Last night, as of 8pm, my appellate brief -- one of the formative rites of passage of the first year of law school -- was finalized & bluebooked. (I've been merrily reviewing & revising since Tuesday when I finished my drafting.) Today, it's not yet noon and already the brief has been proofread, the table of contents & table of authorities checked-and-double-checked, and the whole thing copied and professionally spiral-bound. And it's not due until 12noon tomorrow. WooHoo!
It feels so good to have successfully not procrastinated to the last possible minute. Thank heavens I'm not still writing, which would leave me scrambling to get it copied and bound tomorrow morning. I'm so proud of my time-management skills!
The feeling is extra sweet because it marks my last weighty assignment for LRW (Legal Research and Writing; we're big on acronyms in law school). All that's left for the class, after Spring Break, is oral argument. And I'm not sweating that. Even though public speaking is not my forte, 'tis something I've become more accustomed to through the years, and after becoming intimately familiar with my argument 'lo these last 6 weeks of researching and writing, talking about the case and the precedent will be a cake walk. Add to that the fact that oral argument only counts for 5% of my grade, and I'm simply not all too concerned about it.
Now, with LRW moving to the background, I can take a short time to relax and then focus all my energies on preparing for final exams.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
to burn cool and collected
The pressure is mounting as my first year of law school draws to a close: the last major writing project of the year (which counts for 40% of the grade for that class) is due on Monday, March 22nd. Then it's oral arguments, followed all too quickly by final exams, replete with the arduous process of outlining. (Outlining is law-student lingo for preparing a study-guide since most exams are open-note, and to benefit from the process of doing so even for those exams that aren't.)
After exams, we're free to work for the summer, and the expectation is that we do legal work, even if it's on a volunteer basis, so as to get some Real World experience. Fortunately, I already have Real World legal experience, and I already have two paying jobs lined up for the summer. I'll be working as a judicial intern at the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal for a small stipend, and I'll be doing some part-time contract work for a small law office in Metairie. I hope to get another part-time gig lined up, too, simply to expand my network of local attorneys and to add some more breadth to my legal experience. All in all, though, I'm relatively isolated from the stress of finding a summer job, which is a great relief.
As for the school work, I'm trying my best to stay on top of things, and I think I'm doing well enough. My brief is completely drafted, giving me 5 days still for revising, copying, and binding. (We're required to professionally bind the document as if we were really submitting a brief to a Federal Court of Appeals.) So that is good. I'm sufficiently caught up on my reading, too.
But I'm not pushing myself too hard. For instance, I haven't started outlining yet, even though it would be best to have done so. Instead, I'm taking steps to actively avoid burn-out: taking breaks to go for a walk, making time to cook and eat real food, and getting plenty of sleep. I've yet to know whether this will be a fatal error, or if it will prove to be the best strategy.
Apparently it's working enough to at least affect a calm exterior: classmates remark on my serenity. Little do they know how furiously the anxiety churns within. But I'll fight through it, so that even as the heat turns up (literally and figuratively as NOLA says goodbye to winter) I'll keep my composure.
After exams, we're free to work for the summer, and the expectation is that we do legal work, even if it's on a volunteer basis, so as to get some Real World experience. Fortunately, I already have Real World legal experience, and I already have two paying jobs lined up for the summer. I'll be working as a judicial intern at the Louisiana 4th Circuit Court of Appeal for a small stipend, and I'll be doing some part-time contract work for a small law office in Metairie. I hope to get another part-time gig lined up, too, simply to expand my network of local attorneys and to add some more breadth to my legal experience. All in all, though, I'm relatively isolated from the stress of finding a summer job, which is a great relief.
As for the school work, I'm trying my best to stay on top of things, and I think I'm doing well enough. My brief is completely drafted, giving me 5 days still for revising, copying, and binding. (We're required to professionally bind the document as if we were really submitting a brief to a Federal Court of Appeals.) So that is good. I'm sufficiently caught up on my reading, too.
But I'm not pushing myself too hard. For instance, I haven't started outlining yet, even though it would be best to have done so. Instead, I'm taking steps to actively avoid burn-out: taking breaks to go for a walk, making time to cook and eat real food, and getting plenty of sleep. I've yet to know whether this will be a fatal error, or if it will prove to be the best strategy.
Apparently it's working enough to at least affect a calm exterior: classmates remark on my serenity. Little do they know how furiously the anxiety churns within. But I'll fight through it, so that even as the heat turns up (literally and figuratively as NOLA says goodbye to winter) I'll keep my composure.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
old friends
For anyone out there who knew me way back when I was but a lass of 16 or younger, this is for you:
You likely don't know how much your friendship meant to me, but I look back upon our time together so fondly. Those carefree days in sunny Florida will always occupy a special place in my heart.
After middle school I only had the one year of high school. And when I moved to Mississippi, I was practically an adult by the time I got settled here. Beyond what I knew at LMCS and DBHS, I never had the formative, rite-of-passage experiences that most American teenagers share: prom, spring break adventures, the shared anxiety of awaiting college acceptance decisions, and those last bittersweet weeks of senior year.
I have no regrets as to how my life unfolded, but so it goes that my middle school friends and my 9th grade friends remain so dear to me in my memories. The times we had and the experiences we shared, while seemingly mundane or silly or fleeting, will always be special to me.
And even though my role in your lives has likely been much smaller than your role in my life, please know that I'll never forget you. I wish you all the best, and I'll always be grateful for your friendship.
You likely don't know how much your friendship meant to me, but I look back upon our time together so fondly. Those carefree days in sunny Florida will always occupy a special place in my heart.
After middle school I only had the one year of high school. And when I moved to Mississippi, I was practically an adult by the time I got settled here. Beyond what I knew at LMCS and DBHS, I never had the formative, rite-of-passage experiences that most American teenagers share: prom, spring break adventures, the shared anxiety of awaiting college acceptance decisions, and those last bittersweet weeks of senior year.
I have no regrets as to how my life unfolded, but so it goes that my middle school friends and my 9th grade friends remain so dear to me in my memories. The times we had and the experiences we shared, while seemingly mundane or silly or fleeting, will always be special to me.
And even though my role in your lives has likely been much smaller than your role in my life, please know that I'll never forget you. I wish you all the best, and I'll always be grateful for your friendship.
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