixing] up some cocktails, and [watching] the returns roll in." Maybe you could have given instructions for how to register to vote? No partying without pulling the lever first.
I'm never reading your magazine again.
And that, dear readers, is the extent of my productiveness for this Friday. Zero class reading done. Zero laundry done. Meh. That's what the real weekend is for, right?
Thursday, September 25, 2008
We Get Free Cable...Turns Out That's Not Always Good
My roommates are both gone till Sunday (so like, 5 or 6 days away from school - in the first month! I'd freak out...but then, we don't have grades, so....), so I have the apartment all to myself. It's been awesome. Even though I love them dearly, and I lived all of last year with anywhere between 5-8 roommates at a time, it's going to be super-helpful* if I can take advantage of the distraction-free* environment to work on my writing assignments this weekend.
*Note: It's very unlikely that any real work will be done if I'm in the apartment. It's too tempting to watch tv. I've watched approximately 6 hours of Law & Order in the past two days [that's part of my education, right?!?]. Plus 3 hours of the Golf Channel. And a couple hours of football. And Project Runway. And Top Design. Perhaps the only deterrent is that our couch isn't particularly comfortable after the first hour. Obviously, though, that hasn't stopped me yet.
Boo. Writing assignments. We have a 12-page memo to write by next Thursday for our small group class (con law), wherein we're supposed to make arguments based on a "closed-world" set of 9 cases that have been given to us by our professor. We have to submit a draft to be edited by our TAs before it's seen by the professor, so not particularly a be-all-end-all situation, but I think the consensus is that we don't want to look utterly stupid. We also have to write a complaint (in partners) for our procedure class. Also due Thursday. C'mon, professors...coordinate?
On the good side, this week has been nice (and will continue to be so) because a couple of my professors have canceled class. I can sleep in till basically whenever I want tomorrow and Monday. I should use that time to work on my writing assignments. I will likely just do laundry, and work on my non-law-school-job work. Oh well. One to 3 am is the most productive window of the day, right?
A few random things:
* Lexis/WestLaw free printing (only of law cases, but since that's all I read these days...) is amazing. It saved me from spending $130 on a contracts book. I actually like the red Lexis logo printed on all the pages. And the rewards programs for using their services seem sweet, since I'd be using them anyway. My law student self looks back on my high school debater self [which unabashedly flirted with debate guys that had Lexis passwords, in hopes of getting to use them] and says, "Whoa! My own Lexis password! I'm on top of the world!"
* Note from my apartment's management (seemingly directed at the undergrads that live in many of the other apartments), paraphrased:
* You know you're back in school when you start planning for your school vacations. We have a week off in October (it's fly-back week for 2Ls doing firm interviews, and everyone else just gets a vacation), so I've been planning my escape this week. One small group is organizing a trip to Costa Rica. I have two trips planned for the bookend weekends - one to the Midwest, and the other to a city/state I haven't been out west.
* Things my schoolmates have written/done this week (I'm feeling more and more inadequate by the day...):
*Note: It's very unlikely that any real work will be done if I'm in the apartment. It's too tempting to watch tv. I've watched approximately 6 hours of Law & Order in the past two days [that's part of my education, right?!?]. Plus 3 hours of the Golf Channel. And a couple hours of football. And Project Runway. And Top Design. Perhaps the only deterrent is that our couch isn't particularly comfortable after the first hour. Obviously, though, that hasn't stopped me yet.
Boo. Writing assignments. We have a 12-page memo to write by next Thursday for our small group class (con law), wherein we're supposed to make arguments based on a "closed-world" set of 9 cases that have been given to us by our professor. We have to submit a draft to be edited by our TAs before it's seen by the professor, so not particularly a be-all-end-all situation, but I think the consensus is that we don't want to look utterly stupid. We also have to write a complaint (in partners) for our procedure class. Also due Thursday. C'mon, professors...coordinate?
On the good side, this week has been nice (and will continue to be so) because a couple of my professors have canceled class. I can sleep in till basically whenever I want tomorrow and Monday. I should use that time to work on my writing assignments. I will likely just do laundry, and work on my non-law-school-job work. Oh well. One to 3 am is the most productive window of the day, right?
A few random things:
* Lexis/WestLaw free printing (only of law cases, but since that's all I read these days...) is amazing. It saved me from spending $130 on a contracts book. I actually like the red Lexis logo printed on all the pages. And the rewards programs for using their services seem sweet, since I'd be using them anyway. My law student self looks back on my high school debater self [which unabashedly flirted with debate guys that had Lexis passwords, in hopes of getting to use them] and says, "Whoa! My own Lexis password! I'm on top of the world!"
