Pre-vacation panic

Well, not panic, but time has gotten away from me. Today I ran around like an idiot and am just stopping now. Taking three children to the beach for a week involves a lot of work.  Most of the packing is done. Tomorrow is grocery shopping, taking the dog to the vet for a kennel cough vaccine, and getting over to my mother’s place. Caring for aging parents and one aging man who is not my parent would make for an interesting blog someday. Many people are dealing with that. While I am on vacation, my sister will manage that situation, and my mother will check on my house for me. So all is not lost. I am committed to taking a full week vacation from Saturday to Saturday. I will be leaving my computer behind because it interferes with my ability to totally relax and forget about real life. And I confess, it has a tendency of interfering with the time I spend with my children. I will not be using my laptop to take notes during law school because it will interfere with my ability to concentrate there. I am an unashamed addict.

On the law school front, I received my bill today. The credit balance is lovely. On the other hand, I also received my daughter’s bill for college today. That balance will eat up my credit balance in no time. I worry that my daughter does not appreciate the significant cost involved in her education. While she is a hard worker, she is also a spender. She will need to be poorer as a college student than she has ever been in her life, because I am not going to be able to support her beyond my contribution to her costs. If I send her an extra $50 a month, she’ll be lucky. I hope she is able to manage.

I’m considering the benefits of re-binding my case books for law school. I am not a rolling backpack kind of girl. Nor am I prepared to lug unnecessary weight on what will amount to a long walk from my car to the law school. I will look into this more and post when I find a solution. Of course first I would need to buy the casebooks and other required materials. I have not done that and it doesn’t look likely for tomorrow. But it might not matter because I have decided to avoid used texts, at least for this first semester. I think the highlighting of others would bother me.  So there is no rush. But who knows. Maybe tomorrow I will operate on high speed and accomplish miracles. Doubtful, but possible.

When I get back from vacation, I will have significant amounts of preparation to do. I love having this blog and I will consider ways of using it that will be useful and inspiring to others. Daily posting in the midst of 1L is probably not realistic. And I don’t want it to become an online version of my personal journal. I already have one of those. But I do think having a blog is good, and I will find a way to keep it up. Emotionally, thoughts of law school consume me. I am completing my necessary tasks, taking care of my children, going to work, etc. But my heart and mind are gone.  All I want to do is find my way to satisfaction. Law school and the ability to involve myself in intellectual matters are the ticket to happiness for me.

Law school on scholarship

I spent some time perusing law boards today and feel compelled to discuss law school scholarships. I feel blessed to have received one and I think they get bad press.  While it may be true that certain law schools hand out more scholarships than can be maintained for three years and set students up to lose those scholarships by setting impossible standards, I do not think it is fair to assume that all, or even most, schools operate in this way. I think the simple truth about great scholarships is that you need to accept enrollment in a school where you are coming in with top numbers, both in terms of LSAT and GPA. Soft factors can help. At my school those soft factors involved public service and demonstrated leadership. Valued soft factors may be different someplace else. If you are coming in with top numbers, the school has an interest in getting you to attend. Clearly, if you are at the top of the scale at a school less than a top 10, you have the opportunity to apply and a fair chance of being admitted at a higher ranked school. However, your numbers are not going to be at the top if the school has higher standards. The top schools don’t give out full scholarships based on merit. All of their students have merit. There are too many. But for a lower ranked school, merit can get you significant amounts of cash.

Initially I was offered a $25,000 per  year scholarship at one school with a requirement to stay in the top quarter of my class to maintain it. But after competing for a named award and getting a $30,000+ award with some additional benefits, the requirement became only to remain in the top half. That sounds manageable to me. Perhaps I am being naive. But if someone is going to give me over $100,000 total over three years, then expecting me to perform is not unfair. I feel honored to have been given the award and obligated to do something with it. For me, that is much more important and more of an honor than being admitted in the middle of the class and paying 100,000 plus for the privilege at a higher ranked school. With my career expectations, I believe I have made the wise decision. I hope that other hopeful students reading this blog are encouraged to pursue scholarships and not fall into the idea that the money is given as a trick. It is not a trick, it is a gift. If your attendence contributes to a higher standard/ranking at the law school, how is this a bad thing? You need to rely on the reputation of your school and if you don’t have faith in it, then you shouldn’t be there in the first place.