Done!

Had a request for a blog entry now that I'm done with my first year of law school, so here it is! I'm very happy to be done with 1L. Now, however, begins the horrifying waiting game--time to wait for grades to come in. That process is quite stressful. However, I think I'm doing better and feeling more relaxed now than I was a semester ago. Maybe that will change as grades are posted and I like/don't like what I see.

So I thought that once I finished my last final on May 11, life was going to be easy--smooth sailing. And it is, to an extent. On that Friday of my last final, I got to go up to Fort Worth and have a fun weekend with some of my best friends from Trinity. We played games, ate out, painted Kaci's house (!), and had together time. I got back to Houston early Sunday morning, and got to spend Mother's Day with Mom and Grandma.

Then on Monday, things got a little more complicated again. I attended a required 2-day judicial process course that was designed to help get us in shape for our summer judicial internships. I found it somewhat helpful, but it was hard to sit in the same classroom all day for two days in a row after just finishing the semester the Friday before. Sadly, I also have homework for that class--a paper due next Friday that's worth 60% of our grade, plus with written "reflections" due at various points throughout the summer along with required participation in an online discussion board. Therefore, some of yesterday was spent in an attempt to work on the paper. I didn't get very far, sadly, so that is going to be the main focus of the weekend.

Wednesday was Kelsey's 16th birthday, so I headed down to Sugar Land to spend the day there. It was kind of a low-key birthday, I think, but there were 6 of us there to celebrate because Rebecca and Ben were there as well. We had roast, potatoes, and corn on the cob (and I'll eat the leftovers tonight, yum) for dinner and then went to chick-fil-a afterwards for milkshakes. No birthday cake, because Kelsey wants to save that for her party with her friends, which will be held next weekend, I think.

Then Thursday was my orientation for my first internship. I'm going to start practicing the principles of confidentiality that are so important and say that basically this summer I will be spending the vast majority of my time writing, researching, and editing. Getting downtown wasn't too bad, and I'll be parking for about $3 a day and splitting that cost with Staci, who I'll carpool with most days. Then Thursday evening, Melissa came over and we went to Sonic and watched Grey's Anatomy, which was shocking. I hate when the season finales completely leave you hanging. Boo.

So next week will begin my full days on the job. I think I'll be working about 35 hours a week or so, which isn't too bad. And I'm looking forward to being able to come home every day from work and have no homework (well, once this paper is over. And I don't have "reflections" to do.).

So there you have it, a post-finals update.

P.S. I'm proud of myself! According to spellcheck, I didn't misspell any words. That's unusual for me.

Ridiculous

Law school makes you crazy. Studying nonstop for exams that constitute your entire grade for a semester is just not fun. In undergrad, I thought exam time was stressful--but now I know that it can be much, much worse. I'm dreading this week (exams on Monday, Wednesday and Friday), and don't see how this is going to end well. I can already sense my GPA falling, especially after the property exam last Friday.

What prompted this post was my studying for criminal law. I'm currently doing hypos (law school speak for "hypotheticals," fact situations where after a situation is laid out for you you're asked to apply the law) to practice for the exam I have tomorrow, and they're a little ridiculous. Here's the first paragraph of one of the hypos in Siegel's Criminal Law ((c) 2005):

"Adams and Barlow frequented the same pool hall. Adams told Barlow that Adams needed help in testing the faithfulness of his girlfriend, Kitty, and, if she proved unfaithful, killing her. The plan was for Adams to bring a box of chocolates laced with LSD to Barlow, who was to offer the chocolates to Kitty. If Kitty accepted the chocolates from Barlow, (a stranger to her), this would satisfy Adams that she was unfaithful and deserved to die."

The situation goes on, and of course someone else samples the candy and dies...and at the end, I'm to "discuss the crimes for which Adams and Barlow may be successfully prosecuted." These kind of hypotheticals are what my grade depends on. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? Aren't you jealous of how I will be spending three hours of my life tomorrow morning? And when that's done, I get to come right back and try and study constitutional law, which will be excruciating--but I won't go into that here.

I can't tell you how much I am looking forward to noon on Friday when my first year of law school will be done, for better or for worse. And something just as exciting: this weekend consists of a little mini-vacation in Fort Worth and getting to see some of the old Trinity crowd. Yay.