You know, I always thought people who said that they believed in destiny just needed to lay off the weed & get lives... I mean, really, what is this destiny crap? "Oh, I believe the cosmos know just what is going to happen to me..." I took a class in college called "Game Theory." It's a realist's view of the universe, and fit me to a tee. I guess it's because I have a very rational, logical view of life: It is what you make it.
But the events the past few weeks have made me start to question that disbelief in destiny. As a Catholic, I should really just say "well, it's in God's hands, and he will do with it as he chooses." But I have a hard time giving up that kind of control to God--After all, last time I did that I ended up in a lab at 4am wondering if I could will protein bands to move on a gel faster... In any case, things are just aligning. It's strange. Perhaps part of it is just my outlook on life: Everything happens for a reason--it's how you deal with it that makes all the difference. That isn't the same thing as "Destiny." It's more of the realization that not everything's within our control, and we just have to give up trying to control that which we can't.
I think it's that way with grades. I was talking to a classmate today, who didn't do really well in 1 class. They are convinced that it will drop them out of law review. My answer to them was "you can't control how other people do, only yourself." I don't necessarily share that person's belief that finals are "all luck," but I do think that at some point, what will be will be, and it's how you react to it that matters.
People are still moping about today. I think it'll be better once the school publishes the GPA scaling--i.e. how everyone fell out statistically. Maybe that will make people with 3.3 GPAs not feel like the world is ending, or people with 3.5 GPAs realize they're pretty close to the top of the class. Either or, it'll be interesting to watch peoples' reactions change once the scaling is published.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Monday, January 21, 2008
Grades
Grades are in.
I guess I was waiting to post about finals until I got my grades... unsure of how I did, unsure of how the forced curve would work. Grades are a funny thing--a lot of people say they are the great equalizer, they are what take a 1L class & level the playing field... but after watching peoples' reactions to grades over the past few days, all I can see is a lot of heartache, wandering, and wondering, "How did that happen?" It is a lot like watching a community grieve. If there were something more defined to grieve for, maybe it would all make more sense... but there's not. Everyone you see is grieving for a different reason: some didn't get anywhere near the GPA they wanted, some are disappointed in a certain grade, while others mourn the notion that they don't really have a chance anymore to make Law Review.
And I guess that's what this is about to most people: Making Law Review... that 2 letter word that will open interviewers doors, that will write you a ticket to success... the first thing anyone looks for on your resume, and the only thing you've heard about for months, if not years... Law Review... I don't really understand the aura that surrounds Law Review. Maybe it's from my experiences as an undergrad, where everyone moved to the beat of their own drummer... where grades was more about doing well for yourself, then beating any classmate... where the seasons didn't begin & end with the posting of the grades. Or maybe it's from my years removed from undergrad... listening to stories & watching people go through real life difficulties in the military, and then going back to my alma mater & seeing the "other side" of the coin, from the professor angle as a grad student... Maybe it's my mentor's voice saying inside my head, "They are but one letter. They only represent you as much as you allow them to. They only control you as much as you allow it." Or maybe it's just my feeling that, like so many other things, they just are what they are... that they don't define me or rule me, that they are just more checkpoints along my journey. Either way, the hysteria that looms just below the surface at school as everyone goes through their own post-mortem mourning rituals, really makes me take a step back and wonder about what this is we are all striving for.
For me, I seek the knowledge. I will admit it: I love law school. Oh, I don't love everything about it--for instance, if I didn't have my civil procedure professor, I would probably love it a lot more... but still, I enjoy the topics. There are some classes I just outright adore, and others that I tolerate, but over all, I love it. I guess perhaps I haven't had this feeling very often about school... I have had it about many other things, but usually not about school. This time though, this time it's for me. I am at school because I want to be, I am pursing a law degree because I want to. And perhaps that is the difference between so many people & myself.
We had a mandatory career workshop last week. The counselor asked us all to write down why we wanted to be lawyers. You'd be surprised at the number of people who couldn't come up with a good reason. Which begs the question... WHY ARE YOU HERE?! Perhaps I am in the lucky minority that actually wants to be a lawyer. Perhaps it is just my years away from undergrad, having wandered over many paths, in many different directions, always learning something but never quite finding "the right thing" to do. Or maybe it's just cynicism... but seriously, if it is January 2008, you best know why you want to be a lawyer. Or else, what has been driving you this whole time?? What makes you tick?? Baffles the mind, sometimes.
