Stick A Fork In Me...
I'm just about done.
Tomorrow is the final day of exams, but since I have fifth period planning and my seniors in sixth left a few days early, I have nothing to do. I'll sit around and play Minesweeper (my latest obsession) and count down the hours until I'm free for the weekend. Then I have Monday off for Memorial Day before returning for two post-planning days on Tuesday and Wednesday.
For those who don't know, post-planning days are one of the biggest jokes of the education world. Basically, it's a time when teachers get to act like real world employees (go out to lunch, take a five-minute break, go to the bathroom whenever necessary instead of waiting for our bladders to burst like an overripe grapefruit, e.g.) and gossip like old hens about the past year's events. I can see them now, heading to the nearest shiny minivan while cackling and pondering their possible menu options.
They sicken me.
I still don't have that Shawshank Redemption arms-outstretched-in-the-falling-rain feeling yet, but I think that's because I still have to show up for work for three days. The hardest part is over, however- now all that's left is the bitter dross at the bottom of the barrel.
Those who have been praying for my safe departure can now move on to bigger worries- I'm gonna be just fine.
Note: This isn't the end of blogging. On the contrary, the upcoming vacation should afford me ample time to blog about anything and everything. Also, I am excited about cataloguing the experiences of a first-year law student. Everything I find on the internet makes the whole situation seem so incredibly mysterious. Hopefully I can shed some light on the issue. Maybe once I graduate, I can offer free legal advice.
Tomorrow is the final day of exams, but since I have fifth period planning and my seniors in sixth left a few days early, I have nothing to do. I'll sit around and play Minesweeper (my latest obsession) and count down the hours until I'm free for the weekend. Then I have Monday off for Memorial Day before returning for two post-planning days on Tuesday and Wednesday.
For those who don't know, post-planning days are one of the biggest jokes of the education world. Basically, it's a time when teachers get to act like real world employees (go out to lunch, take a five-minute break, go to the bathroom whenever necessary instead of waiting for our bladders to burst like an overripe grapefruit, e.g.) and gossip like old hens about the past year's events. I can see them now, heading to the nearest shiny minivan while cackling and pondering their possible menu options.
They sicken me.
I still don't have that Shawshank Redemption arms-outstretched-in-the-falling-rain feeling yet, but I think that's because I still have to show up for work for three days. The hardest part is over, however- now all that's left is the bitter dross at the bottom of the barrel.
Those who have been praying for my safe departure can now move on to bigger worries- I'm gonna be just fine.
Note: This isn't the end of blogging. On the contrary, the upcoming vacation should afford me ample time to blog about anything and everything. Also, I am excited about cataloguing the experiences of a first-year law student. Everything I find on the internet makes the whole situation seem so incredibly mysterious. Hopefully I can shed some light on the issue. Maybe once I graduate, I can offer free legal advice.
posted by Yorick at 4:35 PM
3 Comments:
I just finished my first year of law school. Good luck finding time to blog! You'll probably have to choose b/t breathing and having a conversation with your wife, let alone blogging and having a conversation with your wife. I have a nearly-dead blog, b/c I had no time to post while in my first year of law school as a wife and mom of 2 kids.
Thanks for the comment Suzanne!
What light can you shed on the first year? From what I gather, the big mental hurdle basically centers around shifting your focus of thought from memorization and comprehension to analysis and evaluation. A climb up Bloom's taxonomy, if you will.
Luckily, I like to think that I already do this. (Hence the reason most of my fellow peers in high school viewed me as a pariah.)
In short- what do wish you'd known about the process a year ago?
Honestly .... I don't know! I think that having a previous career, and not being a "straight from college to law school" student already puts you at a HUGE advantage. I had 10 years between college and law school, and I really think that having some kind of view of the world other than what college told me was important.
I think your teaching experience, and the resulting fact that you must be capable of and comfortable with putting a sentence together on the fly while being watched by many will also help. Being called on in class via the socratic method was something I feared so deeply that I may have had 2 kids just to put off the experience!! (fortunately, I surprised myself). Now being called on and forced to think on my feet is something I just love.
The time ... the sheer TIME that law school takes is more than anything else has ever taken from me. That includes having a newborn baby and a toddler and an at-home business all at the same time.
The intellectual challenge is absolutely delicious. I loved it. (That analysis and evaluation part, is what I refer to.)
One thing I have seen that others have been surprised about ... you need to take initiative. Many of my classmates seem to think the law school is there to hand you your entire career. Forge relationships with your professors. Make sure they know your names. See where your interests overlap, and have a conversation with them. I didn't kiss my professors' butts (at all), but it's good for them to know you. They will probably KNOW you, whether you talk to them or not. The question is whether you want them to think, "there's that guy I never hear from," or "there's Yorick, I know what he thinks about the evolution of Contract law, and how it fits into family relationships" or whatever.
Also - find out what your weaknesses are, and get help with them. If writing is tough -- get yourself a tutor!! Legal writing is VERY different from other kinds of writing. It's ON PURPOSE boring, dry, repetitive, and ... oddly, simplistic. People who had the hardest time were those who were the MOST successful with other types of writing in previous lives.
I think the other big mental hurdle is the new language. The first week or so of law school may send you reeling b/c the language is just ... not normal. I had a leg up, b/c I spent the previous 10 years as a paralegal and had a lot of exposure (that leg up 100% expired after hte first week, though). But you will VERY QUICKLY learn the language, and it will be fine.
Hope this helps some. Feel free to email me if you have more questions .... suzannee72@juno.com
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