* Note from my apartment's management (seemingly directed at the undergrads that live in many of the other apartments), paraphrased:
"It has come to our attention that there has been drinking in the hallways. Parties are not allowed in the hallways, or on the steps, or in the parking lot. We'll evict you if you keep being loud. Thanks for being great tenants."We love our management. Yeah, not long ago we were those obnoxious undergrads (and we try to avoid seeing ourselves as the grumpy grad students), but it's a little ridiculous to have thumping base radiating through our door at 4am. On a Monday night.
* You know you're back in school when you start planning for your school vacations. We have a week off in October (it's fly-back week for 2Ls doing firm interviews, and everyone else just gets a vacation), so I've been planning my escape this week. One small group is organizing a trip to Costa Rica. I have two trips planned for the bookend weekends - one to the Midwest, and the other to a city/state I haven't been out west.
* Things my schoolmates have written/done this week (I'm feeling more and more inadequate by the day...):
- WashPost op-ed on the financial crisis/bailout plan
- Reflection on David Foster Wallace [one of my favorite writers ever] in NY Mag
- Showing of a documentary about post-9/11 life in America
Monday, September 22, 2008
Training Day
Today was a bit of a breakthrough for me. Not one of those beautifully poetic "everything in law finally makes sense to me - I *will* be a great lawyer!" sort of breakthroughs, though...more like a "finally, I can make it through a day of classes without being haplessly lost at some point" breakthrough. For the past week or so, I've been pretty solid for two of my three full-day-of-classes classes, but today my high school debate experience proved unexpectedly useful in a discussion about federalism (summarily abbreviated as 'fism' in my notes, as has been the case since 9th grade) and centralization/decentralization (aka the states CP in high school policy debate).
When I got unexpectedly called on in my small group (I read most of my con law cases on the computer rather than printing them out - I think this makes me somewhat vulnerable to the target of 'let's try to find someone who's surfing the internet' cold calls in small group, but I prefer to save some trees...and some money...so I guess a few targeted questions is the price I pay instead), I took a broad sweeping guess at something as vague as possible (I really had no idea what he was asking, and I had only just read (read: skimmed) the opinion about an hour beforehand) - and it turns out that me saying the word "...goal...?" was just what he was looking for. Score.
Then, in an in-class brainstorming session, I managed not to sound like an idiot when comparing centralized and decentralized models of power. That's some states counter-planning for you.
This was in the afternoon, following a morning in which my procedure class was presented with our 'client,' for whom we're supposed to write a complaint this week with a partner. We got to pepper him with questions for about an hour, and it was really quite interesting to think about how the process of client intake happens, especially in cases like this hypothetical one, in which an individual is alleging some sort of (religious? gender?) discrimination. I felt like I managed to ask a few interesting, probing questions - and I was doubly impressed by everyone else's line of questioning. Clearly, we really have no idea what we're doing, and there were a few light moments, such as: "Other than not using condoms, how do you practice your [Catholic] religious beliefs?" ...but come next Wednesday when our assignment is due, we'll have taken our first step toward being competently practicing lawyers from a school that our professor insists doesn't really teach us how to practice.
**
Also, since some people have asked - Appendix A: General Weekly Schedule [and yes, this is cross-posted from TLS: why write it twice?]
My daily schedule really depends on the day; on Monday & Wednesday I have six hours of class between 830 and 4, so I don't really get much time off during the day - I usually spend the hour or two break prepping/finishing reading for my last class of the day. Sometimes I (gasp!) take a nap after class ends, and then there are group/journal/activity meetings at 6 till maybe 8 or 9. Reading and studying happens after that, sometimes till 1 or 2 - but I'm trying to get on a more rational schedule (sleep by midnight or so), or else I worry I'll have to result to Cat's level of tea (in my case, coffee) intake. [As a completely random side-note, my 2am bedtime/830am class has created a weird situation in which I now gchat occasionally with one of my former employees in India...he's at work across that period, and finds it hilarious that I'm awake then.] Mondays usually involve a big group viewing of Gossip Girl.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have class from 830-10 and then have a break till 4pm (class 4-6). I use that break in the day to catch up on e-mail, do reading, and take care of personal errands and my outside-of-law-school job. Again, evenings are meetings and reading. Thursdays are also Bar Review at a local bar...
Fridays are pretty chill, with class in the morning and sometimes lectures or various legal writing instruction; there is always a school-wide happy hour Friday afternoon. People go out on the weekends (weekends being loosely defined as Wednesday-Saturday nights) for sure.
