July 16, 2003

Law School Rant Numeros Uno y Dos

Well, I'm sure these are the first of many.

LSR No. Uno:

Can they really just refuse to release our booklist until orientation? Here I am, little blogging technophile, would like to buy used 1L books on-line to save money. There they are, for-profit bookstore and Law School, laughing at me for thinking I have an option. So here's the scam... They don't release the book list until orientation (see LSR No. Dos). They give out reading assignments during orientation, informing students that they will be expected to have completed the reading by the first day of class. The 1Ls, who are all fairly exciteable, quickly divide into two groups, those who are smugly proud of their book pre-ordering, and those that must stand in line at the bookstore during orientation. You will note that there is no group for people like me. Because in order to stay in my natural species group, I'd have to knowingly forgo finishing the reading for the first day of class. There is very little chance that I will find someone to sell me the appropriate 1L books, get them shipped, and finish the reading in 3-4 days. If you want to shop ahead of time, you can. But only at the Law School Bookstore, and only if you buy new books. Bastards! The worst part is, I may hate standing in line more than giving in to the man, so I'll probably end up pre-ordering too...

LSR No. Dos:

Orientation, a two-day affaire, is composed, at a minimum of 50% of sessions that don't interest me in the slightest. But, guess what? It's required. What the hell does that mean? I'm going to law school to learn the law, not to sit through a panel on how to find housing or a roommate. E and I are very content with our living situation, thank you very much.

Do not misunderstand me, I think it is excellent that they offer many of these panels for people who wish to attend them, but making it required? The dean's welcome speech is a required part of my legal education? Somehow I doubt that I'll find my legal education changed much by my attendance or lack thereof of most of these sessions. From what I hear, class isn't required. But orientation? Oh, that's really important!

There are, of course, a few sessions that I should find interesting. They just happen to be spaced out by a ridiculous amount of time, which I am free to fill by attending boring sessions, or perhaps, standing in line at the bookstore. I'm sure it won't be as bad as I'm making it out to be, but I really don't like being treated like a child on my first day of something that I've been looking forward to doing for several years. (Maybe I'm already hyper-sensitive to the fact that I will be older than most of my fellow students?) They are already using their knowledge of my booklist against me, and now they're requiring me to attend a two-day orientation that will probably present me with about 30 minutes of important, new information? Why 30 minutes, you say? Well, it's an educated guess from the letters from the law school sends, which repeat important facts ad nauseum. They expect us to be irresponsible and are going to start off our legal education by treating us thusly. RAD.



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