I know, I know.
All I can say in my defense is that the memo and finals were a lot more overwhelming than anyone not in law school can imagine, and that the last thing I wanted to do over my (very short) winter break was think about school.
Sorry, my bad.
But I'm back, and happy to answer questions about finals for 0Ls that are worried or curious. Seriously. I'll answer way more frequently than I'll post.
But this is a post, and as such, let's get on with it, shall we?
Basically, the memo wasn't too bad, if you didn't leave it until the last minute. I didn't, thankfully, but I did become DEATHLY ill the weekend before it was due. Really. I don't think I left my bed/bathroom for two or three days. People had to come over and walk Bingley for me because I literally couldn't make it down the stairs in my apartment building. So my illness left me in a little bit of a time crunch as far as editing goes. I normally edit as I write, which works well for me, so my editing process is usually quite a bit less intense than most people. But legal writing is a little bit different.
In undergrad, professors gave you a page target. You could wax on poetically, change your line spacing, the font size of your periods, etc. to make it to that dreaded 20th page, and then relax, right? Not so in law school. In fact, it's the exact opposite. We are given a page limit...and a very stringent one at that. I think our page limit was 7 pages? It's been so long I can't remember. All I do remember is that I wrote what I felt needed to be in, and didn't use any flowery language or sentence lengtheners, and I think my memo was 13 pages. I had a LOT of editing to do.
After I got my memo in about three hours before it was due, I went to our huge memo party (which was a LOT of fun), and then it was time for Thanksgiving break. Of course, it's not really smart to fly 4 hours home and 4 hours back for a weekend, especially when the weekend is the one before your finals starting. So I stayed in Dallas and went to a friend's for Thanksgiving. It was REALLY hard being away from my family, but I enjoyed my break and know that staying here was the smartest thing I could have done.
Over Thanksgiving break I did take it a little easy, but I planned out my attack for finals. Knowing that once our reading week started I probably wouldn't even be looking at the outlines for my later finals, I spent a good chunk of my break completely re-working my outline for my last final (Crim), and putting together a few charts for my open-note exam, most notably a comparison of pretty much every crim we studied under the CL and the MPC. That particular chart took almost a whole day and ended up being a beautiful, beautiful document.
Then I didn't touch Crim again until the day before the final.
Our final schedule went Torts, off, Civ Pro, off, Contracts, off, Property, off, and Crim. Torts was the most stressful, because it was the first exam. I don't like to rehash exams right after they end, but normally I can stay composed. After torts I went home, fed and walked my dog, tried to call my dad, and as soon as he got on the phone I started sobbing. Uncontrollably.
It was pretty awful.
But I moved on, got my shiz together, and made it back to the library an hour later to study for Civ Pro. Our civ pro exam was multiple choice, so that made it a little less pressure, but looking at it now it also means that the curve is just that much more tight. I didn't have another break down after Torts, except for when I yelled at the undergrad that was having a very LOUD conversation in the law library.
Ugh. SIDE NOTE: If you are an undergrad at a school that has a law library, don't go study there unless you really have to. And if you HAVE to go, don't let it be during finals. And at least have the good grace to look frazzled and stressed. And for God's sake, be quiet. You don't look cool, and you're making everyone in that library HATE you.
Seriously.
As far as studying goes, I pretty much studied on my own, either at my apartment or in the library. There's SO much stress during finals, and different people study in different ways, so you have to pick who you study with carefully -- it's not always going to be your closest friend that you want at that study carrel with you. There was a little bit of tension between my friends during the whole exam period, to be honest. I just had to keep reminding myself that it would be okay, that everyone is just different during finals. And I spent a lot of time in my house with just Bingley and Netflix. I really don't like drama, but it seems like you can't escape it. Especially during finals.
Everything's cool now. I know you were SUPER worried.
All right, so in total I felt okay about pretty much every exam. Not great about any, not terrible about any. We'll see how it went when our grades come out. I know for sure that I didn't fail anything, so that's a little bit of comfort, right?
I'll try to post again (very soon) about my break and coming back to Dallas for the second semester. But seriously, comment and ask questions. I'll get back to you, I promise.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Living Near Campus
If you're unfamiliar with Dallas, then you probably don't know about all of the different areas where you can live and still be within a commutable distance from SMU. Let me tell you, there are a lot. I have friends that live in Uptown, M streets, Highland Park, University Park, the Village, off of University and Greenville, etc. etc. I even have friends that live in Oak Cliff, Addison, Plano, and other outlying places like that.
Personally, I would never want to live that far away. Dallas traffic is ridiculous!
I however, won't ever have to worry about that traffic. Because my commute is 46 seconds long on foot. And after living directly across the street for this semester, I'm realizing the beauty of living so close to campus. I might not feel so great right after finals, because being that close to the source of my stress might not be the best for my psyche, but overall 3 months of convenience is worth two weeks of slightly more stress.
