We're entering the middle weeks of the semester. The newness has worn off and things have settled into a routine. I still don't feel overwhelmed, but I still need to do more work on this stuff.
This weekend, I have an ungraded paper to finish. I could use the critique because the next one will be graded and will comprise almost all of my grade in the class.
For the first time in my life, I'm going to start brown-bagging my lunch. There just aren't enough places to eat around the law school. There are quite a few within a 10 minute walk, but that means a 20 minute round-trip where I could be reading. I've had Jimmy Johns deliver quite a few lunches and that works okay, but I have to be on the lookout for the delivery person instead of diving whole hog into my reading.
Next few weeks will be a test of a different kind. I have drill for the Navy. I won't drill near final exam time, but other than that, it'll be fair game. I'll see if this puts an unreasonable burden on my studies. I'm hoping it doesn't. Service to my country is still a huge part of who I am.
I am pretty sure they deliberately schedule 5 days a week of classes for 1Ls as part of discouraging us from getting any sort of part-time job. I really am looking forward to 2L and beyond, though. Worst case, I think I'll have a 4 day week, and I really will bend over backwards to get all my classes in either Monday / Wednesday or Tuesday / Thursday.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Feeling on top of it
Funny how 1L is as much psychological as it is academic. Most of the time, I feel pretty good about things, but recently, I've had moments where I feel like I'm not where I should be. Today, I feel pretty good. Still have work to do, but I think I know what it needs to be.
Torts, LR&W, and Property, I understand and know where I need to go. Civ Pro and Contracts have been less so, but the picture is getting increasingly clearer.
Tonight is my night without Logan. So, I'll have the whole night to work on schoolwork. I have an outline due for a paper on LRW, but I'm about 1/3 finished with the whole thing. I'll be able to knock out an outline pretty quickly. Other than that, just reading assignments in Civ Pro and Torts and my work for the week is basically done.
I need to do a better job this weekend of working on my outlines. Last weekend I didn't do much. Fortunately, the workload wasn't that bad. So, a day of effort on Sunday kept me current.
2 weeks from today, we'll be at the midpoint of the semester. Halfway done. We really have absorbed a lot of material. In Torts, it's like the entire semester is a review. Going through the E&E was totally worth it. I just wish I had done that in some other classes. Right now, I have the unenviable task of trying to go through them as the semester is progressing.
Not that big of a deal, but time management is the real key to all this.
I also am longing for 2L year where I'll have more control over my schedule. I don't care if I have to take Maritime and Admiralty Law, but I'm going to do everything I can to take all my classes two days a week. If not, at the least, it doesn't look like 2Ls and 3Ls have many/any Friday classes.
Also, Logan will reach the halfway point of his football season this weekend. I volunteered to help out a little bit when I wasn't busy, but other than the head coach, I'm the only coach who shows up on a regular basis. The other guys want to be involved, but have job conflicts (they work rotating shift type jobs.) Also, our main defensive coach (great guy, BTW), just had knee surgery. I doubt he'll be able to do much with the team for a while.
So, I'm pretty much committed to being a coach for the team, which is something I really wanted to avoid. However, in 3 more weeks, the season will be over and I can hunker down for the rest of the semester to open up a biggo can on the finals.
I really, really need to work on my outlines.
I have drill for the Navy here coming up. I will be going in October and November. I'm sure that's not going to be great, but serving in the military is such a large part of who I am, I feel like I should try and keep this going as long as possible. It won't be so bad in 2L and 3L year when I have better control of my schedule. So, I'll be reading in airports and doing what I can to stay current these next couple of months. The December drill is right during finals. I'll have to reschedule that for the Summer.
Of course, you're not supposed to be working during 1L year if you're a full-timer and I'm pushing it on that. Navy reserve is technically work. Coaching is taking up a chunk of time every week. Plus, having to be at the biz every once in a while.
I honestly don't think it's that hard to graduate from Law School. What's hard is graduating with a good gpa. However, ultimately, my first and most realistic goal is to hang out my shingle and practice family law or PI law here, locally, and neither of those really require you to have a good gpa.
My hair was getting sorta shaggy and needed a cut. So, I took out the clippers and then actually shaved my head bald. I've done the clippers before, but this is the first time I've shaved it. Until they come out with more effective hair-growth prescriptions, my hair doesn't look good, anyway. Not sure the bald look is better, but I doubt it's worse. It's easier to maintain, though. I just don't have time for hair right now.
Finally, I had been eating badly and not-exercising enough these past two weeks. Time to get back on the wagon. Back to turkey bacon and oatmeal for breakfast. No more potato chips and french fries. I gotta take care of myself, both to prevent a heart attack in my 40s, and to keep my energy level up.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are tough days. The first class isn't until 10:10, but it lasts until 4:50.