And this brings me back to my oratory about grades. Did I do well? Yeah. Did I do well enough to make law review here? Probably. Am I in the top 10% of the class? Probably, though the statistics haven't been posted yet, so the jury is still out on that. Do I care? Well, only so much as I put in a lot of effort last semester, so I am glad to see it rewarded... and that it will help me do other things... but I am certainly not resting on my laurels (they have barely even had time to blossom), nor am I terribly too "excited"... after all, it's 12 credits & 4 months. I'm 25 yrs old and have hundreds of credits to my name. Perspective. All about perspective.
People frequently have been asking me what my grades were. I am hesitant to talk about it, mostly because one of two things happens. Either they get quiet & give me a look of "Oh, so YOU'RE my competition for law review..." or it's an awkward moment where they realize that they didn't do nearly as well & are somewhat embarrassed for having even asked me what my grades were. I am going to make T-shirts: "I am NOT your competition for Law Review, so you can treat me like a human being." It's like suddenly I have leprecy. I get good grades & all of a sudden no one wants to get near me. They find out what I get & then they go back to ignoring me again. And so is the status quo.
Bottom line? I wish we didn't get grades at all. It would certainly make for a more educational, cooperative environment. But until then, grow up people, life is too short to care about letters.
I guess I was waiting to post about finals until I got my grades... unsure of how I did, unsure of how the forced curve would work. Grades are a funny thing--a lot of people say they are the great equalizer, they are what take a 1L class & level the playing field... but after watching peoples' reactions to grades over the past few days, all I can see is a lot of heartache, wandering, and wondering, "How did that happen?" It is a lot like watching a community grieve. If there were something more defined to grieve for, maybe it would all make more sense... but there's not. Everyone you see is grieving for a different reason: some didn't get anywhere near the GPA they wanted, some are disappointed in a certain grade, while others mourn the notion that they don't really have a chance anymore to make Law Review.
And I guess that's what this is about to most people: Making Law Review... that 2 letter word that will open interviewers doors, that will write you a ticket to success... the first thing anyone looks for on your resume, and the only thing you've heard about for months, if not years... Law Review... I don't really understand the aura that surrounds Law Review. Maybe it's from my experiences as an undergrad, where everyone moved to the beat of their own drummer... where grades was more about doing well for yourself, then beating any classmate... where the seasons didn't begin & end with the posting of the grades. Or maybe it's from my years removed from undergrad... listening to stories & watching people go through real life difficulties in the military, and then going back to my alma mater & seeing the "other side" of the coin, from the professor angle as a grad student... Maybe it's my mentor's voice saying inside my head, "They are but one letter. They only represent you as much as you allow them to. They only control you as much as you allow it." Or maybe it's just my feeling that, like so many other things, they just are what they are... that they don't define me or rule me, that they are just more checkpoints along my journey. Either way, the hysteria that looms just below the surface at school as everyone goes through their own post-mortem mourning rituals, really makes me take a step back and wonder about what this is we are all striving for.
For me, I seek the knowledge. I will admit it: I love law school. Oh, I don't love everything about it--for instance, if I didn't have my civil procedure professor, I would probably love it a lot more... but still, I enjoy the topics. There are some classes I just outright adore, and others that I tolerate, but over all, I love it. I guess perhaps I haven't had this feeling very often about school... I have had it about many other things, but usually not about school. This time though, this time it's for me. I am at school because I want to be, I am pursing a law degree because I want to. And perhaps that is the difference between so many people & myself.
We had a mandatory career workshop last week. The counselor asked us all to write down why we wanted to be lawyers. You'd be surprised at the number of people who couldn't come up with a good reason. Which begs the question... WHY ARE YOU HERE?! Perhaps I am in the lucky minority that actually wants to be a lawyer. Perhaps it is just my years away from undergrad, having wandered over many paths, in many different directions, always learning something but never quite finding "the right thing" to do. Or maybe it's just cynicism... but seriously, if it is January 2008, you best know why you want to be a lawyer. Or else, what has been driving you this whole time?? What makes you tick?? Baffles the mind, sometimes.
