A Woman in Law School

Yes, we have a problem according to my Contracts professor (who I cannot stand). Apparently someone is signing in for someone else who is not attending class. And now we've all be told what horrible students we are, how our trust is gone, and how he just doesn't know how he'll proceed with roll from now on.

I hate being talked to like a child. And I am bothered that the entire class is being lectured because of an individual's stupidity.

Yes, it's an art to be mastered.

And I'm trying to weave the notion into my tired head.

At times I feel as if there is no such thing as privacy in law school and thus, "the art" of it comes into play.

It's not a new idea. In general, people are clueless about the space around them and about the conversations we all become a part of. I recently worked my way into a conversation after I had eavesdropped for a good 15 minutes. I was happy I did as the two professors had lovely ideas and suggestions for me. However, I still overheard their private conversation making it far from private.

So, take note! We are always listening. Nothing you say is per se "private." Especially to law students, as seen HERE!

I came across this piece over at Feministing, one of my favorite feminist blogs. Neko Case was recommended to me by a former roommate, but I never listened to her because, well, I rarely took advice or suggestions from this roommate because I just didn't. We had one of those friendships where you just keep saying "yeah, uh huh." in any and all conversations.

Then I woke up to Neko's voice on NPR one morning and fell instantly in love with her haunting voice. The fact that she grew up not too far from me excited me as well.

While the context in which I apply her words are different than the blog piece, I can't help but relate to the phrase "Don't let them tell you you're nothing." I'm finding that I'm reminding myself that I worked hard to get into law school, that it's a privilege just to be where I'm at. I'm reminding myself of the light at the end of the tunnel; the work that I desire to do; the bleeding heart liberal change I wish to inspire; yada, yada, yada. I'm working my ass off; I lack sleep, nutrition, and common sense and I'm struggling with my classmate's small comments which try to keep me believing that I'm nothing. "Nothing" as in my hard work is not going to pay off. It's to the point where I'm thinking of switching seats in my classes. I don't want to take this step mainly because I'm trying equally hard to balance being social with being studious. I also believe that I can work through the comments and the challenge of staying focused in class. The hard part is that these are supposed to be my friends. I suppose this is where the "oh so wise" 2Ls and 3Ls will laugh at me and tell me that there is no such thing as "friends" in law school but I'll refuse to listen. I think friendship is possible, it just might take awhile for me to find it. But right now I'm focusing on telling myself that I AM EVERYTHING! And the briefing, prepping for class, outlining and time I'm putting in will pay off. It will. And they will eventually learn that there are no casenotes for life after law school.*

And now for one of my favorite Neko Case songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50dzxkJa1NE

(And yes, that is her LIVE. That voice is mesmerizing!)





* Casenotes are briefs you can purchase for your text book. Many law students choose to read these in lieu of their actual textbooks.

A handful of Boing Boing pieces I found amusing during class last week:

• I like sushi however I think it would be weird to order and eat this.
• Rats the size of cats? Yes, in fact I used to get cornered by them when I was abroad.
• I found this blog title amusing. Yes, it's wrong but people are stupid; others are just smart in taking advantage of the market.
• Been there, done that! Highly amusing! Trust me!
• Seriously? REALLY?

Judge Brennan's take: "Baby mama" does not refer to any particular race. It is currently a trendy pop-culture term for a single mother, as evidenced by the recent Hollywood movie (released on DVD in 2008) titled "Baby Mama," involving Saturday Night Live actress, Tina Fey, playing the role of a white single mother.

For the rest of the exchange including why a baby mama even needs to be defined go here.

Gudnuff wondered if I closed up shop. Nope. I've just been laying low in the hopes that Nosy Nancy tells me she knows about this blog. She hasn't mentioned anything yet, but she did admit to reading my e-mail over my shoulder, and well blog comments appear in my email.

So I had to have a conversation with her about how it's not nice to snoop. I think I handled it well and at least now I don't have to change seats in every class.

In other areas, my brief assignment this semester is already kicking my butt. Any tips for persuasive writing out there? I picked up The Winning Brief by Brian Garner which has a lot of suggestions for writing a brief. I tend to like Garner's work. His new collaboration with Scalia has also been recommended to me as a general narrative for persuasive writing.

So far I'm doing well handling the workload but a brief along with con law and contracts are driving me insane. Then add two other classes and exhaustion and you have one crazy law student.

So yesterday I referred to my neighbor in class as "Nosy Nancy." Today she made a comment about not wanting to seem nosy but noticed an e-mail I had up and referred to it. So a possible security breach may be present!

So...

If you do know who I am I would like you to be honest and tell me that you know about this blog. I hope you respect my anonymity regarding this blog as well.

It's not nice to snoop, however I know we all have our tendencies.

Thanks.

I sit by the same person in all my classes. She is a good friend and study partner which I believe to be rare. (It usually seems like they're either good friends or good people to ask questions to, but not both.) The problem I've had lately is that she always watches my screen. So if I have my e-mail up she is right there reading it too. If I check for celebrity gossip during slow classroom discussions, she is right there reading along with me. It bothers me. And it bothers me for more than the obvious "she's nosy" reason. If she is watching my damn screen all day and professors look up, they see not only me looking at a screen but also her. And you can tell she isn't taking notes.