Here's the thing: my building might not be the newest. It has it's quirks...the floor is a little sloped in my living room, one floorboard squeaks in my bedroom, I find little cracks in the ceiling and walls, there aren't enough outlets, there aren't ANY outlets in the bathroom (I blow dry in my study!), and there isn't a dishwasher or central AC. Plus my rent is a smidgen higher than a lot of my friends who live in comparable buildings (not as high, though, as my friends who live in swanky buildings uptown).
BUT - I have only filled my car up with gas twice since school started. And I still have half a tank left. Which is pretty great.
Really, there's everything I need within a walkable distance. There's a grocery store, a bank, and CVS, restaurants, stores, a Starbucks, and school. I get covered parking by parking in the law garage, and I can run over to the library any time I need to print anything or do some research without having the hassle of packing my stuff up and getting into the car.
Plus I get to sleep in a LOT later than most of my friends who have to drive to campus.
PLUS SMU pays for taxis to and from campus on Thursday - Sunday nights, so if you're going to go out and you live close to campus you never have to worry about getting a DD!
What more could a girl ask for?
If you're looking to move closer to campus, there are a lot of really cute buildings off of Daniel, Rosedale, Hillcrest and Milton that all have condos and apartments, typically around $900/month and up. One of the easiest ways to figure out what is open around there is just to drive around. These buildings tend to put up home made "for rent" signs, and their open apartments can get snapped up pretty quickly.
Personally, as of right now, I really recommend living close to campus. It's suuuuuuper convenient, and worth the slightly higher rent and fewer options.
Personally, I would never want to live that far away. Dallas traffic is ridiculous!
I however, won't ever have to worry about that traffic. Because my commute is 46 seconds long on foot. And after living directly across the street for this semester, I'm realizing the beauty of living so close to campus. I might not feel so great right after finals, because being that close to the source of my stress might not be the best for my psyche, but overall 3 months of convenience is worth two weeks of slightly more stress.
Here's the thing: my building might not be the newest. It has it's quirks...the floor is a little sloped in my living room, one floorboard squeaks in my bedroom, I find little cracks in the ceiling and walls, there aren't enough outlets, there aren't ANY outlets in the bathroom (I blow dry in my study!), and there isn't a dishwasher or central AC. Plus my rent is a smidgen higher than a lot of my friends who live in comparable buildings (not as high, though, as my friends who live in swanky buildings uptown).
BUT - I have only filled my car up with gas twice since school started. And I still have half a tank left. Which is pretty great.
Really, there's everything I need within a walkable distance. There's a grocery store, a bank, and CVS, restaurants, stores, a Starbucks, and school. I get covered parking by parking in the law garage, and I can run over to the library any time I need to print anything or do some research without having the hassle of packing my stuff up and getting into the car.
Plus I get to sleep in a LOT later than most of my friends who have to drive to campus.
PLUS SMU pays for taxis to and from campus on Thursday - Sunday nights, so if you're going to go out and you live close to campus you never have to worry about getting a DD!
What more could a girl ask for?
If you're looking to move closer to campus, there are a lot of really cute buildings off of Daniel, Rosedale, Hillcrest and Milton that all have condos and apartments, typically around $900/month and up. One of the easiest ways to figure out what is open around there is just to drive around. These buildings tend to put up home made "for rent" signs, and their open apartments can get snapped up pretty quickly.
Personally, as of right now, I really recommend living close to campus. It's suuuuuuper convenient, and worth the slightly higher rent and fewer options.
Friday, October 28, 2011
An Addition to my Family
One thing that I forgot to mention in my update from yesterday was the fact that, as of two months ago, I have a addition to my household...
This is Bingley (in his Halloween costume)! He's a schnoodle, and he is a little under 5 months old now. While a lot of people thought that getting a dog might be a bad idea during my first semester of 1L, I just couldn't help myself. I was lonely and I reeeeeeally wanted one.
Plus I live RIGHT across the street from campus. If I didn't there is no way that I would have gotten a puppy. It wouldn't have been fair. But as it is, and as you can see from my last post, I am home A LOT, so I feel like Bingley gets plenty of love and attention.
And he's a great distraction and outlet for when the sheer amount of work that I have seems to be too much...he always cheers me right up! Right now we're working on getting 100% potty trained (he's at, like, 88% now), and basic obedience commands. He knows sit, down, off, roll over, paw (shake), and jump. But he's a puppy, so he gets distracted.
If you're in law school and considering getting a dog, please consider whether you live close enough to be able to go home and give your dog the interaction that he deserves. Most of my friends stay on campus ALL day, at least 7 hours, and that's just too long to be away from a puppy (or dog of any age, unless you have a backyard). But if you're a dog lover and can give (or make) the time for a furry friend, I recommend having a pet...they make life so much better!