And this brings me back to my oratory about grades. Did I do well? Yeah. Did I do well enough to make law review here? Probably. Am I in the top 10% of the class? Probably, though the statistics haven't been posted yet, so the jury is still out on that. Do I care? Well, only so much as I put in a lot of effort last semester, so I am glad to see it rewarded... and that it will help me do other things... but I am certainly not resting on my laurels (they have barely even had time to blossom), nor am I terribly too "excited"... after all, it's 12 credits & 4 months. I'm 25 yrs old and have hundreds of credits to my name. Perspective. All about perspective.
People frequently have been asking me what my grades were. I am hesitant to talk about it, mostly because one of two things happens. Either they get quiet & give me a look of "Oh, so YOU'RE my competition for law review..." or it's an awkward moment where they realize that they didn't do nearly as well & are somewhat embarrassed for having even asked me what my grades were. I am going to make T-shirts: "I am NOT your competition for Law Review, so you can treat me like a human being." It's like suddenly I have leprecy. I get good grades & all of a sudden no one wants to get near me. They find out what I get & then they go back to ignoring me again. And so is the status quo.
Bottom line? I wish we didn't get grades at all. It would certainly make for a more educational, cooperative environment. But until then, grow up people, life is too short to care about letters.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Finals, et.al.
Wow, it has been far too long since I posted. That's because the marathon that is finals hit me like a caste iron kettle. Everyone warns you: first year fall law school finals are horrific. Well, that's true, but not in the ways most people think. Here's the thing about law school finals: it's mastering a game. Really, that's all law school is in general--learning how to play the game, then learning how to kick it's butt. It's all about studying smart--not studying harder, just smarter.
Outlines: Starting my outlines in October was immensly helpful- it allowed me to consolidate my notes early & often, I wasn't forgetting concepts we learned in September, and best of all, come finals, I didn't really have much work on my outlines to do. So definitely the earlier the better... Once reading period hit, I simply had to make quick sheets off of my outlines. A lot less work at a time when I really could use any help I could get.
Studying: My law school is bizarre in the way they do finals. Basically it's final-off day-off day-final. Repeat cycle 5x, except at one point we had an extra day in between & then the last final we only had 1 day in between. So it works out to the same thing overall. So here's the problem. At the start of finals, you don't think it's going to be so bad... then you take 1 final... then 2... and you start to realize you're getting mentally tired... and then comes the 3rd final, and all you want to do is sleep... So it becomes a game with yourself to try & focus, to push through, to get to the end. I ended up taking the day after a final off, then doing 8hr or so of studying the day before the next one, and that way I wasn't so burned out that I couldn't focus. But yeah, it was a definite marathon. There's nothing to equate it to. I can't even think of anything that felt like that. My Masters thesis didn't even come close...
Finals: Oi. That's all I have to say on that. What a mess. Everyone stuffed into classrooms with their laptops & earplugs, typing like bats outta hell for the entire time period so that they can try & give enough verbal dysentery to pass the course. I only stayed till near the end on one exam... Otherwise, I went in, wrote, and left. I have learned my lesson over time on changing multiple choice answers--DONT DO IT. Never worth it in the end, unless you are 100% sure you picked the wrong thing. And law school multiple choice?! Dear god... profs don't get that multiple choice is NOT short essay. Take CivPro. The prof had about 20pp of them. TWENTY PAGES! It was like having to dive into reading Cell Bio essays & pull apart what is good & what is just total trash writing. It was a nightmare. Those were the worst, though other classes were nearly as bad. Contracts had a long essay on something we barely touched on in class. But such is life, right? I'll write more on actual finals in late Jan, when grades come out. I am not jinxing myself. But, yeah, they went fine... right... A little worried I didn't pass 1 of them... other then that I am feeling sort of ok...