And, also per request - Appendix B: How Classes are Going
Class difficulty is hard to describe, and I imagine it varies WIDELY across professor and individual student, based on what your interests are and where your background is, too. I would say so far my classes would be something like this [1 = easy, 5 = very hard]:
Contracts: 1 or 2...very little reading, just two cases maybe for each class. Things are pretty easy to follow and the professor doesn't move too quickly. She also told us it's the "easiest class ever."
Torts: 3? Everything in this class is covered extensively in past outlines, and the grand concepts aren't that hard to grasp, but so far, for me, understanding how everything interacts at a granular level has been pretty challenging. The professor's been teaching the class for 50 years, so he knows his stuff - and expects us to, too!
Procedure: 2. Not too much reading, and we've so far had a pretty big emphasis on policy analysis, which is more my thing. The readings are more "plain English" than in torts, and things have been building on each other pretty well so far.
Con Law: 4 to 5. This is my "small group" seminar class, so our professor expects a great deal of interaction. He assigns a lot of reading and speaks quickly when he gets excited about an important point...I'm just learning how to really soak up his class, and today, I think, was my real "breakthrough" (though it might just be because we were talking about a topic that I have comparatively extensive knowledge in - that's not saying much, though...).
When I got unexpectedly called on in my small group (I read most of my con law cases on the computer rather than printing them out - I think this makes me somewhat vulnerable to the target of 'let's try to find someone who's surfing the internet' cold calls in small group, but I prefer to save some trees...and some money...so I guess a few targeted questions is the price I pay instead), I took a broad sweeping guess at something as vague as possible (I really had no idea what he was asking, and I had only just read (read: skimmed) the opinion about an hour beforehand) - and it turns out that me saying the word "...goal...?" was just what he was looking for. Score.
Then, in an in-class brainstorming session, I managed not to sound like an idiot when comparing centralized and decentralized models of power. That's some states counter-planning for you.
This was in the afternoon, following a morning in which my procedure class was presented with our 'client,' for whom we're supposed to write a complaint this week with a partner. We got to pepper him with questions for about an hour, and it was really quite interesting to think about how the process of client intake happens, especially in cases like this hypothetical one, in which an individual is alleging some sort of (religious? gender?) discrimination. I felt like I managed to ask a few interesting, probing questions - and I was doubly impressed by everyone else's line of questioning. Clearly, we really have no idea what we're doing, and there were a few light moments, such as: "Other than not using condoms, how do you practice your [Catholic] religious beliefs?" ...but come next Wednesday when our assignment is due, we'll have taken our first step toward being competently practicing lawyers from a school that our professor insists doesn't really teach us how to practice.
**
Also, since some people have asked - Appendix A: General Weekly Schedule [and yes, this is cross-posted from TLS: why write it twice?]
My daily schedule really depends on the day; on Monday & Wednesday I have six hours of class between 830 and 4, so I don't really get much time off during the day - I usually spend the hour or two break prepping/finishing reading for my last class of the day. Sometimes I (gasp!) take a nap after class ends, and then there are group/journal/activity meetings at 6 till maybe 8 or 9. Reading and studying happens after that, sometimes till 1 or 2 - but I'm trying to get on a more rational schedule (sleep by midnight or so), or else I worry I'll have to result to Cat's level of tea (in my case, coffee) intake. [As a completely random side-note, my 2am bedtime/830am class has created a weird situation in which I now gchat occasionally with one of my former employees in India...he's at work across that period, and finds it hilarious that I'm awake then.] Mondays usually involve a big group viewing of Gossip Girl.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I have class from 830-10 and then have a break till 4pm (class 4-6). I use that break in the day to catch up on e-mail, do reading, and take care of personal errands and my outside-of-law-school job. Again, evenings are meetings and reading. Thursdays are also Bar Review at a local bar...
Fridays are pretty chill, with class in the morning and sometimes lectures or various legal writing instruction; there is always a school-wide happy hour Friday afternoon. People go out on the weekends (weekends being loosely defined as Wednesday-Saturday nights) for sure.
And, also per request - Appendix B: How Classes are Going
Class difficulty is hard to describe, and I imagine it varies WIDELY across professor and individual student, based on what your interests are and where your background is, too. I would say so far my classes would be something like this [1 = easy, 5 = very hard]:
Contracts: 1 or 2...very little reading, just two cases maybe for each class. Things are pretty easy to follow and the professor doesn't move too quickly. She also told us it's the "easiest class ever."
