First legal brief…

That is, the first case brief that needed to be turned in for grading and review. Not only that, I needed to give a copy to a classmate for peer review. And you know what? My brief sucked. Absolutely sucked. We discussed the case in class and my brief simply did not cut it. The worst thing is I’m not really sure how I could have fixed it. Now, I have had this feeling before and came out with A’s. So we will see what I get for a grade. But for today, I am determined to do better. How I’m not sure. But I will find a way. If there is one thing I hate it is turning in a piece of work that is unsatisfactory. That is just not my style. I am tired, irritable, and taking the next few hours to regroup. Take a step back and reevaluate. This law school thing is going to be a challenge the likes of which I have rarely encountered. Academically speaking, I have never encountered such a challenge before. Interesting. But ultimately, a very good thing.

Monday, week 2

What a day. I love law school. Absolutely love it. Have I found a way to avoid procrastinating, change my late night habits, and miraculously produce six extra hours per day? Not exactly. But so far it is all good. I am just now getting to tomorrows assignments which will take two to four hours to accomplish. But I can go in a bit later tomorrow so I should be fine. I will stay late tomorrow night to participate in the only extra-curricular group I am planning on joining this semester. That would be a mediation and negotiation competition group. I am looking forward to it. Between law school and homework, I managed to get my boys out for the requisite school shopping and spent some time with my mother. BTW, today was my birthday. I got a lovely bouquet of roses from my honey. I got a bunch of phone messages with people relaying their best wishes. And my boys sang happy birthday to me multiple times. College freshman daughter, who I love dearly, is spreading her wings and seemingly forgot her mother today. Such is life, right? I really want her to be happy, but I do miss her and hope she doesn’t find any trouble so far from home. So…it is off to become better acquainted with my Black’s Law Dictionary. Hope my readers find time to read something for pleasure on this fine day.

Week 2

Well, I didn’t do any law school work this weekend. Not because I didn’t need to but because I am still trying to get the rest of my life/schedule in order. College freshman is off on her own and fully set up in her place. The boys are almost ready for school. My new house is almost in order. And I am almost ready to focus on law school tomorrow. Hope my readers have  a lovely day.

Wow, its already been a week?

I can’t believe I’ve had an entire week of classes already. It seems like I just finished orientation yesterday. But so it is. And an interesting week it has been. I won’t lie….I was R-e-a-l-l-y happy for Friday. I’ve had the requisite alcohol that I feel utterly entitled to, though I chose to have that in the privacy of my own home rather than the local bar. I will be in bed before the hour is over. As of right now, I am not even thinking about law school. If I get to it over the weekend I do, and if I don’t, I don’t. There is nothing critical just yet.  So…

I have witnessed what happens to the unprepared legal student. One man was unable to answer when called upon today. I watched him scramble to talk to his neighbor in pure panic, which apparently did not help him fast enough as we had a longggg silence before Prof. called on someone else. Believe it or not, 2nd person wasn’t much more prepared than the first. Also, I witnessed laptops on facebook and AOL messenger service. So much for staying focused on the classroom. So….I’m feeling pretty good. This should not be a problem. Hope all my readers have a lovely weekend.

Adjusting

I am really glad tomorrow is Friday. I’m exhausted. But as of today, I feel like I am starting to get the feel for this law school thing. I made some changes to my organization and have a new system for organizing my reading notes and class notes.  I think my new system will prove helpful later, but we shall see. For now, it feels right. I will also be buying a new backpack, although not a rolling bag. The bag I have is simply too small for the number of things I need to carry. It also does not have enough pockets or sections. So I will be backpack hunting this weekend. Also on the list is school shopping for my boys. So…I have a small amount of reading that awaits me and one more early morning to get through. Hope all my readers have a lovely day.