Outlines: Starting my outlines in October was immensly helpful- it allowed me to consolidate my notes early & often, I wasn't forgetting concepts we learned in September, and best of all, come finals, I didn't really have much work on my outlines to do. So definitely the earlier the better... Once reading period hit, I simply had to make quick sheets off of my outlines. A lot less work at a time when I really could use any help I could get.
Studying: My law school is bizarre in the way they do finals. Basically it's final-off day-off day-final. Repeat cycle 5x, except at one point we had an extra day in between & then the last final we only had 1 day in between. So it works out to the same thing overall. So here's the problem. At the start of finals, you don't think it's going to be so bad... then you take 1 final... then 2... and you start to realize you're getting mentally tired... and then comes the 3rd final, and all you want to do is sleep... So it becomes a game with yourself to try & focus, to push through, to get to the end. I ended up taking the day after a final off, then doing 8hr or so of studying the day before the next one, and that way I wasn't so burned out that I couldn't focus. But yeah, it was a definite marathon. There's nothing to equate it to. I can't even think of anything that felt like that. My Masters thesis didn't even come close...
Finals: Oi. That's all I have to say on that. What a mess. Everyone stuffed into classrooms with their laptops & earplugs, typing like bats outta hell for the entire time period so that they can try & give enough verbal dysentery to pass the course. I only stayed till near the end on one exam... Otherwise, I went in, wrote, and left. I have learned my lesson over time on changing multiple choice answers--DONT DO IT. Never worth it in the end, unless you are 100% sure you picked the wrong thing. And law school multiple choice?! Dear god... profs don't get that multiple choice is NOT short essay. Take CivPro. The prof had about 20pp of them. TWENTY PAGES! It was like having to dive into reading Cell Bio essays & pull apart what is good & what is just total trash writing. It was a nightmare. Those were the worst, though other classes were nearly as bad. Contracts had a long essay on something we barely touched on in class. But such is life, right? I'll write more on actual finals in late Jan, when grades come out. I am not jinxing myself. But, yeah, they went fine... right... A little worried I didn't pass 1 of them... other then that I am feeling sort of ok...
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Study Group
I broke down. I made a study group. Maybe it was the subconscious input from profs alll semester. Maybe it was me not wanting to have any regrets or excuses once the semester is done. Whatever caused it, I made a study group. There are 3 of us. One is a guy, smart but not egotistical, who finished college at a DC school in 3years--definitely has a bit of a brain. The other person is a girl who's sweet, smart (another DC school grad) & keeps the guy and I focused and down to earth. We will probably all end up with 3 different grades in all the classes, but all of us are studious, so it makes the group work. Also, we tend to take pretty complete notes, so we can always plug holes we have.
I broke down and made a study schedule for the group in Excel. I had to. Looking at the tick-tock, I couldn't see how we were going to fit everything in and still have time to study, sleep & eat. So hence the schedule. When we're going to meet, what we're going to talk about, how far outlines should be done... it's really a method to make sure we get to everything and that we aren't tired and stressed by the time we sit to take the final.
The school has spaced our finals out really annoyingly. 2 weeks, a final every 3 days until the last one, then it's only a 1 day break in between. I am sure they do it this way so that we have enough time to sleep & study in between finals. Really, it is just irritating because I would like to get them all finished and go to the family home for the holidays by the 15th. But that isn't going to happen...
Back to the study group though... right, so how much faith do I put into a study group? If nothing else, it's great because I know my outlines are on track and I didn't miss anything. I also can tell if my outlining methods are going to work, or if they are going to be wacko and need changing (already found 1 I need to totally edit). Sometimes I feel like I am doing the same work twice... but I take it like this: The more times I go over the stuff, the better chance I have that *any* of it is going to stick. And by any I mean hopefully a lot..
So I'll update more as our study group really winds up into full swing... for now, it looks hopeful.
I broke down and made a study schedule for the group in Excel. I had to. Looking at the tick-tock, I couldn't see how we were going to fit everything in and still have time to study, sleep & eat. So hence the schedule. When we're going to meet, what we're going to talk about, how far outlines should be done... it's really a method to make sure we get to everything and that we aren't tired and stressed by the time we sit to take the final.
