School has been going very well. The last week flew by, in fact. Though I'm constantly covered in ink and I'm never totally finished with my homework, I feel like (perhaps falsely) I am in control.
Time management and scheduling are the most crucial aspects of tackling the monster that is law school. My schedule goes something like this:
6:00AM - Alarm clock goes off, so I can get ready for the gym.
6:02AM - Alarm clock successfully turned off, back to sleep.
8:30AM - Climb out of bed, angry, feed cats and get ready.
9:00AM - Realize that if I don't leave in 32 seconds, I will have to park at a meter since all the student spots will be taken.
9:03AM - Change my earrings again and grab coffee to go.
9:20AM - Arrive at school, drop books in locker to relieve some back pain, go sit in class to review notes.
9:23AM - Decide to talk to my friends for a few minutes before reviewing my notes.
9:45AM - Shit, I still haven't looked at my notes.
9:55AM - Strange 5 minutes of silence when professor arrives...look at notes.
10:00AM - Class! Fight inner dialogue, usually something about cats or shoes...or cats in shoes...or the lady who sits in front of me with a side ponytail. Who wears side ponytails?
11:45AM - Lunchtime! I pack my lunch the night before, so I grab it from my locker and head to the student lounge to eat.
12:15PM - Go to computer lab to study
12:25PM - Facebook status successfully updated.
12:35PM - Did you guys see that article about Ke$ha? I need to get my eyes checked for STDs...
12:45PM - Yay study!
1:00PM - Bookstore for coffee. Afternoon classes make me sleepy.
1:05PM - Head to class to look over notes...same pattern as above.
1:30PM - Oh yea, I'm not getting called on!
3:00PM - Class is over. At this point, I really go to the library and study. No jokes.
6:30PM - Freedom! Go home, change, eat with my family, then...
7:30PM - Study! That's right, it takes me over 6 hours of studying a day to complete everything I need to get done.
11:00PM - Wrap it up. I take lots of breaks so I don't get bogged down during my study session. I usually text and smoke hookah concurrently, have to keep up with all the people and things I love you know?
11:01PM - Don't eat the chips, don't eat the chips...
11:05PM - Eat the chips, pack lunch for tomorrow, get in bed to watch a little TV
12:30AM - Perhaps I should sleep...I have to wake up at 6AM to go to the gym...
This is the schedule I follow Monday through Wednesday. Thursdays, I have an online Spanish class that I take, so I go home straight after class to work on it (it's a virtual live classroom deal). On the weekends, I generally devote one full day and one half day to studying. Fridays, I work in my friend's flower shop - great way to clear my mind and avoid losing all my social skills. I do see my friends on the weekends, I make it a priority actually, but I find myself focusing quite a bit on what I have to take care of the next day. It's just not the same.
Some of the things that I have noticed so far on this routine:
1. My room is a constant disaster and I don't think about doing laundry until I trip over it.
2. I find it hard to make time for things like oil changes, grocery shopping, and the like.
3. Scrapbooking? Comedy routine? Writing? Bellydancing? All the things I used to devote serious time to? Forget about it.
4. I can't sit through a movie or TV show without glancing over my notes, checking my university email, or making to-do lists.
5. I forget that it is not appropriate to debate over every single detail of what is going on around me.
6. My cats are mad. Like, seriously mad. I've walked in on conversations between them about emancipation.
7. Working out, something I used to enjoy, is an act of God these days. This is something that really has to change or things could get ugly...
8. I forget to answer texts, emails, Facebook messages etc. because I tell myself I will answer when I finish a case, but my short term memory is slowly being devoured by the court system.
9. When I do go out, I find myself talking about school. Jesus, I'm that girl now.
I'm loving this. I'm happy. But that does not mean it's not demanding and that my life has changed more than I ever imagined. They say the first year is the worst, and two weeks in, I believe it. Wish me luck for the rest of the semester!
