Elder Law Stuff

So I was finally allowed to apply for the elder law concentration! My school doesn't allow us to apply to any concentration until after we finish the first year but I must have been vocal and active enough with my love of elder law because the professor told me to go ahead and apply now so I can get preference for my classes next fall. Whooooo. This is very good because my school does a bidding system so you rank one class as your top choice, another as your second and so on. You're pretty much guaranteed to get your top couple choices but the others are a crap shoot. However, if you are certified in a concentration, you get any of those requirements right off the bat. So you can put them dead last and rank the other ones you want higher. Boom!


Whoops. I wrote this WEEKS ago but apparently never got around to posting it. 

Since I wrote the bit above, we had a bit of drama. The registrar's office didn't send it to the Elder Law Coordinator because they forgot there was a reason why I was submitting it early. (We did tell them, they just forgot.) Only I didn't know they hadn't sent it. So on the day that bids were due, I wrote the coordinator and asked if there was a problem with my application. Well, yes, of course there was, they hadn't received it. So I ran over to the Registrar's office where the secretary was like "Oh my god! You're right, I totally forgot to pass that message on with your application! Oh me. Oh my." Then I found out that the lady who had the application was out of the office for the week for a conference and couldn't send it until she came back. (Long after bids were due.) I must have looked upset because the secretary promised to text the lady in charge and see if she could send it sooner. Well, I figured that was a long shot so I completely reordered my bids and hoped to get into at least a couple of the elder law classes. 45 minutes before bids were due, I get an email saying the application had been sent to the elder law center. 7 minutes after that, I got the email that I had been accepted into the elder law concentration. BOOM. Reordered my bids in the last few minutes and submitted them.

We all got our fall schedules today and I got every single class I bid on. Most of my 1L friends are all on at least one wait list if not more. DOUBLE BOOM.

My schedule isn't as bad as the other's either!

All 2L's have to take Professional Responsibilities at 8:30 in the morning (YUCK!!) but many of the other classes are scheduled anywhere from 10am to 10pm. And if you happen to want a class that is only available at 8pm, well your day is going to be a mess. And nobody seemed able to make a schedule that didn't have at least a 3 hour gap somewhere. Gaps = death. Half the time you force yourself to stay on campus and then are exhausted by the time class finally rolls around and the other half you give up and go home. Half of those times you end up taking a nap and don't make it back to school. That gap gives you a 1 in 4 chance of skipping class. Yikes!

However, I have no long gaps; a couple twenty minute ones and one hour long break at lunch time. Totally doable.

My schedule will be three classes on M/W from 8:30 am to 2:40 pm and then only one class on T/Th from 6pm to 8pm. I need that late class because it's a prerequisite to basically every other elder law class but since I was able to load all my other classes onto M/W I don't need to worry about any crazy long gap. I'm sure I will absolutely hate myself when it comes to reading for all three classes for Mondays and Wednesdays but my only other choice was to take a class T/Th from 10 noon and then come back at 6pm. I know myself well enough to know that I would make really stupid life choices with a schedule like that.

Basically, my schedule is better than I could have hoped for. Much much better than most!

Oh, and since I'm only taking four classes, I did enroll in a weekend course. My school has a few of these 1 credit classes where they are only one weekend long and then you are done. We'll have to see how it goes but I've heard great things about the one I signed up for and it should actually be useful.

Now back to studying for finals.

Last day of classes!

To anyone who is reading this blog before their first year of law school, this next sentence is for you. Your 1L year will fly by so ridiculously fast, you won't even be able to understand it. How did this happen? I don't even know. I'm thinking magic.

Yesterday was my very last day of classes of my 1L year. Once I get through finals (assuming I do) I will be 1/3rd of the way through my law school career. Crazy.

It was a little bittersweet sitting with all my section mates yesterday knowing that we will all be moving on to different classes next fall. We've spent a lot of time together this last year. It's funny, I know many of these people better than I know many of my friends. Even the classmates I never spoke to outside of class. Law school is a funny beast.

Anyway, I need to get cracking on my con law outline. There will be time for nostalgia after finals!

Lexis gets me, Lexis understands

Lexis was giving out free t-shirts today and I couldn't resist. 

I'd like that super-sized please.

I'm spending the day at a cafe/coffee shop trying to catch up on Property. They sells normal sized cupcakes, the ones you'd make at home in a normal muffin pan.