The school has spaced our finals out really annoyingly. 2 weeks, a final every 3 days until the last one, then it's only a 1 day break in between. I am sure they do it this way so that we have enough time to sleep & study in between finals. Really, it is just irritating because I would like to get them all finished and go to the family home for the holidays by the 15th. But that isn't going to happen...
Back to the study group though... right, so how much faith do I put into a study group? If nothing else, it's great because I know my outlines are on track and I didn't miss anything. I also can tell if my outlining methods are going to work, or if they are going to be wacko and need changing (already found 1 I need to totally edit). Sometimes I feel like I am doing the same work twice... but I take it like this: The more times I go over the stuff, the better chance I have that *any* of it is going to stick. And by any I mean hopefully a lot..
So I'll update more as our study group really winds up into full swing... for now, it looks hopeful.
Tick-Tock
Everything now is about the clock. Beating the clock, learning how to use the clock, keeping an eye on the clock to not let it destroy you... but it's all about the clock.
- 23 days before finals are over and I can sleep for 2 weeks.
- 5 classes left before Thanksgiving break.
- 6 Contracts, 7 CivPro, 4 Property, 4 CrimPro, & 4 Torts Classes left in total.
- 5 finals to go
- 5 outlines to finish
- 300pp still to read (all the profs seem to speed up at the end because they lollygagged too long during the semester)
Anti-Climatic
So last week turned out to be insane. I don't really know if I will recover from it ever, but if it's any indication that recovery is a long way off, I took the entire day off yesterday (unheard of) and spent it doing nothing of importance (by the way, I don't recommend going to any shopping areas the Saturday before Thanksgiving).
Why was last week so insane? The Memo. Yes, the dreaded memo. It's done now-- 18 hr, 20 emails to the prof, an hr citation session with the TA... but it's done. Is it good? Uhhhh no. But it's done. And turned in. I am sure I could have made it better if I had tweaked it more, or somehow made it clearer. But there comes that time when it's just better to let it go then to try and work with it anymore. So Thursday night at 8pm I printed it out and was done... turned it in at 8:26AM on Friday. Not that I was looking at my watch or anything (that's 4 days and 4 min early for anyone who's counting). But it was done. It was like turning in my thesis--completely anticlimatic. All that hard work and effort... for what? Nothing. It was just done and finished. I won't know till the end of January what I got on it, but do I really care? I dunno... I would like to say "I don't care at all what I got because I know I did a good job on it..." But I do care. A bit. Ok, a lot a bit. I want to do well on it. I want to get an A in Legal Writing. Ironically, I am fine with getting a B in every single class as long as it isn't Legal Writing. Weird, no? But it's done & over now. That's 1 class done, 5 more to go.
FIVE?! Yes, FIVE. Unlike most other rational law schools, mine does year long blocks for every class. Insane? Apparently it's to help us retain the info more. Really I think it's just to torture us with 5 finals both semesters. Ugh. More on this later.
For now I am going to stare out at the rainy sky on this Sunday and marvel at the fact that I still feel numb, 48 hr after finishing the biggest assignment I have done in 2 years...
Why was last week so insane? The Memo. Yes, the dreaded memo. It's done now-- 18 hr, 20 emails to the prof, an hr citation session with the TA... but it's done. Is it good? Uhhhh no. But it's done. And turned in. I am sure I could have made it better if I had tweaked it more, or somehow made it clearer. But there comes that time when it's just better to let it go then to try and work with it anymore. So Thursday night at 8pm I printed it out and was done... turned it in at 8:26AM on Friday. Not that I was looking at my watch or anything (that's 4 days and 4 min early for anyone who's counting). But it was done. It was like turning in my thesis--completely anticlimatic. All that hard work and effort... for what? Nothing. It was just done and finished. I won't know till the end of January what I got on it, but do I really care? I dunno... I would like to say "I don't care at all what I got because I know I did a good job on it..." But I do care. A bit. Ok, a lot a bit. I want to do well on it. I want to get an A in Legal Writing. Ironically, I am fine with getting a B in every single class as long as it isn't Legal Writing. Weird, no? But it's done & over now. That's 1 class done, 5 more to go.
