DONE!!!

With my first year of law school.  🙂

Only two more years to go!

 

TARDIS Cookie Jar

I want this!

It’s a TARDIS cookie jar!  You can find it on http://www.bbcamericashop.com.  Now that you know where to find it, you can go ahead and buy it for me.  It’s ok, I’ll wait.

And I realize that I’ve just “outed” myself as a Doctor Who lover, but really, it’s an awesome show.  Go watch it.

 

Property Final

One final down, two to go!  And one paper, but that’s not nearly so bad.

So, I have my four-hour long (!) property final tomorrow at 9 am.

It’s all multiple choice (with some true/false thrown in for good measure).

I’m terrified.  You can’t BS your way through a multiple choice exam!  I mean, it’s like my professor actually expects me to know this stuff.  The nerve!

Alright, I’m going to bed.  No point studying anymore, and I have to get up early tomorrow since I’m currently staying with my parents (I hate studying in the law library during finals…way too intense).  I have about an hour drive back to school, so I’m planning on leaving a bit early just in case there’s loads of traffic.  I figure the sooner I get there, the more time I have to cram various stuff in my head (like the Rule Against Perpetuities, which can suck it).

 

Con Law Final

My first law school final (Constitutional Law I) for the spring semester is tomorrow.

I’m a bit nervous.

One big reason why I’m nervous is because it’s closed book.  I hate closed book exams.  I feel like I know the material well, but I like having an outline with me, just in case I forget something.  It’s like a security blanket.

Another reason why I’m nervous is because my professor is an extremely tough grader.  She tends to give out a lot of Cs, and the last few years she’s even had several Ds and Fs.  *insert worried expression here*  Oy, I hope I do well.  Especially since she’s my professor for Constitutional Law II next semester.

Alright, just a little bit more studying, then off to bed.  Wish me luck!

 

Update

I told my dad about my previous post, and all the problems I’ve encountered with the phrase, “Do you mind if I…?”

His solution?  “I think you need smarter friends.”

HA.

 

Do You Mind?

I know I’m in the middle of studying for finals, and should therefore be thinking about much more important things.  Like contracts, or constitutional law, for example.  But this has been bugging me for awhile now, and I’m doing everything I can to avoid work.  So here we go.

I absolutely hate it when people ask, “Do you mind if I…?”  HATE.  Now I’m sure most people don’t think about this phrase as much as I do, and it most likely doesn’t bug other people.  But it really bugs me.

Okay, so when somebody says, “Do you mind if I…?” I believe the correct way to answer is with a Yes or No.  So if you do mind (and therefore don’t want the other person to do whatever they’re asking to do), you answer with a “Yes.”  But if you don’t mind (thereby allowing the other person to do whatever), you answer with a “No.”  So, “Yes, I do mind” or “No, I don’t mind.”  Get it?  Okay, here’s my problem.

Most people I’ve spoken to don’t seem to get this reasoning.  A few months ago, I invited several friends over to my house for a little get together.  Nothing too big, just pizza and chatting.  One of my friends texted me, and asked “Do you mind if I bring my boyfriend over?”  I texted back something along the lines of, “No, of course not!  Bring whoever.”  She ended up not bringing him, because she thought I didn’t want him to come.  Another example is even more recent.  My roomie texted me and asked “Do you mind if I bring a friend over to watch the game?”  I immediately texted back, “No go ahead.  I’ll be working in my room anyway.”  But she hasn’t come over yet.  Which makes me think that she also misinterpreted my response.

Okay, rant over.  Now back to studying.

 

Career Services

This afternoon our career services center had an information session on fall recruiting.  A lady from the office and two students (a 2L and a 3L) were there to give us advice.  Unfortunately the entire thing was such a huge waste of time.

First of all?  I know I need a resume and cover letter.  That’s very obvious.  You don’t need to spend a huge chunk of time telling us all how important they both are.  Instead, why don’t you tell us how many employers participate in OCI, how many big law/public interest/etc, and how many us of will actually get jobs?  Those are the facts we really want and need to know.

Secondly?  Were those two students really the best you could do?  OMG.  The 2L was a total Debbie Downer.  He told us that he’s a really good student, but didn’t manage to get a job during fall recruiting (“I was really hopeful, at first”).  He then went on and on about how important grades are to getting jobs.  After he finished speaking, I was left thinking that I wouldn’t hire him either.  Who wants to work with such a “down” person!  And the 3L wasn’t much better.  At least she wasn’t a Debbie Downer.  She spoke about networking, and how she networked with a person while flying to Colorado (where she wants to work), who set her up to interview for a teaching position at the University of Colorado.  I’m happy for her, but teaching?  I doubt that’s a law related field.  And not everybody has to go into a law field after graduating from law school, but right now most of us really want to practice law.

So what did I get out of this session?  Unfortunately, not much.  I knew going into law school that grades are super important for big law jobs (which thankfully I don’t want anyway…my grades aren’t that good!), and that networking is also very important.  AND I can proudly say that while my grades are not the best (definitely not top 20%!), I used networking to my advantage and scored a 1L summer job in January while most of my classmates were still looking.  So I’m planning on using networking to my advantage again.  Fingers crossed!

 

Course Registration

Tonight is the night!

