First Day Down.

I am extremely sleep deprived and I think that all of the new information being thrown at me is eating the braincells which are responsible for my social skills, so forgive me if this post is random and nonsensical.

My current level of social skills.

Now that we have the formalities out of the way, all I can say is...holy shit.  I have only been through the first two days of school and I can say without any exaggeration that I have already studied more than I would in an entire semester of undergraduate studies.  I will try as best as I can to talk about my schedule, but seriously, I'm frazzled.

On day one, I had two new classes. I had not met either one of the professors.  Before classes began, we were given the syllabi and we already had assignements due.  Before class, I arrived early to look over my notes on the first chapter and I was met by virtually all of my classmates who wanted to review as well.  My first class was Criminal Law.  The students number around 100, and I thought I was so slick by getting there 20 minutes early to pick out a prime seat.  After being backhanded by reality, I took my seat in the second to last row next to my old beer pong buddy.  My seating strategy is such a big deal because if I am going to show up to class, I want to be active and participate.  In addition, law school grades value class discussion and participation highly, so being visible and likely to get called on is terrifying, but a necessary evil to excel.

Gawww...it's Caturday even on the first Monday of law school classes.

The class wasn't nearly as bad as I made it out to be.  The professor has a very kind demeanor, but she tends to get a little off topic.  Several students wanted to be a part of the discussion...but some shouldn't have.  If you don't have something original to say, or if you're just going to repeat what the person right before you just said using different terminology because you're a narcissist, please shut up.  I would say this applies to all students regardless of grade level or area of study.  Ugh.  Thankfully, I found another friend in this class.  We met at orientation and she is just as awesome as me.  It's nice to find like minded people you can study with and who you can tolerate when you're not focused on a discussion regarding battery and baby killers.

Baby killers, you say?  Yes indeed.  The first day's reading assignments were about the all-too-frequent case of people who leave their children in the backseat of their cars on accident, resulting in the hyperthermia and death of the child. This may seem appaling, but after studying the cases of these poor parents, you tend to pity them rather than desire to hang them out to dry. Most of their situations involve having a change in their daily routine, a high stress situation, coupled  with a sleeping, silent baby whom they did not hear in the back seat.  Our research delves even further when medical experts claim that fact will prove that the brain virtually shuts down different areas when lack of sleep, stress, and other factors are present.  The article that we were assigned can be read here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/02/27/AR2009022701549.html

If you have some time and some tissues handy, I would check it out.  It really gives you a perspective into what was going through the minds of these parents and how their lives were virtually ruined when this occured.  Besides the incident, most of them were very doting parents, and some held very successful careers and looked like an outstanding citizen in every aspect.  This article and the class discussion really helped to open my mind to the law...things that seem like they would make you hate a person can actually make you pity them when the facts are divulged.

I spoke in this class. YES! Mission accomplished.  After Criminal Law, it was lunch time.  I grabbed some food with my buddy after picking up my ID (yes, it looks like a trannie with bright red lipstick on posing for a mugshot, thanks for asking).  I brought my lunch because there isn't a cafe in the law school and parking downtown and in the law school is a nightmare.  After I ate, I went to the library to study for my next class - Legislation and Regulation (baiscally, how to read and interpret statutes).  Our first assignment was an interesting one.  We were assigned to read the lyrics of Hotel California and answer a series of questions about what the song meant, what the authors intended it to mean, which one is correct, ambiguous terms in the song, etc.  Go check out the lyrics and make your own assessment.  It was an eye-opener as well.

My new ID photo.

The second class was much smaller because it didn't mix with the part time students.  Our professor is cool and funny, and she openly admitted that this class was dull.  I appreciated the honesty.  I spoke in this class as well - great success!!

Ahh...classes were over.  Back to the library. I thought I was doing well and that I was caught up.  Also wrong.  I was in the library at 3, and and 420 I checked one of my syllabi and realized I had overlooked a 60 page reading assignment due the next day.  Sweet!!  I also didn't have the books, which luckily were available for checkout at the circulation desk.  I read my little heart out until 7, then I decided refreshments and social life were in order, so I packed up and headed to the student reception being held at the nearby Omni Hotel Rooftop Bar.  It was awesome.  Drink tickets, food, everything I needed to revitalize.  What I neglected to mention here is that I still had about 15 pages to read and I needed to brief a case for the next morning ("briefing" a case is when you analyze the important facts and the legal question presented in a particular case to understand how the jurors decided their verdict).  Three vodka tonics later, I called it a night.  Even though I was tired, buzzed, and dreading the work that I still had to do, I was so happy I went.  You see, us 1L's generally limit our conversations to how stressed we are, questions about work, and comments about professors.  At the reception, I sat with a mix of 2 and 3L's, who were funny and able to speak candidly about their opinions of different classes and professors, as well as how pompous some of the other students were.  I got the gossip, the booze, and the cool points.  Now time to head home.


I studied for about 2 1/2 more hours.  I felt prepared and exhausted.  I believe I studied for about 9-10 hours in one day, not including the 4 hours that I spent in class.  Holy Moly.  Law school is no joke. 

Can't wait to tell you all about Day 2 and my first diss from a professor!!  Also, shout out to my regular reader from Germany.  That's right...I'm an international STAR!