FIVE?! Yes, FIVE. Unlike most other rational law schools, mine does year long blocks for every class. Insane? Apparently it's to help us retain the info more. Really I think it's just to torture us with 5 finals both semesters. Ugh. More on this later.
For now I am going to stare out at the rainy sky on this Sunday and marvel at the fact that I still feel numb, 48 hr after finishing the biggest assignment I have done in 2 years...
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Autumn Leaves & Time
So everyone always laments about not having balance in their lives during law school-- about living, breathing, sleeping school. But really? It's all about choice, it's about what you CHOOSE to do and when. It's simple: everyone has the same number of hours in a day, they just use them differently. Personally, I know the importance of eating, sleeping & exercising-- nothing can substitute for a good night's sleep, it just doesn't work. There is also nothing that substitutes for a good run outside on top of the wet asphalt covered in fall leaves--there's something mystical, head clearing... something so basic about it that just makes stress bleed off.
But I digress yet again. So I just don't get it when kids lament about not having time to do things. They seem to have enough time to go out and party and drink and hang out with friends... that's the way they choose to spend their down time. So how exactly should I feel bad for them when come the weekend they have a ton of work to do? Or when they are up late trying to catch up on reading? Yeah... my sympathy level? Zero. Maybe I should go out and party... but you know what? That's never been an interest of mine. I just don't get it. I love going to a wine bar with a few girlfriends, or a sports bar with my man, but otherwise? Just to "go out"?? Uhhhmmm nah. No thanks. I choose to spend my time elsewhere. I like to chill out and let my body relax during my down time.
So why does all of this matter anyway? Because it's memo hunting season. And it's just starting to get interesting. Outlines are due tomorrow, and then on Nov 20th memos are do. It's like watching a social experiment--watching the procrastinators, the spazzes, and then everyone else in between... I get a good chuckle out of it and sometimes will add a little fuel to the fire to just watch it flame up. But really, I am so far past the spazzing over 1 assignment that this whole memo thing doesn't have me even concerned. It's meant to be an exercise in writing and an exercise in time management. A little a day. Didn't anyone every read the "Tortoise and the Hare" when they were little? Can't write it in a weekend-- you have no perspective, you lose ability to really pace and think things through. I don't want to post yet just how far I have gotten because people will be pissed one way or the other. But suffice it to say, next Monday and Tuesday (19th & 20th), I will be sitting on the sidelines smiling and watching the social experiment really peak. In the meantime, I'll keep plowing through... bit by bit... and running on the wet, leaf covered asphalt.
But I digress yet again. So I just don't get it when kids lament about not having time to do things. They seem to have enough time to go out and party and drink and hang out with friends... that's the way they choose to spend their down time. So how exactly should I feel bad for them when come the weekend they have a ton of work to do? Or when they are up late trying to catch up on reading? Yeah... my sympathy level? Zero. Maybe I should go out and party... but you know what? That's never been an interest of mine. I just don't get it. I love going to a wine bar with a few girlfriends, or a sports bar with my man, but otherwise? Just to "go out"?? Uhhhmmm nah. No thanks. I choose to spend my time elsewhere. I like to chill out and let my body relax during my down time.
So why does all of this matter anyway? Because it's memo hunting season. And it's just starting to get interesting. Outlines are due tomorrow, and then on Nov 20th memos are do. It's like watching a social experiment--watching the procrastinators, the spazzes, and then everyone else in between... I get a good chuckle out of it and sometimes will add a little fuel to the fire to just watch it flame up. But really, I am so far past the spazzing over 1 assignment that this whole memo thing doesn't have me even concerned. It's meant to be an exercise in writing and an exercise in time management. A little a day. Didn't anyone every read the "Tortoise and the Hare" when they were little? Can't write it in a weekend-- you have no perspective, you lose ability to really pace and think things through. I don't want to post yet just how far I have gotten because people will be pissed one way or the other. But suffice it to say, next Monday and Tuesday (19th & 20th), I will be sitting on the sidelines smiling and watching the social experiment really peak. In the meantime, I'll keep plowing through... bit by bit... and running on the wet, leaf covered asphalt.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
The Memo.
