Your Linguistic Profile: |
| 55% General American English |
| 30% Dixie |
| 10% Yankee |
| 0% Midwestern |
| 0% Upper Midwestern |
Sunday, August 27, 2006
30% Dixie
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
I'm so Tired, My Mind is on the Brink
I am so tired - physically and mentally.
Yesterday morning I couldn't remember any of the cases I'd briefed the night before.
I'm worried I'm not learning anything because I never have a chance to go back over anything I've read to study it. It all just seems like a struggle to get as much out of the cases as possible to write briefs and then pray I don't get called on.
I'm completely exhausted.
I know this is normal 1L experience, but could someone tell when (like what day number) it gets better. If I just knew when that day was, I could hang on by my fingernails until then.
I have about six cases to brief now. Hopefully I'll make it to bed before 1am.
*sigh*
Yesterday morning I couldn't remember any of the cases I'd briefed the night before.
I'm worried I'm not learning anything because I never have a chance to go back over anything I've read to study it. It all just seems like a struggle to get as much out of the cases as possible to write briefs and then pray I don't get called on.
I'm completely exhausted.
I know this is normal 1L experience, but could someone tell when (like what day number) it gets better. If I just knew when that day was, I could hang on by my fingernails until then.
I have about six cases to brief now. Hopefully I'll make it to bed before 1am.
*sigh*
Sunday, August 20, 2006
I'm a Survivor
I have completed my first week of law school. Whew!
I have had all sorts of adventures.
I missed a class. I had looked at my LRW schedule wrong and thought it started at a different time. I arrived about thirty minutes before it was over. I pressed my ear to the door and listened to the last part of class. Afterwards I went and talked to the prof, who said I was more than welcome to come to his later section and I could sneak out when I needed to go to Civ Pro. I think Prof LRW is going to be my favorite. It's my smallest section and he really seems to want to be available to us.
That same day I forgot one of my books. Mr Delictis kindly brought it to me after I broke down and called him. I thought about buying a copy from the bookstore then returning it after class, but it wouldn't have my highlighting and notes in it.
I got called on in class by Prof CrimLaw, who I think is the most hardcore. I got called on and had the right answer!!!!!!!!! who hoooo!!!! I wanted to stand up and do the happy dance right then and there, but deemed it inappropriate and quelled that desire.
I feel exactly the way they said I would at orientation - like I'm merely treading water. I'm not briefing every single case. I'm worried that I'm not understanding everything (anything?). I am doing all the reading and I highlight the cases with different highlighters (blue for procedural history, yellow for reasoning, etc etc). This weekend I started making flashcards. It's too early for doing outlines, right? I'm worried I'm not doing my briefs correctly, although I feel more adept than some of my classmates who've never done it before(thank you, Delaney!).
However, I made it through my first week. I think I'm officially a 1L now.
In other news, LawMommy had her first day of orientation yesterday and I can't wait to hear all about it!
I have had all sorts of adventures.
I missed a class. I had looked at my LRW schedule wrong and thought it started at a different time. I arrived about thirty minutes before it was over. I pressed my ear to the door and listened to the last part of class. Afterwards I went and talked to the prof, who said I was more than welcome to come to his later section and I could sneak out when I needed to go to Civ Pro. I think Prof LRW is going to be my favorite. It's my smallest section and he really seems to want to be available to us.
That same day I forgot one of my books. Mr Delictis kindly brought it to me after I broke down and called him. I thought about buying a copy from the bookstore then returning it after class, but it wouldn't have my highlighting and notes in it.
I got called on in class by Prof CrimLaw, who I think is the most hardcore. I got called on and had the right answer!!!!!!!!! who hoooo!!!! I wanted to stand up and do the happy dance right then and there, but deemed it inappropriate and quelled that desire.
I feel exactly the way they said I would at orientation - like I'm merely treading water. I'm not briefing every single case. I'm worried that I'm not understanding everything (anything?). I am doing all the reading and I highlight the cases with different highlighters (blue for procedural history, yellow for reasoning, etc etc). This weekend I started making flashcards. It's too early for doing outlines, right? I'm worried I'm not doing my briefs correctly, although I feel more adept than some of my classmates who've never done it before(thank you, Delaney!).