Torts: 3? Everything in this class is covered extensively in past outlines, and the grand concepts aren't that hard to grasp, but so far, for me, understanding how everything interacts at a granular level has been pretty challenging. The professor's been teaching the class for 50 years, so he knows his stuff - and expects us to, too!
Procedure: 2. Not too much reading, and we've so far had a pretty big emphasis on policy analysis, which is more my thing. The readings are more "plain English" than in torts, and things have been building on each other pretty well so far.
Con Law: 4 to 5. This is my "small group" seminar class, so our professor expects a great deal of interaction. He assigns a lot of reading and speaks quickly when he gets excited about an important point...I'm just learning how to really soak up his class, and today, I think, was my real "breakthrough" (though it might just be because we were talking about a topic that I have comparatively extensive knowledge in - that's not saying much, though...).
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Activity Avalanche
I had thought law school was a bit overwhelming from week 1, but we've shifted into hyperdrive and exams aren't even on the horizon yet. Like SB, we're picking which activities to join. My section-mates seem to all be members of three journals, two student practice organizations, and are doing another six things on the side. After recovering from a miserable headache I got at the student activities fair, I have concluded that there is no way I am capable of that. In fact, I'm not sure I'm capable of doing anything besides school and some coaching, but I'll take a stab at it.
Although....things are not looking too good. Already my tea intake has jumped from one cup a day to four. Plus, I keep having these horrible dreams about ordinary activities that weirdly become competitive. Like last night, when I dreamt that in order to eat lunch I had to get into a pizza eating contest. I lost, obviously (although I guess I got lunch regardless). Is this some Greek-style omen darkly portending my future? I don't know, and I think I need another cup of tea.
Although....things are not looking too good. Already my tea intake has jumped from one cup a day to four. Plus, I keep having these horrible dreams about ordinary activities that weirdly become competitive. Like last night, when I dreamt that in order to eat lunch I had to get into a pizza eating contest. I lost, obviously (although I guess I got lunch regardless). Is this some Greek-style omen darkly portending my future? I don't know, and I think I need another cup of tea.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Can Men Be a Part of Law Women?
Over the past week or so, we've been bombarded with invitations to participate in various activities: secondary journals, pro-bono legal assistance projects, volunteer projects, mentorship programs, ethnic/religious affiliation groups, music & drama clubs...the list goes on and on, and at a big university, there are also myriad things to get involved with in the other graduate & professional schools. Next Saturday, I'm participating in a Day of Service event, where I'll be helping with a community art project at the city's public library. Helping people = good. Getting up at 8am on a Saturday to do it = hardest part of the day, I predict.
In any case, quick update: WE FINALLY HAVE INTERNET SERVICE. After a bazillion hours on the phone with a very nice woman named Denise, we finally have uninterrupted, legally-gotten DSL in our apartment. Thank goodness. We were about to go crazy. We quite seriously contemplated telecommunication terrorism in the form of pulling all the other apartments' cable/Internet wires from the central hook-up, just to incentivize their servicemen to actually come to our building to set up our service. Luckily, before that happened, the red light magically turned green - and here we are, 100% more connected to the world, 85% less productive than before, at least as far as law school reading goes.
In the process of getting situated and choosing from among the various groups open to us, I've found myself in a very troubling place. Suddenly, the academic workload, at least as far as time out of class goes (for reading or whatever) is head and shoulders above what I've ever experienced before, at least if I want to actually understand anything that's being written. Why can't law scholars write like scientists?!?!? I never thought I'd actively miss reading science journals, but here. I. am.
The problem arises then: What to sign up for? What to commit to? What to pass on this time [unfortunately, in the midst of the Internet debacle, I wasn't able to apply in time for one thing I had kind of wanted to do...maybe it was just a sign that I'd be over-extending myself??]?
If there's one thing we've learned so far, it's this general rule: Don't rule out anything that offers free food. Luckily, almost every single symposium, lecture, and student group meeting offers lunch or dinner - if you're lucky, it's of the non-pizza variety. I've made or bought food maybe once during the past academic week, and I probably won't need to for the rest of this week or next, based on my current plan. Best of all, at this point, since most of the student group meetings are just informational, there's no commitment, and still - lots of free food.
One group for which there was literally no commitment: Law Women's annual welcome dinner. All you had to do was be a woman. That was easy! We all got on buses and drove to a professor's house out in the suburbs...there was great food, good drinks, and fabulous dessert - just for having been born into (or, you know, currently claiming membership in) the near-half of the population that is female.
