Go, Gadget, Go!

The four books above are my case books...there is one for each week I have survived law school! These books represent my life and where I spend most of my time…with my nose in them. I wake up every morning around 5 am (which is 4 most of my reader’s time). I get to school around 6:30 and don’t leave sometimes until 5, 6, 7, 8, 9….I say that I am boring, but seeing me get to school is most definitely a sight to behold! If you cannot tell, the books pictured above are rather large, meaning they are heavy. These are only the books for my four main classes. I have two other classes and about 15 other books in addition to these (which are not much smaller!). For those of you that know me know that I am not built to carry such weight! Thus begins the sight to behold. As if I were ever cool or even thought about being cool, I have officially lost ALL cool points in law school. First of all, I have a wheely briefcase. NOT cool…but everyone is doing it here…I promise! Secondly, I pack my lunch…in a lunchbox. I have a badge that I wear clipped to my outfit that has an expander string. Furthermore, I wear high heels every day. I also park at the bottom of a hill and have to walk quite a ways to the entrance of the law school. You would think getting up the hill would be the hardest leg for me. While it is a struggle, leaving is where it gets dangerous. I have to exit by going down the hill, which means that I have to run down the hill from fear of being attacked by my wheely bag that is gaining momentum behind me (and that weighs more than I do). I feel a little bit like inspector gadget. I am doing good if my bag doesn’t attack me and my badge doesn’t hit me in the face. One day my friend said she was going to yell at me to wait on her to walk to our cars. But then, she saw my head and in an instant, I was gone (I was running down the hill.) She said it was hilarious. I can only imagine. Go, gadget go!!! Needless to say, I do not need to spend any time in the gym. My daily walk up and down the hill in heels does the job. I am hoping for stellar calves as a result soon!

Other than my overly dramatic and ridiculous difficulties of getting to and from class, law school is good! I LOVE the challenge it brings! I told a friend that I am in the early stages of love with the law, to which she responded: “That is good, but let me know when you want to divorce it!” (good thing I know a good lawyer J) So far, the honeymoon phase is not over. The Lord has been gracious to me. I have been called on about once a week over the course of the term. I say the Lord has been gracious because it is only by His strength that I have done well and been able to endure the rigor of the past four weeks of class. One kid got kicked out of class the second day of school. That is a different story for another day…while I am grateful it was not me…it has definitely been a humbling learning experience…

Since I have been in law school, I have learned a lot. For those of you that don’t know much about law school, the majority of my new knowledge has come from studying the cases on my own. While classes are an aid to learning the topics, the professors expect us to wrestle with the material on our own time. I will say that the classes have been enlightening for reasons other than learning the law: my classmates. Please do not get me wrong, I love them all dearly. Our class is made up of about 120 students-all of which are very diverse, with very different backgrounds, and very strong opinions. Imagine taking all the best of the best type-A personalities and putting them in one room…things can get hostile. It has also been a humbling, eye opening experience because I see myself in some of them…this is not necessarily a good thing. I have divided the “types” of law students into different categories. I will not bore you with all the details, but I will describe my favorite category (mostly to amuse myself). There are fellow classmates that seem to have “the case of the helium hand.” These are the students that always raise their hand and have something to say. In some instances it is insightful, but in most cases, they should keep their hand down. Their statements usually start with something along the lines of….”so hypothetically speaking….in my experience…how does that relate to contracts (said in torts class)…if you changed the facts how would that change the situation…when I filed a complaint…in my opinion…if I were the lawyer in this case…I disagree because…professor, I think you are wrong…blah, blah, blah.” These students seem very eager to learn, but honestly, they are just trying to prove themselves verbally. While it is rather obnoxious and distracting, it does become entertaining when professors spout off that no one cares about THEIR opinion-it is the LAW that matters. I prefer to be placed in the category of “the silent, yet deadly and genius.” Mid-terms are coming up in one week, so we will see about that….guess it’s time to see what I am really made of…I am sure that will be a humbling learning experience as well….

In addition to categorizing the “types” of law students, I have decided that being a 1L does weird things to you. For your entertainment, I will give a few examples: one classmate ripped one of his casebooks in half because he was so stressed out. If you notice the picture above, that is a lot of stress. One colleague claims that since he has been in law school, he sings song by Cher he didn't even know he knew. That same friend shot straight up at 4 am in the morning and started running down the hall. Once he got down the hall, he realized he had no clue where he was running to. I guess he thought he was late for class. You find yourself in study groups laughing for no reason (probably to keep from crying). I will say that while law school has a weird effect on people, it does give me a legitimate excuse for my absent-mindedness. For those of you wondering-No, I have not lost my keys…yet.