Day 3

Well, I sure can’t forget that the word mom is part of law school mom. Nor can I forget that I am also a daughter, sister, friend, and girl/woman friend with a man-friend who still wants me around. (I am loving law school, up to speed on my reading, and prepared for tomorrow. I didn’t even bring work home.) Which is probably why the other things are in focus tonight. My college freshman left town this morning with her grandparents. I spoke with her on the phone tonight. She is fine. My middle school son had his orientation at the middle school this morning and I successfully got him there. Everything went well. My youngest is spending the rest of this week with my sister where he will enjoy day trips to the beach with his cousins. And? Life goes on. Since Monday, my mom has been diagnosed with new health problems. She has appointments every day this week to follow up, and then Monday my sister will take her back to the doctor to discuss the results of these tests. On top of that, mom’s companion spent Tuesday at the ER all day. He REALLY needs to move into a nursing home at this point.  My sister is on that, but it takes time. And my honey is missing me. I get up early and he gets home late. So we aren’t seeing too much of each other this week. He just called me tonight and set up a date for Friday night. That was sweet.

So…in general, I’m in a bit of a haze. The past three days have been crazy, but I am confident it will not remain so. It is simply a matter of learning to manage my time.  Three days is not quite enough time to fully adjust. So I will have faith that others are in my situation.  Surely there is plenty of time for me to master the law school material. I’m hoping that devoting a portion of this day to family matters allows me to get some serious studying done tomorrow.

Day 2

I love law school.  As of today, I have had each of my classes once.  I am impressed by how different each of the professors seems to approach their task. I am feeling a little confused as to how to organize all of this information and what the actual differences are between the classes. They all seem the same even though they are all different. Reading from one class to the next seems very similar. I know the difference between Torts and Civ Pro, but I have no idea how I am going to keep all this straight in my head (or on paper either). I had more success today finding a quiet study area.  I just don’t have many daytime hours to devote to socializing, even briefly. Such is the life of a law school mom. I would rather finish my work and go home to socialize with my children. But I am looking forward to going back to school tomorrow. Wednesday is slated to be my easiest day, with the most time available for reading and studying.

What I learned on my first day of law school

1. Privacy is hard to come by. I am a quiet, private person and I want space to study. It is harder to find than I thought and avoiding conversation/social interaction in favor of studying during my day will be a challenge.

2. The classes are very big. I successfully sat in the back row in each class thus far. I very much prefer it. I like to “take it all in” and be very far from the center of attention. So what did I take in? Not using the laptop is the best choice for me. Prediction? People who take paper notes will ultimately have more success or at a minimum, be more connected to what is going on in the classroom. Each professor thus far has actually commented to that effect.

3. Privacy will be hard to come by. Did I already say that? I guess it matters alot to me. Thus far the actual learning material seems easy to deal with. It will be the people who challenge me.

4. Time management will be the key to my success or failure. I think I already knew that. So…its on to day 2. I love law school. As soon as I find the perfect study space I will be in business.

First class tomorrow

I am really looking forward to getting started with this. It is unfortunate that so many assignments are due on the first day. I have everything covered from tomorrow onwards, but I definately have not completed my initial assignments to a satisfactory level. I am consoling myself by remembering that only the final exam makes my grade. So all is not lost. Rather, tomorrow is the first day of an amazing opporunity, and I plan on taking full advantage of it.

Orientation Day 1

It turned out to be a lovely day. Everything was well organized, people were happy to be there, and the quality of information presented was excellent. I felt very comfortable there and feel prepared to begin my classes on Monday. I am attending law school with a very interesting group of people who collectively have accomplished great things and had some amazing experiences. I had the opportunity to speak with a few classmates individually, but mostly we were in group sessions.  Highlights of my day included finding my locker and mastering the combination, realizing that the Deans and Professors knew me by name from the interviews last spring, and getting a personal tour of the law library. While I am exhausted, I am also satisfied and much more relaxed than I was last night. Tomorrow is day 2 of orientation, so I will be going to bed shortly. All in all, this is awesome! It doesn’t hurt that my boys came home tonight after spending a week with their dad. I missed them alot, but I did need the time to get some things done. I love my kids. They are excited to see the law school tomorrow.