Time to start working soon

So, I start working on Monday. Many of my friends at school started over a week ago. My employer for the summer wanted me to wait (vacations or something for my supervisor). So I have had some time on my hands. I went camping for a few days. I went to the Chocolate Festival in Burlington. I went to a fabulous dinner with my mentee. I got to spend my best friend K's birthday with her, and commisserate and have a great time talking about the "good old days" before both of us started collecting all these degrees and life got so crazy. I have read one mystery novel already and am in the middle of another. I have done a lot of shopping for work clothes.

I still haven't found my damn passport yet though. I have to get on that.

Monday is coming too soon!

Hillary for....Supreme Court?

This article in the ABA Journal intrigues me. It discusses the possibility of Barack Obama cutting a deal to get Hillary Clinton out of the race by promising to make her his nominee for the Supreme Court. This would be more exciting for me personally than her being President. For some reason, a SCOTUS Justice is much more intellectual and interesting than a President. I think that our friend George had a lot to do with my perceived "dumbing down" of the Presidency.

Bo-battiness

I found today that I have gained 25 pounds since I quit smoking. Add that to the few that I gained in the first part of 1L just from eating crap, and that makes me about 30 pounds heavier than when I started law school. And, I was already heavy.

I am now at the "Fatty Bobatty" stage. I don't like it. My brother gets married in July, and I had to admit to his finance that I was just too fat to fit into the bridesmaids dresses she selected. (She responded by kicking me out of the wedding party. Nice - huh?)

Now, I either need to drop some weight or buy something to wear to the wedding itself. I am afraid that I won't be able to find something suitable. So, it's workout time. And stop eating swedish fish because they are easy to sneak into the library. Time to buckle down.

Time limits and law school exams

For the second time this semester, I took an exam that I could have used at least another half hour to complete. Professors write exams where most students write until the very second time is called. As a result, I usually submit answers that are formatted poorly, and that include either too much information, or not enough.

I am a "ponderer." I like to think things through and determine the best course of action, not just a "good" course of action. This personality and law school exams are like oil and water. They just don't mix. This means that I take exams in areas of the law that I am familiar with and enjoy, but give the professor the impression that I am clueless about them in the end.

Why can't they just give us more time on the exams? If they are worried about those students who write too much, they can give us a word limit. That won't hurt anyone. I welcome it actually. The real skills they should be testing are those that apply to the real world. In real life, a client doesn't ask your opinion and expect a thorough response in 3 hours or less. They want an idea of their options during the meeting, and a well thought out response later. What we really should be asking of students is that they THINK about things and keep written work to a reasonable length.


What do you think?
Discuss.

Panic at the library!

No, it's not a hip new band, it is a plague upon my law school. It's happy fun finals time, and I made the mistake of staying in the law school to study because I didn't want to get rained on.

Then people started rolling in here at about 10am. My 2 hours of beautiful quiet and solitude with Trusts and Estates were destroyed in a matter of minutes by the palpable anxiety of my fellow students.

This semester I had managed to stay out of the fray. I even studied near the undergrads yesterday. Why did I deviate from my plan?

Oh the humanity! I just want to be somewhere laid back and calm.

I am going home to take a nap.

Semester, quit ending so fast!

Dear Mother Time (I am a feminist - get over it!),

I am not ready for exams. I am however, ready for spring (that means no frickin' snow). I am totally ready to work, but I am not ready to finish school. What I am asking here is that you either slow down, or grant me that additional hour or so that I desperately need.

Especially because I have a trusts and estates exam this weekend.

Sincerely,

Improvilaw

Professor, quit talking so fast

I hate that at the end of the semester, when you start feeling a little worried about exams and the depth of the knowledge in the course, the professor starts talking really fast. They always try to cover material that they really don't have time for at this point in the semester and it is infuriating.

Dear Professors: Stay on task early in the semester so you have PLENTY of time to get through the material. Alternatively, you can just not test us on the material covered the last 2 weeks of class. You have at least 2 degrees. Get your shit together and follow your own syllabus - please! Your failure to shut down stupid questions the rest of the semester and to allow the class to lag isn't my problem or my fault. Quit punishing me for your lack of time management.

Sincerely,

Improvilaw

Sorry about the lack of posts

Sorry about not posting for a while. Life got in the way of blogging. I also have been a little overwhelmed lately. The end of the school year brings a lot of work with it. I have classes where I missed some reading and need to make sure I have looked at everything. I have outlines to make. There are end-of-year parties and dinners to attend. Clinic clients' cases needed to be wrapped up if possible.

That means that a lot of stuff falls by the wayside. Like getting my hair cut. For some reason, I haven't been able to get a haircut appointment that will stick. I have had stylists cancel my appointments twice this month. I am thinking that I don't have time to make a new appointment now, so cute hair will have to wait until the end of May.

I am looking forward to camping season already. I am thinking about taking off for the woods right after my last exam.

I forgot how much I like doing plays and stuff

Last night was our law school's annual "skit" show. Basically, we poke fun at law school classes, professors and culture in general. I got "excused" to get out of the law review election a little early to do the show. I played a "Gunner Phone Sex" operator (on stage) and a talking locker (Offstage). It was a ton of fun. I got to enjoy my inner "ham" and really enjoyed it. When I was younger, I used to do that kind of thing all the time. It was nice to do something through the law school that had nothing to do with academics, or my career or even social justice for once. Not that I don't love being in those kinds of things, it is just a different thing.

This was just for me.

Speaking of which, I gave myself a gift this week and decided not to run for SBA again. I just gained a few hours a week back! The rest of 2008 is going to be about me taking back my life from the beast of law school.

As the law review election turns

Never before has any event been so fraught with intrigue and drama. Never before has doing so much work been so unrewarding. Never before have I soooooo not wanted Mr. T and Mr. R to be my bosses.

What am I talking about? The upcoming law review elections. The most qualified people are too socially inept to run for anything. The egomaniacs are out in full force though, shaking hands with members who they never had time for before, and saying childish things like, "you should vote for me because my shoes are cute."

Personally, since the Editor in Chief of this thing is my likely boss, I would really like someone smart, but also a skilled manager. This is hard to find in law school. Many students call "extensive work experience" the one summer they spent stuffing envelopes for some senator, or the one year they worked as a paralegal at their dad's law firm between undergrad and law school.

They also foolishly hold the elections the same day as our annual skit show. That means that I only could be cast in two skits. They had better finish this lame election by the time the show starts!

White women can jump

Sometimes, my trusts and estates instructor will jump up and down with excitement. She also refers to her husband and two dogs regularly and liberally. She should probably lay off the caffeine. While some people get really irritated with her over-enthusiasm, at least it keeps us awake! She also uses a lot of overheads, which I like.

Do any readers want to comment on what they like/don't like in professors?

Student (dis) Organization

I am a joiner. I love joining all kinds of groups. I am a social person. Here at law school, I have been involved in SBA, a journal and all kinds of student organizations.

The one thing I have learned is that getting a group of flakey 20 somethings to make a decent effort at anything is nearly impossible. One-upmanship tends to carry the day, rather than actual accmplishments.

It is exhausting.