Great quote from the dinner:
"When you're sitting in class, not saying anything out loud, and some *guy* raises his hand and says something stupid, you're probably thinking, 'That's wrong!' Well, let me tell you, we professors are thinking he's saying something idiotic, too! We just can't say it. So, please, raise your hand and point out his stupidity!" - Host Professor
*
In any case, quick update: WE FINALLY HAVE INTERNET SERVICE. After a bazillion hours on the phone with a very nice woman named Denise, we finally have uninterrupted, legally-gotten DSL in our apartment. Thank goodness. We were about to go crazy. We quite seriously contemplated telecommunication terrorism in the form of pulling all the other apartments' cable/Internet wires from the central hook-up, just to incentivize their servicemen to actually come to our building to set up our service. Luckily, before that happened, the red light magically turned green - and here we are, 100% more connected to the world, 85% less productive than before, at least as far as law school reading goes.
In the process of getting situated and choosing from among the various groups open to us, I've found myself in a very troubling place. Suddenly, the academic workload, at least as far as time out of class goes (for reading or whatever) is head and shoulders above what I've ever experienced before, at least if I want to actually understand anything that's being written. Why can't law scholars write like scientists?!?!? I never thought I'd actively miss reading science journals, but here. I. am.
The problem arises then: What to sign up for? What to commit to? What to pass on this time [unfortunately, in the midst of the Internet debacle, I wasn't able to apply in time for one thing I had kind of wanted to do...maybe it was just a sign that I'd be over-extending myself??]?
If there's one thing we've learned so far, it's this general rule: Don't rule out anything that offers free food. Luckily, almost every single symposium, lecture, and student group meeting offers lunch or dinner - if you're lucky, it's of the non-pizza variety. I've made or bought food maybe once during the past academic week, and I probably won't need to for the rest of this week or next, based on my current plan. Best of all, at this point, since most of the student group meetings are just informational, there's no commitment, and still - lots of free food.
One group for which there was literally no commitment: Law Women's annual welcome dinner. All you had to do was be a woman. That was easy! We all got on buses and drove to a professor's house out in the suburbs...there was great food, good drinks, and fabulous dessert - just for having been born into (or, you know, currently claiming membership in) the near-half of the population that is female.
Great quote from the dinner:
"When you're sitting in class, not saying anything out loud, and some *guy* raises his hand and says something stupid, you're probably thinking, 'That's wrong!' Well, let me tell you, we professors are thinking he's saying something idiotic, too! We just can't say it. So, please, raise your hand and point out his stupidity!" - Host Professor
*
Saturday, September 13, 2008
134 miles northwest of SB (give or take a few), we asked exactly the same questions at orientation, promptly forgot everyones' names, and then had to spend the next two weeks relearning what we had learned the first day. And awkward could be defined as having to ask "what's your name again" after spending fourteen days with a person. Thank god for mandatory in class name-tags.
I had hoped that law school would start with a let's-ease-you-in-gradually approach, but with several hundred more students, our school (or at least my section) must figure it can afford to drive out a couple of people in the first weeks. Still, I've been surprised and pleased at how friendly everyone is. I was expecting swaggering master-of-the universe types, but instead, most everyone is lovely. There is, of course, that guy who insists on enlightening us as to his (admittedly not as stupid as you would hope) opinion twice every class. Luckily, reading vast swaths of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, while mind numbingly boring, is actually a great bonding mechanism. Because nothing says "will you be my friend" like "did anyone understand section B of rule 15?"*
*Just in case you're dying to know, that's the one that reads:
A party may join two claims even though one of them is contingent on the disposition of the other; but the court may grant relief only in accordance with the parties' relative substantive rights. In particular, a plaintiff may state a claim for money and a claim to set aside a conveyance that is fraudulent as to that plaintiff, without first obtaining a judgment for the money.
I had hoped that law school would start with a let's-ease-you-in-gradually approach, but with several hundred more students, our school (or at least my section) must figure it can afford to drive out a couple of people in the first weeks. Still, I've been surprised and pleased at how friendly everyone is. I was expecting swaggering master-of-the universe types, but instead, most everyone is lovely. There is, of course, that guy who insists on enlightening us as to his (admittedly not as stupid as you would hope) opinion twice every class. Luckily, reading vast swaths of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, while mind numbingly boring, is actually a great bonding mechanism. Because nothing says "will you be my friend" like "did anyone understand section B of rule 15?"*
*Just in case you're dying to know, that's the one that reads:
A party may join two claims even though one of them is contingent on the disposition of the other; but the court may grant relief only in accordance with the parties' relative substantive rights. In particular, a plaintiff may state a claim for money and a claim to set aside a conveyance that is fraudulent as to that plaintiff, without first obtaining a judgment for the money.