All 1Ls in my school registered for classes for the fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters.  Now, I love my school, but they really need to improve the registration process.  It’s a freakin madhouse.  Now my thoughts for course registration is that you should register for important, general courses along with some other interesting courses (which you might pursue after graduation).  My only problem is that I don’t really know what I want to do.  I’ve considered environmental law, health law, intellectual property law, and even the military.  So I’m all over the place.  But without further ado, here’s what I’m currently registered for:

Fall 2011 Semester:
Evidence – 4 credits
Constitutional Law II – 3 credits
Environmental Law – 3 credits
Public Interest Lawyering (Research Paper Course) – 2 credits
Moot Court Competition – 1 credit
Intellectual Property Law – WAITLIST – 3 credits

Spring 2012 Semester:
Decedents’ Estates & Trusts – 3 credits
Business Organizations – 4 credits
Legal Profession – 3 credits
Trial Advocacy – 2 credits
Criminal Procedure – WAITLIST – 3 credits
Corporate & White Collar Crime – WAITLIST – 3 credits

So, not including the waitlisted classes, I’m registered for 13 credits for the fall and 12 credits for the spring.  I’m mostly happy with the classes I managed to get, but I really hope I get off the waitlist for Intellectual Property Law.  And I’d rather get Criminal Procedure than Corporate & White Collar Crime, but if I manage to get into both I may drop Legal Profession (required course) and take that during my 3L year.

Some things I’m not happy about?  Well, for one, I didn’t manage to snag any health law courses.  They either conflicted with other courses or they filled up immediately.  So that’ll have to wait for my last year (assuming I’m still interested in health law then).  But the really big thing that makes me sad?  Trial advocacy is a Tuesday night class.  Which means that it conflicts with Glee.  Sigh.*

*BTW, I promise I’m a “serious” law student.  Mostly.  🙂

 

Why I’m a Bad Law Student

I have a confession to make:  I don’t always go to class.

I know that I’m paying for this, and I should always go to class, and I won’t be able to get away with skipping important meetings and whatnot when I’m in the “real” world, yadda yadda yadda.  But sometimes I just can’t make myself go.

Today is one of those days.

This semester I’m taking contracts.  I’ve been in this class for approximately three months, and I have to say, I’m getting absolutely nothing out of it.  My professor is horrible.  He lectures on things that (while interesting) will not help us on the final.  For example, last week he spent an hour talking about serfs.  I wish I was joking.  And when he does actually focus on the cases, he tends to fixate on little things.  We’re lucky if we manage to get through three cases in a two-hour class.  And to top everything off, my professor is slightly terrifying.  This class has over 100 students, and NO ONE VOLUNTEERS.  Even the gunners are silent.

So I’ve started skipping class.  And instead of sitting in a two-hour long class where I always regret going (and usually end up playing Sudoku on my laptop), I’ve decided to go home and teach myself contracts out of my supplemental materials.  So even though I’m not getting anything out of my lecture, I am actually learning contracts.  And to make things even better, I get to learn contracts in a non-terrifying environment while cuddling with my dog.  I’m going to call this a win.

 

Oral Arguments

Oral arguments are a right of passage for every law student.  They can be terrifying, but they are mostly fun.

Yes, that’s right, I said fun.

Honestly, I’m surprised I feel this way.  When I applied to law school, most of my family and friends were shocked.  “Law school?  But you don’t like to argue!”  When I started law school, I had several ideas of what area of law I would like to pursue.  Maybe intellectual property law, since my undergraduate degree is in engineering.  Or, how about environmental law?  Maybe even health law, since I worked as a nurse’s aide in a hospital for over a year.  But I was absolutely, 100% sure about one thing…there was no way you’d find me in a courtroom.

Now?  Well, I’m still not sure what I want to do…but I’m no longer opposed to working in a courtroom.  And I have my oral argument to thank for that.

My argument was last Friday.  I put on my spiffy suit, made my hair look all nice and shiny, and walked into my argument feeling super prepared.  My opposing counsel and I spoke beforehand, and we both mentioned how nervous we felt.  Neither of us were very comfortable speaking in front of people, and for oral arguments we had to present our case in front of three judges!  A little bit scary.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with oral arguments, they are different from presentations you may have given in college.  In college, you walk to the front of the class, present your research (or whatever, I was an engineer remember), and took questions at the very end.  No interruptions!  Oral arguments are different.  During oral arguments, the judges interrupt you with questions almost as soon as you begin.

In my case, I managed to get through my intro (May it please the court, etc.), my overall them, and my roadmap.  I just started my first argument, when I was interrupted.  And the questions didn’t stop.  Unfortunately I couldn’t answer every question, and when I sat down I have to admit feeling a little blue.  I thought the fact that I couldn’t answer the question meant that I did absolutely horrible.  But!  At the end of our oral argument, the judges gave us feedback.  The judge who absolutely hammered me with questions admitted that he didn’t know how to answer those questions, and just wanted to see my reaction.  Apparently I did everything I was supposed to do in that situation.  I kept a straight face (no shocked expression, according to the judge), answered to the best of my ability, and kept going.

So to summarize:  oral arguments are fun.  Maybe I’ll compete in the moot court summer competition?