This family just came in and ooohed and ahhhhed about the "baby cupcakes" and how cute they were. They ultimately decided that everyone (including the five year old) would get two or three cupcakes because they were so small.

This is why Americans are so fat compared to the rest of the world.

I can't even

I belong to one of the local bar associations and as of yet, I haven't heard a thing from them since I paid my dues. Until today. I just received a very nice invitation to a charity networking dinner. The cheapest seat way in the back without any benefits of going is $250 per person. The most expensive is $15,000. Yes, fifteen THOUSAND dollars.  Maybe I just run in different circles or maybe I am just a poor broke law student but either way, what the heck??!! Do you really need that much validation to prove that you are important? I could almost see it if the charity was on some big social issue but it's mostly for the bar association and to pay the attorneies who work for legal services. Something seems off about this. 

Am I over thinking this?

Well, at least I was honest

So I was going through my Property notes so I could figure out just how much I had to catch up on for finals and I found this gem. In vivid red. I really don't remember typing this but at least past me was looking out for future me. Now I know to go back and figure all this out.  

Thanks past me!!

What has law school done to me???

Okay, so we just had our last real class of Con Law today and I realized I made it all the way through the semester without being cold called. In fact, I never spoke once in that class. And as I was patting myself on the back I realized two things.

One -  The socratic method isn't really as hard core as everyone makes it sound. (Or I just have really lazy professors)

Two -  I kind of regret not being called on more. I mean, I'd hate it and I'd get the answers wrong and then hate myself. But I haven't gotten any better at speaking because I've almost never had to try. Maybe five or six times this ENTIRE year. Now, do I know that being cold called on often would help? Well no. But I also don't know that it wouldn't have helped.

I don't even know who I am anymore!!

Fooooooooooood

So the other day I was trying to power through another hour of reading before calling it a night and I was struggling mightily. So I sat for a second and tried to figure out why I was so run down. I'd slept okay the night before, it wasn't that late, what was my problem? And then I thought about what I'd eaten that day. I'd skipped breakfast because I had an interview before class. I had a couple free cupcakes for lunch and when I got home I realized that I had forgotten to go to the store so I munched on a can of black olives as I studied. No breakfast, cupcakes for lunch and a can of olives for dinner does not constitute brain food! Not to mention, I'm not sure there is a nutrient to be found in any of that.

Since then, I have been trying to at least be a little more conscientious about what I am eating through out the day. I can't say I am eating healthy because I still haven't had even half an hour to run to the store which means a whole lot of pizza but at least I'm taking the time to order that pizza.  It's a step in the right direction. I've also started adding ensure to my coffee. Now I personally think that ensure is nothing more than some sugar water with some vitamins added but it's better than coffee creamer and tastes the same to me. It certainly can't hurt.

Oh, I can't wait until summer break so I can go back to my love affair with vegetables. I really need to look into a delivery service that drops off fruits and veggies to my door. I know they have them and since I have a wine club that does it, I really should have a veggie one too.

Brief is submitted baby!

The sweat. The tears. The shear madness brought on by this one assignment is over with. It is out of my hands. Good riddance. 

And okay, it's not completely over with. I still have my oral argument on it. But I'm not going to worry about that until tomorrow. 

Excuse me while I go collapse on my bed and not move for awhile. 

Things that seem like a good idea at the time

Making your oatmeal with your coffee. I like oatmeal, I like coffee. I don't like washing extra dishes. Lets do this! 

No. So much no. It was awful. 

This brief is rotting my brain. I'm aware of this but I can't seem to stop it. 

Five hours left to deadline

Somebody save me from the madness that is this brief. I have all the parts done and all the citations done but good lord is it complicated to add a table of contents and authorities on a Mac. Only after it screwed up all my formatting did someone mention that it's better to email your brief to yourself and do the rest on a Window's computer. WHY WOULD THEY NOT WARN US OF THAT BEFORE??? Over half the class has a Mac. GAAAHHH

Excuse me while I slowly (or not so slowly) go insane.

Law School Problems

This is from a real text message conversation with a classmate:

Her: I can't do this. I think I'm dying. I am so tired of writing this brief.

Me: I think I'm already dead. I'm just too stupid to realize that being dead means I can rest.

Her: There is so much truth in that statement. The truth shall set you free. 

 And that is pretty much how my day is going. If this goes on much longer, I might start checking out nearby bridges to live under once I give up and drop out of law school.