Friday, September 12, 2008
What Contract(s) Have You Made Today?
We didn't have Contracts the first week of school, because our professor is recovering from joint replacement, but when we finally had class on Tuesday, the most interesting part of the session (other than her assertion: "This will be the easiest. class. ever.") was when she asked a student, "When was the last time you made a contract?"
"Maybe last week," he said, "I just moved into my apartment, and I [had to deal with the devil incarnate that is] Comcast, to get internet and cable hooked up."
Pause.
"And, I guess...I bought a cup of coffee this morning."
Eventually, this conversation became so long and drawn out that I turned to browsing the internet and catching up on the news in class for the first time [in part, for reasons explained below], but it was generally interesting. Another student claimed she hadn't made a contract in the past 24 hours - the professor seemed unconvinced. Turns out said student walks to school, brings her own food for lunch, and doesn't buy anything. Ever.
***
One of the most trite things that you hear from current and former law students, I think, who are trying to explain what law school is like is that "you start to find the law in everything." I call shenanigans. At least, I hope that I can continue to try to refrain from finding the law in everything - I'll go crazy!
However, it's at times like these that I'm willing to assert my (abysmally minimal) legal training, and when I wish I knew what law I was looking for so that I could take advantage of it: AT&T hates us. At least their internet-"providing" division. We moved in August 27th, and here we are on September 12th without any internet signal [save for the smidge of a single bar I'm currently getting by sitting in the corner of the hallway floor...stealing a signal from our benevolent neighbors]. Suffice it to say, we're not pleased as punch.
Total time on the phone with AT&T: 4.5 hours
Total calls made to AT&T: 6, at least
Friends we've made at AT&T: 0 - Though Angel and Rodrigo were particularly nice, they didn't actually help resolve our problem. In fact, they had no idea what the problem was.
Times we've threatened to call Comcast instead, even though due to a fluke not of our doing, we can't actually get internet from Comcast without giving up our free cable: 2
Hopefully, a cable installer worth his/her salt will show up tomorrow morning at an ungodly hour (we've been told 8am - I'm holding out just an inkling of hope), and we'll no longer be sitting on the floor to connect with the rest of the world. Speaking of which, my butt is getting sore...
"Maybe last week," he said, "I just moved into my apartment, and I [had to deal with the devil incarnate that is] Comcast, to get internet and cable hooked up."
Pause.
"And, I guess...I bought a cup of coffee this morning."
Eventually, this conversation became so long and drawn out that I turned to browsing the internet and catching up on the news in class for the first time [in part, for reasons explained below], but it was generally interesting. Another student claimed she hadn't made a contract in the past 24 hours - the professor seemed unconvinced. Turns out said student walks to school, brings her own food for lunch, and doesn't buy anything. Ever.
***
One of the most trite things that you hear from current and former law students, I think, who are trying to explain what law school is like is that "you start to find the law in everything." I call shenanigans. At least, I hope that I can continue to try to refrain from finding the law in everything - I'll go crazy!
However, it's at times like these that I'm willing to assert my (abysmally minimal) legal training, and when I wish I knew what law I was looking for so that I could take advantage of it: AT&T hates us. At least their internet-"providing" division. We moved in August 27th, and here we are on September 12th without any internet signal [save for the smidge of a single bar I'm currently getting by sitting in the corner of the hallway floor...stealing a signal from our benevolent neighbors]. Suffice it to say, we're not pleased as punch.
Total time on the phone with AT&T: 4.5 hours
Total calls made to AT&T: 6, at least
Friends we've made at AT&T: 0 - Though Angel and Rodrigo were particularly nice, they didn't actually help resolve our problem. In fact, they had no idea what the problem was.
Times we've threatened to call Comcast instead, even though due to a fluke not of our doing, we can't actually get internet from Comcast without giving up our free cable: 2
Hopefully, a cable installer worth his/her salt will show up tomorrow morning at an ungodly hour (we've been told 8am - I'm holding out just an inkling of hope), and we'll no longer be sitting on the floor to connect with the rest of the world. Speaking of which, my butt is getting sore...
Monday, September 8, 2008
Comebacks and Back-Ups
Today ended as any good fall Monday should: Gossip Girl (Tivo-ed, and viewed in a room of ten women and three - yes, three - men...oddly, approximately the same gender breakdown was evident at last night's viewing of the season premier of Entourage) sandwiched between snippets of the season's first edition of Monday Night Football. [Blissfully, three of my professors have deigned it appropriate to regularly assign what seems to be comparatively minimal reading assignments, and I don't have the other class on Tuesdays...plus, after six hours in class today topped off with two hellish hours on the phone with the internet so-called "provider" that refuses to provide till SATURDAY -- even though we called to set up service two WEEKS ago -- I felt some relaxing was appropriate...]
