Wednesday, January 05, 2011

On becoming a lawyer

Just some random thoughts on Law school so far:

At first it was a really exciting time. The same feeling you always get on the first day of school; but you're older and maybe thinking you shouldn't be excited like this for the first day of school. Everyone is telling us that this is such an honoured career choice. The thing I thought was the most striking was that EVERYONE is such a keener. You think you are a keener, but then there are 300 of them around you, and yeah, you're not such a big deal. I gave up trying to be early for everything pretty quick. And some people's true colours started to show too, being late for stuff. It's amazing to talk to people though, everyone has some amazing story to tell about an orphanage they founded, or a shelter they started, or a whole freaking village they saved or something haha.

I found myself always really happy. Not necessarily being a morning person, but being in a general more excited to get out of bed kind of mood. The work is really applied in nature and seems very practical considering what skills we're learning and will be able to transfer later. It's very busy and challenging, but it's nice to be around all like-minded people. It's such a stark contrast to see people striving for the corporate law world and those who are choosing the environmental/social justice/human rights path. So far it's really cool to be experiencing it all in Ottawa.

Here there are protests taking place all the time for any issue you want to get involved in, and the Supreme Court and Parliament are here too, where they make all the decisions and laws we are studying. Sometimes when I walk by the Peace tower on my way to class I still can't get over that it's there and I'm here.

After the gloss of being in Law school wore off, maybe at the end of September, the happiness thing went to being more tired/anxious/bogged down. They kept telling us it would get bad, but it seemed like you could almost stay on top of the readings. Then the assignments, schedule changes, other lectures, etc., all started to happen. And there is really just NO WAY you can do ALL the work, all the readings, everything you are supposed to do to be prepared for class. For a bit it seemed pretty bleak haha, like there was no end in sight. Almost like you are treading water but not swimming anywhere, just on the verge of drowning. But everyone around you is feeling the same, so it's an awesome support system. As long as you don't talk to any of the keeners, but they aren't around, they're at the library anyways.

But, I can say now after 1st semester of 1L that it really isn't as bad as I thought it would be. You can still watch TV (sometimes) and you do go out with friends to the bar and have some drinks. But man do they ever hype up how bad it's going to be.

Exams were a different story. It was like the whole semester was just slowly trudging along and didn't mean anything. These are 100% exams for most classes. It was astonishing to look back and realize how far we had come; both in terms of the amount of material we covered in each class and the quality and knowledge increase. The last week of class, where the assignments were finally over but the summary-making should have started, I was the most unproductive. Completely lacking in motivation and completely burnt-out. There was a lot of preparation required, and tons of anticipation. Not knowing how to make 100 pages of types notes into a 5 page summary to use in a 2-hour 100% open-book exam is a little stressful.

The TAs exams tips included things like not forgetting to shower or eat and we laughed, but it was true. The hours spent hunched over your laptop scrolling through files condensing, deleting, formatting, really makes you lose track of time. I ate poorly any my apartment was a mess, but we made it. Now just to wait the release of the grades in a couple weeks. They also tell us you can't flunk out of Law school, we'll see.

42 comments:

Not the One said...

Best wishes for a successful year in law school!









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Anonymous said...

Law school is daunting, but keep up with it. My niece and her fiancee' are lawyers in Mpls.
Good luck.
Helen
Educator - Retired, SD
now in Colorado

wasabitoothpaste said...

interesting blog :)

Daydream Believer said...

I am currently studying an Arts degree and an planning to go into Law afterwards. I know a few people who have done it. I have to say, it is a little daunting hearing about the study load and everything. But it is great to hear from someone who is getting through it even when things get crazy. Thanks for the post. Good luck with the rest of your study!

Groverbox said...

Nice post, man. Just take it day by day man. That's all you can do. Handle what's in front of you and go from there.

cpl53 said...

Great! I hope you do great there!

mj said...

I really love reading your blog. Its very interesting. Thanks for posting.



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Unknown said...

Exams that count for 100%, I would kill myself! But good luck with that! You won't flunk out you've made it this far so I'm guessing you have that self saving instinct. That puts you into study mode possibly the night before an exam? Haha

Unknown said...

Since there isn't any update on your blog I suppose you are studying really hard to become a lawyer. Well, whenever you log in here and read this, hope you succeed and become really good, good luck !

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Unknown said...

prayer+patience+ determination+ critical thinking+ fun = success! aja!!!!

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Punch Buggy said...

where would the System be if it wasn't for law school? keep up the good work.

Sahariar said...

interesting i am a student of law in my country. best of luck.

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Anonymous said...

This is wonderful. I am pursuing an English degree and hope to go to Law school but whenever I tell people that, they don't say congratulations or whatever. They say how much work it will be. This was very encouraging. Thank you!

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Utah Landscaping said...

I am assuming you got busy in law school, because I haven't seen any new post for almost a year now.

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fisherek said...

Love to see an opinion on law school as I am continually trying to figure out where my future options lay. Can't decide whether to throw this one out or not..

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Anoush Alexnder said...

Actualmente estoy estudiando un grado Artes y una planificación para entrar en Derecho después. Sé que algunas personas que lo han hecho. Tengo que decir, que es un poco desalentador audiencia acerca de la carga de estudio y todo. Pero es muy bueno escuchar de alguien que está consiguiendo a través de él, incluso cuando las cosas se ponen locos. Gracias por el puesto. Buena suerte con el resto de su estudio!

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