However, I made it through my first week. I think I'm officially a 1L now.
In other news, LawMommy had her first day of orientation yesterday and I can't wait to hear all about it!
Monday, August 14, 2006
School Daze
Here I am, sitting in the library after my first class, which was Contracts. I have several hours to pass before Civ Pro, so I thought I'd update before hitting the books.
Last night I felt like it was the night before my first day of middle school. I had a zillion folders spread all over the bed, was looking exasperatedly at my schedule and wondering how everything was going to fit into my backpack.
All weekend I thought I had Torts and Contracts today. Sunday night I discovered I had Contracts and Civ Pro. I realized that USC does NOT stand for United States Constitution, it stands for United States Code! I learned that I had purchased ANOTHER incorrect book, this time from the bookstore where I misread what book went with what section. What else, what else.....
However, once I identified the panic with the crisis of middle school, I calmed down considerably. Middle school sucked at first, running around trying to find my locker, carrying tons and tons of stuff around, walking up and down stairs and generally just going crazy made up the first week or so. After a few false starts things evened out.
The girl sitting next to me in Contracts a great organizational tool that I already said I was going to utlize myself. Stuck to the spine of her Contracts books she had a piece of green paper with a "C" on it (I realize it should be a K though, right?) and - this is the genius part - her Contracts binder was green. My complete OCD/anal retentive freakishness was ALL OVER that. How perfectly divine! I have been worried sick about grabbing the wrong materials for class one day and just being stuck.
It made me think of some things that can help me stay calm and organized during this first couple of weeks. First of all, it's driven me crazy that I can't remember my schedule (or even read it correctly, it seems!), where my classes are, who the profs are. Well, that's because this is a new environment. At UH, (where I'd been going for the past, uh, 17 years) I chose my classes and created my schedule. I knew who the profs were in advance for the most part. I knew where the classes were. This is a whole new ball game. So....I'm going to put a copy of my schedule next to the bookshelf so that I can pull everything the night before. I'm going to color code everything.
And I'm going to take some more deep breaths so I can relax....hopefully.
One final note, and really the most important one. Thank you so much for all your words of support. Ana cracked me up, and you better believe the promise of that glass (bottle) of wine at the end of the day is tiding me through. It was nice to look and find more and more comforting words each time I checked my email over the weekend. Cella, thank you for the outlining tips. My degree is in Art History, so attaching pictures to cases is a PERFECT idea for me. Thank you, thank you! Kat and Law-rah, thank you for your good vibes as well!
Okay, the USC and I have a date for the next couple of hours.
Last night I felt like it was the night before my first day of middle school. I had a zillion folders spread all over the bed, was looking exasperatedly at my schedule and wondering how everything was going to fit into my backpack.
All weekend I thought I had Torts and Contracts today. Sunday night I discovered I had Contracts and Civ Pro. I realized that USC does NOT stand for United States Constitution, it stands for United States Code! I learned that I had purchased ANOTHER incorrect book, this time from the bookstore where I misread what book went with what section. What else, what else.....
However, once I identified the panic with the crisis of middle school, I calmed down considerably. Middle school sucked at first, running around trying to find my locker, carrying tons and tons of stuff around, walking up and down stairs and generally just going crazy made up the first week or so. After a few false starts things evened out.
The girl sitting next to me in Contracts a great organizational tool that I already said I was going to utlize myself. Stuck to the spine of her Contracts books she had a piece of green paper with a "C" on it (I realize it should be a K though, right?) and - this is the genius part - her Contracts binder was green. My complete OCD/anal retentive freakishness was ALL OVER that. How perfectly divine! I have been worried sick about grabbing the wrong materials for class one day and just being stuck.
It made me think of some things that can help me stay calm and organized during this first couple of weeks. First of all, it's driven me crazy that I can't remember my schedule (or even read it correctly, it seems!), where my classes are, who the profs are. Well, that's because this is a new environment. At UH, (where I'd been going for the past, uh, 17 years) I chose my classes and created my schedule. I knew who the profs were in advance for the most part. I knew where the classes were. This is a whole new ball game. So....I'm going to put a copy of my schedule next to the bookshelf so that I can pull everything the night before. I'm going to color code everything.
