A Dose of Normalcy

My class was cancelled today so I spent the entire day reading FOR PLEASURE!  I meant to read more over the summer but could never get into it.  Maybe I just needed all summer to unwind?

The book I read was “The Zookeeper’s Wife” by Diane Ackerman.  It’s the story of Jan and Antonia Zabinski’s efforts to save their zoo in Warsaw and how during WWII they also used the zoo to save over three hundred people from the Nazis.  Ackerman uses Antonia’s diary entries along with historical snipits to piece together a wonderfully different history of Warsaw, the Warsaw Ghetto and WWII.  I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading WWII history or Holocaust resistance history.  It’s a fast read too, under 350 pages, and took me a day to finish.

After a long first week this dose of normalcy is exactly what I needed.  Now it’s back to 200 pages of reading and bluebooking!

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Being Realistic

So far my law school experience has taught me a lot about being realistic.  I have several “Seriously Kel?, you think you can do all of that?” moments per day.  Yesterday I had a big one.  This semester I planned on taking six classes plus journal work.  Well, that dream was crushed due to a limit on credits a law student can take in one semester so then I was left with five classes.  Today I’m down to four and I think four will be the magic number this semester.

I think law students forget to “be real.”  It is so damn easy to get caught up in the rat race that we forget what we’re doing.  Take OCI for example (on-campus interviews).  I did not go to law school because I aspired to work for a large-ass firm, and therefore it would make no sense for me to participate in OCI.  I’ve got to stay true to myself you know. I also have no interest in bankruptcy and so I will not take that class eventhough everyone else is doing it.  Well, I ain’t everybody else!  Duh!

So there.  Be real, it may seem like common practice but we fail to use it at times.

Back in the Saddle Again

Reading, note taking, and paying attention in law school after a long summer is not like riding a bike again.  My class reading sucks.  Seriously.  I don’t think I ever had 100 pgs of reading for one class last year.  How are we even to cover 100 pgs in two hours?  And it is the worst, boring, confusing, frustrating reading I’ve read thus far.  In fact, I looked at a classmate and admitted that outlining NOW would be a good idea–he wholly agreed.  Crap.

So, what will I change this semester in terms of my routine?  Note taking!  I am going to strive to take the best notes out there!

I also think this whole “I have mornings free to study everyday” is going to be the death of me.  I can’t see myself getting to campus early enough on a regular basis to study.

On a different note, the immaturity still runs rampant.  One would think grudges would be forgotten or forgiven but no.   It’s just another way of reminding me that THIS IS A PROFESSIONAL PROGRAM and I would be doing myself a favor to treat it as one.

Here is to hoping the rest of the week gets better!

First Day Back

I had plans to get up, yoga-ize, and be in the library by 9!  But dreams involving bears chasing J and I squashed those plans and left me sleeping in, which is fine because I only have one afternoon class.

This semester is going to be hellish.  Not only do I have journal work, but I also have five classes, my student note to draft, research for a professor, and hopefully a spot on a mock trial team.  What the hell am I thinking?

For now I think I’ll just lounge with my con law text and dream my way into a world without sucky law students.

It was hell…

So earlier this summer I announced that I made a journal, not THE journal at our school but nonetheless a journal.  For the last full week we’ve had law review training in bluebooking which isn’t all that hard, just tedious.  One would think that after a summer of not seeing each other every single day that they would be pleasant and cheery BUT NO!  Apparently I have leprosy as I’m on “that” journal and not the “better” one like them.  It was obvious in their interactions, their lack of things to say, their constant remarks about their rankings, grades and OCI applications.  IT WAS RIDICULOUS!

So, just so you know, I’m on “that” journal.

The question I keep asking myself is why, WHY I expect them to act more maturely.  You’d think maturity would be present somewhere in this so-called “professional” program.

Here’s to hoping my first day back with be better?

Weekly Giveaway #8

Hmmm…what should I give away this week that would be helpful?

To shake things up a smidge I’ll let this week’s winner CHOOSE between the following:

Contracts Law in a Flash-flashcards

Gilberts Property Law-latest edition

or Kaplan’s 1L audio CDs covering all 1L subject-matter!

So play on folks!

Weekly Winners #6 and #7

Congrats to Lawgorrea who was week 6’s winner and will receive I believe the Torts flashcards as soon as I receive his/her mailing address!

Also, congrats to Rachel who was week 7’s winner and will receive the 1L Success Outlines in the mail!

Congrats to everyone who played!  I still have many more items to give away so keep on commenting!

Law Review: Don’t Do it!

Why didn’t ANY of you inform me how much law review sucks? Seriously, I already want to quit. Why did I ever think this would be cool?

Casenote Giveaway Extravaganza!

So when I was a 1L I tried all sorts of “shortcuts.”  You know, collecting other people’s outlines, skipping readings, reading supplements instead, and using casenotes.

A casenote or case summary is just as it sounds: a one page “briefed” summary of the case.  The companies that put them out are High Court and Legal Lines and are keyed to your textbooks.  So if you have the author Dukeminier for Property then you can buy the relevant edition High Court summaries which follow the readings in your textbook. Please note that most of these casenotes are for older editions but still have most of the same cases the newer editions have.  And if you don’t have these authors it may not matter as most casebooks have the same cases.  I know that I used the Contracts one for a different textbook and it worked fine.

I ended up NOT liking casenotes because they couldn’t be relied on and sometimes would miss relevant information the professors would ask for.

However, I did like them when it came to outlining because it was an easy way to refresh your memory on what the case was about.

So…

I have before me 8, yes EIGHT!, different versions of casenotes for a variety of subjects and I’m giving them away.  I didn’t feel like I could include them in the weekly giveaways because they are author specific and some of them aren’t complete as you’ll see.  If you’d like one of the following please leave a comment stating which one, AND YOU MAY ONLY CHOOSE ONE, and e-mail me your address and I’ll ship them off.

Here they are:

1. High Court Case Summaries: Property Keyed to Dukeminier and Krier-5th Edition.  (The cover is torn up as this was given to me.)
2. Legalines: Property Keyed to Dukeminier-4th Edition
3. Casenote Legal Briefs: Property Keyed to Cribbet, Johnson, Findley, Smith-9th Edition (These are photocopies of the majority of the book, but not in order unfortunately–but they’re free!)
4. High Court Case Summaries: Torts Keyed to Dobbs and Hayden-4th Edition.
5. High Court Case Summaries: Civil Procedure Keyed to Yeazell-5th Edition. (Some of the casenotes are torn out but still included-again, it was given to me this way.)
6. Casenote Legal Briefs: Civil Procedure Keyed to Subrin, Minow, Brodin and Main-2nd Edition (All of these were torn out and put in a separate binder.)
7. High Court Case Summaries: Contracts Keyed to Farnsworth-6th Edition. (Most of the casenotes are torn out of the book but still included.)
8. Casenote Legal Briefs: Criminal Law Keyed to Boyce, Dripps, and Perkins-10th Edition (These casenotes cover I think pages 100-250? Just the chapters on murder as it was the only subject we really covered.  Again, they are photocopies.)

You know the drill!

Edit: Please check the other commenters first to see if your choice is already gone.  This is a first come first serve!

Weekly Giveaway #7

So this week I’m mixing things up a bit.  I signed up for Kaplan PMBR last year, put my deposit down and they gave me a book titled, “1L Complete Success Outlines” which covers Civil Procedure, Con Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property, and Torts.  It also has an essay exam writing guide, explanations for 1L exams and practice questions.

You know the drill!