Biggest news of the day comes from the NFL, as two of the off-season's top stories - one of which is quite close to my heart - played out. Tom Brady, the Pats' fearless leader in the face of a crushing Super Bowl defeat, is missing the rest of the season due to a knee injury suffered in yesterday's season opener. I can't say I'm *too* sorry for him, as he's got nurse Gisele to tend to his health...likely after extensive ACL surgery. His back-up did well enough on the radio show, so who knows how the rest of the season will play out? As a transplanted New Englander, I don't really care; as an already-allied fan of another storied team, I hope they lose every game.
Then, after Brett Favre led his new Jet pack [lowercase p] to victory yesterday, Aaron Rodgers turned in an impressive completion rate in his first win of his professional career, four years after becoming Brett's back-up. I couldn't be more proud of the guy - but he could use a good shave along with some training in talking to the press. Still, if you keep beating the Vikings (and Lions, and Bears, and...Cowboys?), you won't hear any complaints from Titletown, Aaron.
Brett's got a comeback that seems so far, so good. I can't say my own return to school has been so easygoing. I think I sort of forgot how to be a student. Planning my day [productively...naps may or may not count as productive, as the semester progresses] around huge breaks in class? Reading and underlining? These are skills that I haven't really needed much during the past year, and suddenly we're thrown to the wolves. (Wolves that mercifully don't dole out grades first semester, but still...) Other than a few days in chemistry freshman year, I can't remember the last time when I really had to try hard to keep up with the flow of arguments and information in class; here, though, I can't seem to let my attention drift to Gmail for even a few seconds without losing the professors' momentum. It's an exhilarating feeling, really, to be surrounded with people that know so much more about this stuff than I do, and to be able to listen to their ideas - at some point, though, I'll probably be asked to say something rather than to just sit and absorb.
Technologically, too, I need to get back on the cutting-edge wagon. My Google Calendar has suddenly been called onto the field, and its color-coded appointments and blocks of time are rapidly proliferating across the coming weeks. My adeptness with its integrative functions is growing...if only my internet signal wasn't (gasp!) stolen and (grr!) spotty...so I guess for now I'll also keep a paper copy back-up; there's something so satisfying about physically crossing off a task in a day planner that I don't think I'll ever be able to give up.
One additional accomplishment/recommendation: Got/get an external hard drive. I picked up this super-cute, super-simple one from SimpleTech, and Time Machine has it running flawlessly.
...don't lose all of the work that will seemingly get done once I get back into the swing of things: check.
Biggest news of the day comes from the NFL, as two of the off-season's top stories - one of which is quite close to my heart - played out. Tom Brady, the Pats' fearless leader in the face of a crushing Super Bowl defeat, is missing the rest of the season due to a knee injury suffered in yesterday's season opener. I can't say I'm *too* sorry for him, as he's got nurse Gisele to tend to his health...likely after extensive ACL surgery. His back-up did well enough on the radio show, so who knows how the rest of the season will play out? As a transplanted New Englander, I don't really care; as an already-allied fan of another storied team, I hope they lose every game.
Then, after Brett Favre led his new Jet pack [lowercase p] to victory yesterday, Aaron Rodgers turned in an impressive completion rate in his first win of his professional career, four years after becoming Brett's back-up. I couldn't be more proud of the guy - but he could use a good shave along with some training in talking to the press. Still, if you keep beating the Vikings (and Lions, and Bears, and...Cowboys?), you won't hear any complaints from Titletown, Aaron.
***
Brett's got a comeback that seems so far, so good. I can't say my own return to school has been so easygoing. I think I sort of forgot how to be a student. Planning my day [productively...naps may or may not count as productive, as the semester progresses] around huge breaks in class? Reading and underlining? These are skills that I haven't really needed much during the past year, and suddenly we're thrown to the wolves. (Wolves that mercifully don't dole out grades first semester, but still...) Other than a few days in chemistry freshman year, I can't remember the last time when I really had to try hard to keep up with the flow of arguments and information in class; here, though, I can't seem to let my attention drift to Gmail for even a few seconds without losing the professors' momentum. It's an exhilarating feeling, really, to be surrounded with people that know so much more about this stuff than I do, and to be able to listen to their ideas - at some point, though, I'll probably be asked to say something rather than to just sit and absorb.
