This week started with my oral argument. The argument went well, although the practice was a bit of a hot mess.
The oral argument was the last of this semester’s “special projects” – ie , briefs, papers, statutory interpretation assignments and all of the other random that terrorize our schedules…
This week also started with an “intro to OCI” session, which was hilarious. The career counselors basically said, “OCI is going to be a disaster for 75% of you guys, but for the top quartile, it’s going to be great!”
Well, isn’t that dandy?
It feels like some sort of gate opened up this week because all the things that I’ve been kept in the dark about were finally explained.
First semester I felt like the school purposefully kept 1Ls ignorant1 about really important things. Career services? Oh worry about that later. Employers aren’t even allowed to contact you yet – you’re worse than dead to them. OCI? Don’t worry about it. Summer jobs? Petitioning law review? Later. We’ll explain that later.
Well, this is the week that everything was explained. I now know what to expect for the next eight months and it is such a relief.
Finals are next month. Immediate after finals is a 2 week journal hazing petitioning period. This summer I’m working full time while taking Professional Responsibility and Wills & Trust.
At the start of next school year I may get to do OCI, depending on whether my grades are good enough for employers to interview me. If my grades tank, then I’ll get to start the semester without running around in a suit. Shucks.
Knowing what to expect for the rest of year is great because I can prepare accordingly. I don’t think this view is shared by some of my classmates because a lot of people are crabby at Mondale High…
In order to avoid joining the ranks of the cranky, I made a list of the five things that kept me from being stressed out during my first semester:
- Going to bed early, and getting 8 hours of sleep.
- Hanging out (a lot) with cool law students and non-law students.
- Going to the gym.
- Reading ahead during the weekends.
- Studying with friends somewhere other than the law school.
After I made my list, I made sure that I did all 5 things this week. I read ahead. I bar hopping with friends. I studied at cafes. Basically, I worked hard and had fun and by the end of the week I was intolerably chipper again. I love it.
This upcoming week my diet and gym schedule is going to get an added boost because I bought a Jillian Michaels book:
And homegirl scared the crap out of me. Jansen is 110% organic now. Yes, the McDonald’s boy has gone organic. Go ahead and laugh. While you’re laughing I’ll be crushing some flax seeds…
1 Okay, it’s very possible that I was the only one unawares…