Torts, LR&W, and Property, I understand and know where I need to go. Civ Pro and Contracts have been less so, but the picture is getting increasingly clearer.
Tonight is my night without Logan. So, I'll have the whole night to work on schoolwork. I have an outline due for a paper on LRW, but I'm about 1/3 finished with the whole thing. I'll be able to knock out an outline pretty quickly. Other than that, just reading assignments in Civ Pro and Torts and my work for the week is basically done.
I need to do a better job this weekend of working on my outlines. Last weekend I didn't do much. Fortunately, the workload wasn't that bad. So, a day of effort on Sunday kept me current.
2 weeks from today, we'll be at the midpoint of the semester. Halfway done. We really have absorbed a lot of material. In Torts, it's like the entire semester is a review. Going through the E&E was totally worth it. I just wish I had done that in some other classes. Right now, I have the unenviable task of trying to go through them as the semester is progressing.
Not that big of a deal, but time management is the real key to all this.
I also am longing for 2L year where I'll have more control over my schedule. I don't care if I have to take Maritime and Admiralty Law, but I'm going to do everything I can to take all my classes two days a week. If not, at the least, it doesn't look like 2Ls and 3Ls have many/any Friday classes.
Also, Logan will reach the halfway point of his football season this weekend. I volunteered to help out a little bit when I wasn't busy, but other than the head coach, I'm the only coach who shows up on a regular basis. The other guys want to be involved, but have job conflicts (they work rotating shift type jobs.) Also, our main defensive coach (great guy, BTW), just had knee surgery. I doubt he'll be able to do much with the team for a while.
So, I'm pretty much committed to being a coach for the team, which is something I really wanted to avoid. However, in 3 more weeks, the season will be over and I can hunker down for the rest of the semester to open up a biggo can on the finals.
I really, really need to work on my outlines.
I have drill for the Navy here coming up. I will be going in October and November. I'm sure that's not going to be great, but serving in the military is such a large part of who I am, I feel like I should try and keep this going as long as possible. It won't be so bad in 2L and 3L year when I have better control of my schedule. So, I'll be reading in airports and doing what I can to stay current these next couple of months. The December drill is right during finals. I'll have to reschedule that for the Summer.
Of course, you're not supposed to be working during 1L year if you're a full-timer and I'm pushing it on that. Navy reserve is technically work. Coaching is taking up a chunk of time every week. Plus, having to be at the biz every once in a while.
I honestly don't think it's that hard to graduate from Law School. What's hard is graduating with a good gpa. However, ultimately, my first and most realistic goal is to hang out my shingle and practice family law or PI law here, locally, and neither of those really require you to have a good gpa.
My hair was getting sorta shaggy and needed a cut. So, I took out the clippers and then actually shaved my head bald. I've done the clippers before, but this is the first time I've shaved it. Until they come out with more effective hair-growth prescriptions, my hair doesn't look good, anyway. Not sure the bald look is better, but I doubt it's worse. It's easier to maintain, though. I just don't have time for hair right now.
Finally, I had been eating badly and not-exercising enough these past two weeks. Time to get back on the wagon. Back to turkey bacon and oatmeal for breakfast. No more potato chips and french fries. I gotta take care of myself, both to prevent a heart attack in my 40s, and to keep my energy level up.
Tuesdays and Thursdays are tough days. The first class isn't until 10:10, but it lasts until 4:50.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Schedule Coolness
Was just thinking that Logan's football season only lasts six more weeks. That's good because right about then is when I need to start totally going hermit to prepare for finals. No matter what, I won't be taking any role in his basketball team.
Also, I was thinking about whether I'd need to go part-time after my 1L year is over. However, I was just looking at the class schedules for 2Ls and 3Ls, and things are pretty encouraging. Might be difficult to get all my classes just two days a week, but it wouldn't be impossible. Worst-case, it looks almost certain that I'd have a three-day weekend every week.
So, that's something to look forward to once 2L is over.
Also, I was thinking about whether I'd need to go part-time after my 1L year is over. However, I was just looking at the class schedules for 2Ls and 3Ls, and things are pretty encouraging. Might be difficult to get all my classes just two days a week, but it wouldn't be impossible. Worst-case, it looks almost certain that I'd have a three-day weekend every week.
So, that's something to look forward to once 2L is over.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Start of Week 6
Tomorrow is the start of week 6. There are 15 weeks in the semester, not including finals. I'm 1/3 of the way done. Unfortunately, this is sort of like running a marathon (in a lot of ways.) At the halfway point of a marathon, you aren't really halfway done. Pretty much 20% of your effort in a marathon gets you to around mile 18. The other 80% is what you need to get you the last 8 miles.