This is Bingley (in his Halloween costume)! He's a schnoodle, and he is a little under 5 months old now. While a lot of people thought that getting a dog might be a bad idea during my first semester of 1L, I just couldn't help myself. I was lonely and I reeeeeeally wanted one.
Plus I live RIGHT across the street from campus. If I didn't there is no way that I would have gotten a puppy. It wouldn't have been fair. But as it is, and as you can see from my last post, I am home A LOT, so I feel like Bingley gets plenty of love and attention.
And he's a great distraction and outlet for when the sheer amount of work that I have seems to be too much...he always cheers me right up! Right now we're working on getting 100% potty trained (he's at, like, 88% now), and basic obedience commands. He knows sit, down, off, roll over, paw (shake), and jump. But he's a puppy, so he gets distracted.
If you're in law school and considering getting a dog, please consider whether you live close enough to be able to go home and give your dog the interaction that he deserves. Most of my friends stay on campus ALL day, at least 7 hours, and that's just too long to be away from a puppy (or dog of any age, unless you have a backyard). But if you're a dog lover and can give (or make) the time for a furry friend, I recommend having a pet...they make life so much better!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
So far, so good
Well, I've been in law school for two and a half months. So far everything's going well; don't get me wrong, it's a LOT of work...but I expected that.
For you future 1Ls reading, concerned about the work load, here's what my schedule looks like on a day-to-day basis (Tuesday through Thursday...my schedule is different on Mondays and Fridays):
6:45 - wake up, shower
7:45 - study for an hour while I eat breakfast
8:45 - go to class
9:00 - 11:45 - class
11:45 - 12:30 - eat lunch
12:30 - 2:00 - read for class
2:00 - 3:20 - class
4:00 - 6:00 - study (clean up notes, outline a bit)
6:00 - 8:00 - cook and eat dinner, watch an episode of trashy tv
8:00 - 9:00 (three or four days a week) - gym
8:00/9:00 - 10:30 - read for class the next day
10:30 - 11:30 - relax
11:30 - bedtime!!
Monday I don't have class until 1:30, so I wake up at 8:30, start reading by 9:45, and take a break at 12:30 for lunch and relaxing before class. Then after class it's pretty much the same as the rest of the week. Fridays I'm done with class by 11, so I take two hours off after class to have lunch and hang out, then I spend three or four hours cleaning up my notes and reviewing from the previous week, and (now) outlining.
Saturdays I work for about 7 hours spread out throughout the day. Sunday I work for about three hours, unless I have a legal writing assignment due on Monday or Tuesday.
Sometimes I don't get as much work done as I'd like -- facebook calls, or I can't stop at just one episode of The Jersey Shore (my trashy tv show of choice). But the above schedule is what I really try to stick to. Some people work a heck of a lot more than I do, some people don't work at all, but I feel like my schedule is pretty middle-of-the-road as far as where my friends are.
For you future 1Ls reading, concerned about the work load, here's what my schedule looks like on a day-to-day basis (Tuesday through Thursday...my schedule is different on Mondays and Fridays):
6:45 - wake up, shower
7:45 - study for an hour while I eat breakfast
8:45 - go to class
9:00 - 11:45 - class
11:45 - 12:30 - eat lunch
12:30 - 2:00 - read for class
2:00 - 3:20 - class
4:00 - 6:00 - study (clean up notes, outline a bit)
6:00 - 8:00 - cook and eat dinner, watch an episode of trashy tv
8:00 - 9:00 (three or four days a week) - gym
8:00/9:00 - 10:30 - read for class the next day
10:30 - 11:30 - relax
11:30 - bedtime!!
Monday I don't have class until 1:30, so I wake up at 8:30, start reading by 9:45, and take a break at 12:30 for lunch and relaxing before class. Then after class it's pretty much the same as the rest of the week. Fridays I'm done with class by 11, so I take two hours off after class to have lunch and hang out, then I spend three or four hours cleaning up my notes and reviewing from the previous week, and (now) outlining.
Saturdays I work for about 7 hours spread out throughout the day. Sunday I work for about three hours, unless I have a legal writing assignment due on Monday or Tuesday.
Sometimes I don't get as much work done as I'd like -- facebook calls, or I can't stop at just one episode of The Jersey Shore (my trashy tv show of choice). But the above schedule is what I really try to stick to. Some people work a heck of a lot more than I do, some people don't work at all, but I feel like my schedule is pretty middle-of-the-road as far as where my friends are.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
A fun day in Torts
My torts professor is HILARIOUS, both intentionally and unintentionally. Some days, a couple of kids in my section and I just can't help ourselves...we have to keep a running commentary of the day.
These few photos show one example:
These few photos show one example:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)