The past two weeks couldn’t have been more different.
Week 8 was the most academically engaging week so far because of a contracts midterm and a legal writing memo.
The contracts midterm was an opportunity for me to outline my contracts class and synthesize my notes.
So I opened the exam feeling prepared and read the instructions. There are three parts to the exam. I breeze through the short answer questions, have a lot of fun on the long issue spotter…and then get to the last question:
Some doctrines of contract law are best characterized as standards, whereas others are better characterized as rules. Identify one doctrine of contract law that is closer to a rule than a standard, but that you feel ought to be closer to a standard than a rule. Explain. Then, identify one doctrine of contract law that is closer to a standard than a rule, but that you feel ought to be closer to a rule than a standard. Again, explain you reasoning. (Please do not use the doctrine of restitution in answering this question).
I stopped. Reread the question, exhaled, and then silently thought, “What. The. Fuck.”
Doctrines of contract law? Huh? What?
I scribbled a random, (probably incoherent) answer, and then printed the exam out. I decided there was no point in worrying about my (butchering) of the last question since this was only a practice exam…but needless to say that my subsequent class notes always have a “THIS IS A POLICY/RULE VS. STANDARD ARGUMENT!!!! MEMBA DIS FOR THE EXAM!” section.
Researching for the legal writing memo was a lot of fun. I did most of the work at cafes downtown. I love walking downtown from the law school because it’s a nice walk (and break) before I start work. Downtown Minneapolis is gorgeous too…
Studying off campus is also super-efficient. The nice thing about being the unshaven guy in the corner of the café, (intensely staring at his computer, mumbling to himself…) is that people assume you’re crazy and leave you alone.
Whereas in the law school the harder you concentrate the more likely you are to be approached by a classmate… “Hey! How about that one case…” And you know it’s true. We all become that distracting person at least a few times a week…
Apparently my work on the memo paid off – I met with my legal writing instructors to review my memo and they said,
“Your open memo was so thoroughly researched and bluebooked! Good job! We were pleasantly surprised because your closed memo was so terrible! What changed? Really…what happened!?”
Gulp.
I didn’t know whether to be happy or not. I didn’t think my closed memo was THAT bad… Hmmf.
The open memo was a lot easier to write because I was able to refer to statutes, restatements, and cases from other jurisdictions to get an idea of what I needed to write about. During the closed memo we could only use the excerpts from the 5 or so cases we were given…
Basically – with the open memo I could research myself into competence instead of scratching around a few select cases.
The contracts outline, midterm, and open memo created an unique time pressure for week 8. I loved it. I think that’s why it was the most academically rewarding week of the semester…
I also added a new study spot to my (sprawling) list during week 8: The Hennepin Public Library!
It’s like Ikea: the Library. Brand new and amazing.
Week 9 was Halloween week – and therefore “The Week of the Boomkats.”
- Monday night I went to the Souless Affection show. It was the business.
- Wednesday we went to the Townhouse and I was harassed by a guy claiming to be my twin. Yeah. Creepy.
- Thursday we went to Bolt Underground where DJ Krischan Wesenberg (of Rotersand) did a live set. Afterwards, Eric and I went to see the Cazwell show at Saloon. Cazwell performed his new song, “I saw Beyonce at Burger King” which is hilarious.
- Friday I played DJ in my laundry room of horrors (at the Gamma house party) and then spent about two hours driving the LLMs home. It was absolutely hilarious.
The Week of the Boomkats ended on Saturday when we went to the 19 Bar and Saloon. The 19 Bar is a laid back place in Loring Park with a semi-awkward crowd, whereas Saloon was strangely annoying on Saturday. Hm.
November is the beginning of finals season which is exciting. I hope to knock out one class outline per week (and of course, add this month’s material towards the end.) We’ll see how it goes…