Law school is all consuming. My lunch conversations have moved from chit chat to deep, meaningful conversations about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness...and mostly the law. I eat, sleep, and breathe law. I cannot seem to turn my brain off from law. I had several people tell me before law school to enjoy my last few days of thinking like a normal person...now I get what they meant. Today as I sat at lunch with some friends, the conversation eventually ended up at law. While most days I enjoy it, I am beginning to think that I need friends outside the law school. I will say that I am very blessed with the friends I have. Some have referred to law school as “academic hazing.” I would say while that is not entirely true here, law school does resemble Greek life in the fact that you are thrown into a rigorous, emotionally draining experience, forcing you to rely on 60 classmates you know very little about. This causes you to grow very close to people very quickly. I spend all day every day with the same people. In this regard, it is almost like rush all over. The only difference is that I am not welcomed with showers of blessing and gifts, but loads of reading assignments…Despite all the weird tendencies of the beginning of law school, there is no place I would rather be.

On average, I study 14 hours a day. Some classmates and I calculated that we have read 1200 pages, (at a minimum) these past four weeks. I would also like to take this time to explain that reading 15 pages in a case book takes about three hours for an average first year law student to read…I will let you do the math. I think that I have learned more in these first four weeks of law school than I did my entire time in undergrad. That is NOT because Baylor did not prepare me well. In fact, that is quite the contrary. I had a classmate ask me what I studied in undergrad because I “seem to be grasping and understanding the material.” He assumed I had a degree in the letters (I am assuming Greek, Latin, etc.) and when I responded no, I had a degree in Child in Family Studies, he was shocked. Thank you Baylor education. During my first few weeks here, I have also been mistaken as a fashion design major. Now while this might not be the WORST tag, it is not the best compliment amongst scholars, CEO’s, philosophers, and politicians. While it might mean that I have good taste in fashion, it might also mean that I am viewed as ridiculous (see above description of my journey to class). Hopefully, I can disprove the theory that fashion and child and family studies are not easy nor ridiculous majors…it is all about how you apply yourself to achieve your goals…

Surprisingly, there is never a dull moment in the midst of all the studying. While I may be boring and uncool, I LOVE what I am studying. The material is always evolving, making it invigorating. I have read cases from fashion designers suing their advertisers for breach of contract, arguments over the possession of a Barry Bonds baseball, the duty of a blind person to act reasonably when walking the streets, and a brief written in poetry about two actors that scared a taxi cab driver almost to death….literally. These examples barely scratch the surface of my studies. It is SO interesting (and sometimes ridiculous what people sue over). For fear of boring my readers, I will politely resist the temptation to talk in detail about all the fun things I am learning, but I feel blessed to be able to be back in the world of academia....

In addition to a love and respect for my classmates, the faculty and staff are also amazing. Before each class, the professors lead a devotional and prayer. I really could ask for no greater place to study law. At times I feel as if I am at a seminary/law school combination because of the amount of Biblical truth the classes are laced with. Some nights I have homework requiring me to spend 3 hours (at a minimum) in the scripture finding Biblical examples and truths about the topic being taught for the day. I can definitely see God’s hand in leading me here…

I had my first client interview this week. I will not bore you with the hilarious details of the case, but it went well! I also watched the 2L/3L: moot court competition (and served as a bailiff). It was quite interesting watching these students argue before real-life judges (some of which are on the U.S. court of appeals). Advocacy is definitely a talent I fear I do not have…it is quite intimidating realizing that next spring I will have to do the very thing that I was mesmerized by this week…Have I mentioned that it is only by God’s work and strength that I will survive law school…I am however up for the challenge…not my will Lord but Thine…

I would like to take a moment and thank everyone for the encouragment and feedback I received regarding my last blog, whether through facebook, email, phone, or word of mouth. When I blog I really have no idea who reads it or how it impacts them. I genuinely love writing and pray that the Lord will continue to use this to encourage my readers! Maybe one day I will be the next Julie & Julia...ha! Thanks also for the prayers. While law school is difficult, I have felt an abundance of the Lord's presence and peace...I know that is only because of all the prayers...

Until next time, be blessed…..