So in lieu of asking her to stop I plan on purchasing a security screen blocker. I figure it will send the message well anyway.

Does anyone have one of these? How well do they work? I've heard they aren't cheap, but I figure it could come in handy for reasons other than Nosy Nancy.

I went out with a bunch of law school friends over the weekend. At first I was excited! Hooray! Fun times ahead! But no...because once you reach your magical age* you realize that it ain't your job to take care of all those drunk asses. Furthermore, it's no longer fun to go out with the sole intention of getting wasted.

As the night progressed I just got more annoyed. The worst was when I had to pull friends out of the bar because they were too drunk to stand. Not cool. Ahem! Not cool no matter how old you are!

So you know you're old when you realize that you're the one acting like a responsible adult. And for those of you out there who think you can be drunk and responsible I urge you to think about the last time you had to hold someone's hair back to puke, get them to drink crap loads of water, and help them into more comfortable clothes. Also throw in the time it takes to drive them back to their cars in the morning, the apologies you have to make to complete strangers for your friend's behavior, and cleaning up any vomit from your car or house.

I'm old...





* Each person decides this age for themselves. I was 26 when I realized I was too old for this crap.

Here is why with possible solutions:

• people who fail to cover their mouths when they cough should be subjected to medical testing. There are these tiny things called germs people! And it's flu season!
• people should be aware of the fact they are in a library, a place known for peace and quiet, and thus not crunch down on carrots or chips. This person should truly be taken out back and have foods crunched into their ears until they swear to never do this again.
• people should recognize that public displays of affection are not the norm WHEN YOU'RE IN CLASS! At the minimum get a study room! (Which is what they are rumored to be used for at my lovely school.)
• people who watch tv programs loudly in class to draw attention to themselves should be put on deserted islands to rid themselves of the "me, me, ME!" outlook on life. I don't want to watch The Hills, or Gossip Girl before class, ACTUALLY NEVER!

I feel better now.

What annoyed you today?

In your first semester of law school you pretty much try to stay afloat. You read and brief for class, you review for class, you think about what is going on. Now...for the second semester...I'm realizing who has given up doing any of the above. In some ways this is good for me as it can only improve my grade if others choose not put in tremendous effort. In other ways I'm stuck watching professors try to work with students who just don't care enough to prepare for class anymore. And I'm only on week three...I can't imagine what April will look like.

My study habits are slowly changing. Last semester I book briefed but now I'm trying the whole briefing thing. I'm finding that I follow along more in class because of it. There is just something about typing out your notes that just synthesizes things better. I'm also reviewing for class more which is something I never really did last semester. I've also found that I'm reading so much faster, with con law being the exception of course.

So things are interesting here...

Throw in couples forming, cliques, mean stupid girls, and condescending upper-classmates and you've still got law school. Lovely!

I didn't explain my slight absence over the last couple weeks. As I told you before I just wasn't feeling like blogging. Well, in all reality, I really wasn't feeling much of anything and I'm still working through things.

When I made my decision to go to law school I knew that I wanted J with me throughout it all. We've been apart since August and it's really starting to eat away at me. I'm usually a very independent person but in this case I really want my partner in crime around to do all things couple-ish. I also want him around for the fact that he isn't in law school. My entire support network in this city goes to law school with me and I'd like to branch out a little. So I've been a bit down lately. And this isn't a good way to start the semester.

The thing about law school is that it can easily make you feel like a robot. I get up, I go to class, I study, I study some more and go to bed only to repeat myself the next day. I've really missed not having someone to come home to. A phone call isn't the same. Hopefully things will brighten up and he'll be over here soon.

Are Mondays good for a Debbie Downer moment?

The readings seem to be longer this semester and thus making briefing much more difficult.

I've been spending a lot of time re-adjusting to law school now that I have my grades. My goal is to use my time wiser than last semester and better organize the material I'm learning. To accomplish this I've been hanging out with new folks. It's not that my previous friends are bad or stupid, it's just that they are poor influences on my time management goal. For instance, I hardly get any studying done during the day between classes and well, this needs to stop. I suppose it doesn't NEED to stop, moreso kinda stop as those two hours could be spent reviewing or something.

For everyone out there who started Contracts last semester I envy you! My school has somehow come to the conclusion that Contracts can be taught entirely in one semester! Imagine Contracts three times a week! Beautiful eh? So I'm about to become a huge contract geek, or well attempt to. I don't know how far I'll get considering how much I despise my professor. He's the type who loves to hear himself speak, and of course he is ALWAYS right and enjoys talking over you and holding class late. If it's one thing that bothers me it's people who love themselves so much that they are condescending to others. I feel like it's perfectly normal for me to have expectations of him, just as he has expectations of us (and tells us these expectations daily). For example, I expect that he begin and end class on time. In return I'll respect him by not arriving late for class. Seems like a good deal to me...however we'll see what he thinks.