And I'm going to take some more deep breaths so I can relax....hopefully.
One final note, and really the most important one. Thank you so much for all your words of support. Ana cracked me up, and you better believe the promise of that glass (bottle) of wine at the end of the day is tiding me through. It was nice to look and find more and more comforting words each time I checked my email over the weekend. Cella, thank you for the outlining tips. My degree is in Art History, so attaching pictures to cases is a PERFECT idea for me. Thank you, thank you! Kat and Law-rah, thank you for your good vibes as well!
Okay, the USC and I have a date for the next couple of hours.
Friday, August 11, 2006
Orientation Part One
My orientation days are Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I've been through two days of orientation so far. After I got home on both days I went straight to bed. I'm just emotionally exhausted and stressed out.
Yes, I'm so stressed out that instead of reading, I'm blogging. I know that's not unusual. I don't know how many times I've read, "I should be studying for finals, I should be reading, I should be...." I can at least take some comfort in that, I suppose.
I've bought the wrong books twice - once from the bookstore, once from Amazon. *sigh* That's not helping my stress level. I'm not used to having to buy books from the bookstore, I'm used to knowing what to get in advance and getting it from Amazon and saving a TON.
Orientation has been okay. I've met only *one* person from my section, though. All the C section (ha ha!) people I've hung out with are really nice. It seems as if law school is composed of guys and tan, blonde haired girls.
We have classes with our LRW profs during orientation, so I've met one of my profs. Prof LRW seems nice, relaxed and funny. I even answered one of his questions. I was going to write it down so that I could share it with y'all, but I told myself, "Certainly I won't forget this momentous occasion." Certainly I did less that ten minutes later.
I'm glad that I read about briefing during the summer, because we didn't really go into it in detail. I wish they'd show us something about outlining. I'm not sure how detailed or general to be, only that I need to do it!
So to combat my anxiety, I'm going to put clean sheets on the bed and go for a run. I'm going to put all my law school books on a shelf in the library, just like I did in undergrad, pulling off only the book I need for the next hour.
There's a couple of links I need to add to the 1L advice list. Maybe I'll do that later and actually go read some of them. I know they say to just relax. Maybe that word will sink into my thick, anxiety addled skull. Relax. R-E-L-A-X
I see that I haven't talked a lot about orientation. Maybe I'll do that on one of my study breaks later today. When I do that, I'll be able to discuss the new zen mind I will have developed.
Yes, I'm so stressed out that instead of reading, I'm blogging. I know that's not unusual. I don't know how many times I've read, "I should be studying for finals, I should be reading, I should be...." I can at least take some comfort in that, I suppose.
I've bought the wrong books twice - once from the bookstore, once from Amazon. *sigh* That's not helping my stress level. I'm not used to having to buy books from the bookstore, I'm used to knowing what to get in advance and getting it from Amazon and saving a TON.
Orientation has been okay. I've met only *one* person from my section, though. All the C section (ha ha!) people I've hung out with are really nice. It seems as if law school is composed of guys and tan, blonde haired girls.
We have classes with our LRW profs during orientation, so I've met one of my profs. Prof LRW seems nice, relaxed and funny. I even answered one of his questions. I was going to write it down so that I could share it with y'all, but I told myself, "Certainly I won't forget this momentous occasion." Certainly I did less that ten minutes later.
I'm glad that I read about briefing during the summer, because we didn't really go into it in detail. I wish they'd show us something about outlining. I'm not sure how detailed or general to be, only that I need to do it!
So to combat my anxiety, I'm going to put clean sheets on the bed and go for a run. I'm going to put all my law school books on a shelf in the library, just like I did in undergrad, pulling off only the book I need for the next hour.
There's a couple of links I need to add to the 1L advice list. Maybe I'll do that later and actually go read some of them. I know they say to just relax. Maybe that word will sink into my thick, anxiety addled skull. Relax. R-E-L-A-X
I see that I haven't talked a lot about orientation. Maybe I'll do that on one of my study breaks later today. When I do that, I'll be able to discuss the new zen mind I will have developed.
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