Let's talk about The Memo. It deserves caps, it really does. It's a nightmare. It seems so easy: Take the assignment, do some research, find some applicable case law, statutes, codes, whatever and then write a 15pp paper on it. Simple, right? But no. First is the problem that you have to write it in a specific legalese format... Conclusion, Rule, Explanation, Analysis, Conclusion (again)... and the sections have to be in a specific order. Second problem is that of course the assignment has all these twists and turns and little things that cause headaches. It's a lot like trying to write a term paper about the astrobiology of Mars. The astro-whaaaaat? Yeah, exactly. You have to learn everything about the background of the topic, the judicial & legislative history, the background of the client... all before you can even write.
I am at the cusp of writing, at the point where I am peering over the edge of the cliff, waiting to jump off... waiting for what? The right wind, the right moment. I take a deep breath and dive...
I am at the cusp of writing, at the point where I am peering over the edge of the cliff, waiting to jump off... waiting for what? The right wind, the right moment. I take a deep breath and dive...
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
The Dreaded Memo
So it's 1L Memo writing season across the country. Imagine it like this: take your most dreaded seminar paper you ever wrote, add in your most dreaded manuscript you ever wrote, add a dash of a horrid topic and whamo, you have the Memo. It's the "term paper" for all 1Ls, that one little piece of writing that we all dread and will probably loathe even long after we've turned it in. Why is it so bad? Because it brings out all of our insecurities about legal writing. Sure, we've spent the semester doing various attempts at writing a good memo, but those weren't graded. This one, this one little Memo, determines our entire grade for legal writing and with it, a lot of other things. If you aren't good at legal writing, employers are going to notice. If you aren't good at legal writing, it's going to be hard to make Law Review or to give employers a good writing sample. A class that is just 1.5 credits basically becomes the class every 1L loves to hate. You can can feel it in the air, you can hear it in the way people talk-- the memo is the real unknown, the real thing that will shake the confidence of even the most overly-confident 1Ls... it's what will level the playing field. It's the one thing that everyone has heard about and everyone fears.
Too dramatic of wording for a simple paper? Come visit a group of 1Ls here right now and you'll see. In the meantime, I am going to go bang my head against my laptop and stare at the blinking cursor, which is calmly beating at 82 blinks a minute.
Too dramatic of wording for a simple paper? Come visit a group of 1Ls here right now and you'll see. In the meantime, I am going to go bang my head against my laptop and stare at the blinking cursor, which is calmly beating at 82 blinks a minute.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Cyclical Ridiculousness
So just when I was ready to actually conquer the day, it happened. The Wall. I call it The Wall, but really it's the 2hr block of time that I have CivPro and Contracts back to back. It's The Wall because I always hit it and it always flattens me on my butt. I wish I could pretend like it doesn't but no, it really does. First off, there's CivPro. And today was one of the bad days. He gets started on a subject that at face value isn't difficult-- removal jurisdiction-- but then goes off on tangents, gets complicated, loops back on himself 100x. It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't so frustrating. It makes me want to cry, makes me want to scream, makes me want to throw my thick book at him and demand that he focus himself for 50 minutes. But yet, I sit there, trying valiantly to follow along as much as possible, trying to take notes. At the end of class today, I realized my 1pp of notes made NO sense. Sighs. Am I the only one lost and frustrated? And then part deux of The Wall happened. Contracts. Ok, he asks a question, no one answers, so I raise my hand. He totally ignores me, says "let's hear from someone we haven't in a while." Dude, there are only 40 people in the class, and I don't want to go through a cycle of student answer-prof blithering-student bumbling-prof smirking. So I raise my hand. Whatever. I shouldn't bother. That's another class I do better with not going to class. And I don't understand what's so hard about Damages. Look at the contract, look at who breached and why, look at the difference in the two parties now. Viola. Magic. I think it's become so complex because he's gotten so far into the weeds that we're examining soil types (hang in there, I know that was a science analogy). Ridiculousness. And today he then speeds through Liquidation Damages at 100mph so we can move on. What was that all about? And let's not forget that with the Observer (think "Tenure committee watchman") in the back of the room the past 2 classes we've actually had a differently behaved prof. Can't wait for Wednesday and another round of The Wall.
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