Some good news in the middle of Brief madness

So I am currently consumed with my Appellate Brief. I wake up thinking about it and go to bed (if I go to bed) thinking about it. It is my everything right now. Sorry Fiance, I promise I'll call you after it's submitted tomorrow. Our professors are laughing at us, I haven't showered in three days and half the men in our class have just given up on shaving. The other half of the men already had a beard. Don't even ask about the ladies' legs. You don't want to know.

This brief is no joke.

But right in the middle of a major freak out, I got an email.

Congratulations on your placement with the _____ Judicial Circuit internship program. 

Oh my God! I did it. I got the summer internship I wanted!! It's with a general magistrate in charge of the Elder Justice Department. It's obviously low level in the Judicial scheme but I'll get a lot more elder law and probate experience than I would with a regular Judge or Justice. I am so ridiculously excited!!

More than that, I feel like I'm actually doing this whole law school thing right. Which is amazing considering how very many times I screwed up this semester. Oh, and as a matter of fact, when I first called to ask about this internship, the second the call connected, the sprinkler system went off and hit me right across the backside. So the very first thing the hiring coordinator heard out of my mouth was "wuugaaaackkk!" and then I was so rattled as I tried to dodge the sprinklers that I gave my email address wrong. It's amazing I even got the application sent to me, much less actually got the internship!

Plus I'll be working part time at the Elder Law Center at my school so I'll actually have a little money to pay my bills. Okay, not all of my bills so I'll have to put the rest on my credit cards and play catch up later but still, some money coming in is better than no money coming in.

Now the only things I have left to worry about is this brief, finals and my upcoming surgery. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Law School does not have a finals week

Law school has a finals MONTH. And I'm stuck in the middle of it.

My brief is due on Sunday, my final oral argument is next Thursday, the next week is the last week of classes, and then BOOM. Two weeks of final exams.

Needless to say, I have been horrible about writing blog posts. I promise that I will try to come back and cover all the important things I'm skipping over once summer starts. Or at least, I will do my best.

But to catch you up for now:

Barrister's Ball was amazing! I think I've heard that at some schools, the professor's are invited for the first hour or so. Not here. Which meant we drank too much wine and danced a little more freely than we would have otherwise. We had an open bar, dinner, a live band, fortune tellers, belly dancers, free henna tattoos, and a photo box with silly accessories. How could we not have an awesome night? I know some people didn't see the point is shelling out the cash for the tickets and having to buy a pretty gown just for dinner and some wine and I can see their point. However, I feel that it was worth it just for the experience. Could I have had a dinner and wine night for much less? Sure. But it was so much more than that. Plus, I bought my gown second hand and can probably sell it back for more than I paid for it. :P

This brief is killing me! I thought the various memo's were bad. No, this appellate brief has more sections, more words, more complex issues. More everything. UGH. It's open universe which means they don't limit the cases for you like they did for the first memo's. Which mean I have spent more time researching than I have writing and I still don't have quite enough cases. We are supposed to have between 12 and 18. So if you know me in real life, don't expect to see me in the next few days.

If you have been paying attention to me at all, you know that I can't stand public speaking. Yes, I want to be an attorney anyway. I'm stubborn like that. I also wanted to be a part of the executive board in the Elder Law group on campus. And if the position you are running for is contested, you have to give a mini speech on why you should win. I almost changed my mind and was like nope, nope, nope. But I decided to man up so to speak and do it anyway. I didn't die AND I won. So I must have done something right! Now if only I could remember what I said. I can't remember because all I could focus on was the fact that I couldn't feel my hands (they went completely numb) and trying not to throw up. I had to speak for 30 seconds. Good Lord, I'm ridiculous.

And that leads me to my next bit of news. My school has us give a practice oral argument in front of the moot court board the week before our final one. In a fit of panic, I signed up for the very first spot on Monday morning. I think I was just wanting to get it over with before my brief was due but it just led to a massive amount of fear once I realized what I had just done to myself. I managed to get 3 whole hours of sleep the night before and I threw up three times that morning. But you know what? I actually did pretty well. I read too much instead of being more conversational but I didn't throw up behind the podium, I didn't cry and I didn't sound stupid. Will I panic again over the final? ABSOLUTELY. But at least I know I can do it, even if I don't want to.

I think that pretty much catches you all up and I'll try to post at least once more before final exams hit but I can't make any promises. Wish me luck!!