Technologically, too, I need to get back on the cutting-edge wagon. My Google Calendar has suddenly been called onto the field, and its color-coded appointments and blocks of time are rapidly proliferating across the coming weeks. My adeptness with its integrative functions is growing...if only my internet signal wasn't (gasp!) stolen and (grr!) spotty...so I guess for now I'll also keep a paper copy back-up; there's something so satisfying about physically crossing off a task in a day planner that I don't think I'll ever be able to give up.
One additional accomplishment/recommendation: Got/get an external hard drive. I picked up this super-cute, super-simple one from SimpleTech, and Time Machine has it running flawlessly.
...don't lose all of the work that will seemingly get done once I get back into the swing of things: check.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
What's your name...where'd you go to school? and other questions I never want to answer again.
Being "oriented" to new surroundings is always uncomfortable. People come in with very different expectations of what the orienting experience will be like, and some have clearly done more homework than others - in this case, learning all about the various offerings of the University and the city around us. Some just stepped off a plane from Zambia or South Africa or the Amazon...literally. In our case, a Budget rental truck carried our meager (and not-so-meager, weight-wise) possessions to our new home, and we were summarily exhausted. Still, a nametag draped around one's neck is always an open invitation (a command, really!) to introduce oneself, dozens of times over again in a period seemingly too short to catch your breath. As soon as the words wash over you, they're gone in a flurry: there are five Katies and four Michaels.
And so it was on the first day of law school orientation. The 189 of us (plus or minus a dozen or so transfer students, their group actually singled out and identified for us when they were given scarlet-colored folders in contrast with various other groups' array of colors) sat in the Harry Potter-esque dining hall and exchanged pleasantries with those we had met during the admitted students weekend, gave a nod of acknowledgment to those who we recognized from the Class of 2011 Facebook group, and strained our neck to get a glimpse at those who we hadn't yet met - in real life or virtually. Then we were herded into the auditorium, where we were welcomed by the administrators and told how special we are: "Twenty other people were standing behind each of you...wanting your seat here." It's almost as if they wanted us to think, Maybe we *are* special, if even in some small way...after all, most of us weren't the Emmy-winning, radio show-hosting, yo-yo champion hip hop dancers that had been acknowledged and lauded as making our incoming class particularly noteworthy. Some sat up a little straighter in their chairs; others looked around to try to identify the NCAA football Hall of Fame inductee.
Then, "You haven't earned your spot here. Nobody does. But by the time you leave here, you will have earned your place inside these walls." There definitely was a lot of pomp in this place; enough that the granite or limestone or marble or whatever stone it is that the Ivy loves was bursting at the seams. Nobody got up and left in the middle of the Dean's welcome, of course, but the chatter was undeniable at lunch - somehow, we had gotten ourselves admitted into a secret club [a friend of mine, at my pre-law school job, had said to me one day: We never knew anyone who actually went there...we heard those people existed, but I never met one.], and our clothes hadn't even been unpacked yet. Now, how do we avoid screwing up?
And so it was on the first day of law school orientation. The 189 of us (plus or minus a dozen or so transfer students, their group actually singled out and identified for us when they were given scarlet-colored folders in contrast with various other groups' array of colors) sat in the Harry Potter-esque dining hall and exchanged pleasantries with those we had met during the admitted students weekend, gave a nod of acknowledgment to those who we recognized from the Class of 2011 Facebook group, and strained our neck to get a glimpse at those who we hadn't yet met - in real life or virtually. Then we were herded into the auditorium, where we were welcomed by the administrators and told how special we are: "Twenty other people were standing behind each of you...wanting your seat here." It's almost as if they wanted us to think, Maybe we *are* special, if even in some small way...after all, most of us weren't the Emmy-winning, radio show-hosting, yo-yo champion hip hop dancers that had been acknowledged and lauded as making our incoming class particularly noteworthy. Some sat up a little straighter in their chairs; others looked around to try to identify the NCAA football Hall of Fame inductee.
Then, "You haven't earned your spot here. Nobody does. But by the time you leave here, you will have earned your place inside these walls." There definitely was a lot of pomp in this place; enough that the granite or limestone or marble or whatever stone it is that the Ivy loves was bursting at the seams. Nobody got up and left in the middle of the Dean's welcome, of course, but the chatter was undeniable at lunch - somehow, we had gotten ourselves admitted into a secret club [a friend of mine, at my pre-law school job, had said to me one day: We never knew anyone who actually went there...we heard those people existed, but I never met one.], and our clothes hadn't even been unpacked yet. Now, how do we avoid screwing up?
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