The Long Haul

H and I decided that if we outlined one subject a weekend, starting this weekend, we'd be on target to use the last weekend of classes to finalize the last few weeks on our outlines. Mind you, this is in order to be on target. Not ahead. Simply on top of things. I think November is the reason most people hate the 1L year. I've done a decent job of not sacrificing my weekends to the law school gods, but this month will be a different story.

In an unfortunate bit of foreshadowing, we both seriously underestimated how long it would take to outline Torts. We figured 6 hours of work on Saturday and we'd be home free. Well, we did work for about 6 hours yesterday, and we're halfway through the syllabus. Today will be more of the same.

More fun this week will include getting another draft of my LWR memo in to my TA for feedback, which I may choose to take with a grain of salt. My meeting with the LWR prof was VERY enlightening. He is looking for very different things than the comments I had been getting from my TA. Which explains why my last memo didn't do so hot--TA told me it was great, Instructor had a different definition of great. I'm very glad LWR isn't a GPA class--I don't have to be so upset about the unfairness of having the rough drafts graded by someone with different standards than the final grader--talk about lack of useful feedback. (Some of the TA's suggestions actually lost me points on the instructor-graded memo. Sheesh.)

I'm guessing all 1Ls are all in the same boat--last couple of weeks of LWR, which makes up more than 50% of that grade, panels of professionals all over the place (which are important to attend since most of us have no clue of what there is to do, much less what we want to do), all the summer job stuff to do before December 1, and the long haul of finishing out the semester: keeping up on reading and going to class when it's the last thing you want to do, outlining, and just when you think you've finished learning everything you need to know--there are sample exams to write.

I'm glad I took advantage of the free time I had earlier in the semester, because I suspect the next 5-7 weeks are going to be boring. My goal is to maintain my sanity: to make time for workouts at least 4 times a week, and to have a fun night or weekend afternoon at least twice a week. Other than that, it's me and the law.

I'm guessing that many of my fellow students don't need as much time as I do to maintain their sanity. They'll be able to cram more work into the last few weeks than I will. Age does have its disadvantages: I need sleep, I need to spend time with E, I need to workout, I need to eat healthier. Then again, maybe I won't get sick after finals for the first time in my life--my younger MO was to cram like Hell, take finals, and then spend the next week in bed. It would be nice to start enjoying the break immediately after the last exam...maybe acknowledging my needs is wise...I guess I'll have to wait and see.