Same with law school. Since almost all the grade is based on finals and nothing more, you can coast along for a while, oblivious to the iceberg about to sink your ship. The real work will come in the month or so before finals as the outlines are finalized and the studying for the final exams begins.
I went into this thinking I could manage law school in the unproductive slack time of my life. That, I was pretty much right about. I had enough slack time to do law school.
What I didn't count on were the following:
1. I really, really enjoyed the unproductive slack time in my life. Not just for myself, but in terms of being able to do activities with my son.
2. Law school has some aspects where the schedule isn't flexible. You do it when you have to do it, not when you would have otherwise had slack time. This has put a strain on a few things. Nothing too bad, but it's noticeable.
3. I have no doubt I have enough time to finish law school. Do I have enough time to get great grades? Right now, I feel like I don't, but who knows. I feel like I need to do more. I'm current with all my reading and assignments. I just wish I had more time to work on my outlines and some other stuff.
One way or another, I intend to finish 1L as a full-time student. After 1L? Not sure at that point. I could continue as a full-timer or drop back to part-time. A little of it depends on whether I keep my scholarship.
I need something like a 3.3 to keep my scholarship, but as law students know, that's not easy in law school. The curve is pretty daunting. It basically equates to being in the top third or quarter of your class. However, "your class" consists of some pretty smart people.
If I lose my scholarship, I may just decide to go part-time. That would be easier on my schedule. It would also mean dragging this out for another year.
The other thing, which is how I'm leaning at the moment, is to try and do whatever I can to schedule all my classes just two days a week. Yes, that would equate to one murderous schedule that basically lasts from 8 to 8, but it also means I would have 5 days off per week. (Yeah, granted, 5 days off when you're in law school means 5 days of studying.)
It's not the work I can do at home that makes this tough. It's attending all the classes. The more I can compact my schedule, the better.
In the mean time, so far, so good. I'm still current with everything. Of course, my personal opinion is that staying current with everything is usually just good enough to get you a C. I need to work on my outlines and start exam-prepping. Still haven't quite found time for that.
I'm a little ahead in LR&W, and we're getting to where we're doing actual writing. So, it's slowly getting to where it isn't quite the total bane of my existence anymore. I don't mind it so much. We submit our first memo next week. It isn't graded, but I'll be interested in the feedback.
In the mean time, just keep swimming, just keep swimming...
Same with law school. Since almost all the grade is based on finals and nothing more, you can coast along for a while, oblivious to the iceberg about to sink your ship. The real work will come in the month or so before finals as the outlines are finalized and the studying for the final exams begins.
I went into this thinking I could manage law school in the unproductive slack time of my life. That, I was pretty much right about. I had enough slack time to do law school.
What I didn't count on were the following:
1. I really, really enjoyed the unproductive slack time in my life. Not just for myself, but in terms of being able to do activities with my son.
2. Law school has some aspects where the schedule isn't flexible. You do it when you have to do it, not when you would have otherwise had slack time. This has put a strain on a few things. Nothing too bad, but it's noticeable.
3. I have no doubt I have enough time to finish law school. Do I have enough time to get great grades? Right now, I feel like I don't, but who knows. I feel like I need to do more. I'm current with all my reading and assignments. I just wish I had more time to work on my outlines and some other stuff.
One way or another, I intend to finish 1L as a full-time student. After 1L? Not sure at that point. I could continue as a full-timer or drop back to part-time. A little of it depends on whether I keep my scholarship.
I need something like a 3.3 to keep my scholarship, but as law students know, that's not easy in law school. The curve is pretty daunting. It basically equates to being in the top third or quarter of your class. However, "your class" consists of some pretty smart people.
If I lose my scholarship, I may just decide to go part-time. That would be easier on my schedule. It would also mean dragging this out for another year.
The other thing, which is how I'm leaning at the moment, is to try and do whatever I can to schedule all my classes just two days a week. Yes, that would equate to one murderous schedule that basically lasts from 8 to 8, but it also means I would have 5 days off per week. (Yeah, granted, 5 days off when you're in law school means 5 days of studying.)
It's not the work I can do at home that makes this tough. It's attending all the classes. The more I can compact my schedule, the better.
In the mean time, so far, so good. I'm still current with everything. Of course, my personal opinion is that staying current with everything is usually just good enough to get you a C. I need to work on my outlines and start exam-prepping. Still haven't quite found time for that.
I'm a little ahead in LR&W, and we're getting to where we're doing actual writing. So, it's slowly getting to where it isn't quite the total bane of my existence anymore. I don't mind it so much. We submit our first memo next week. It isn't graded, but I'll be interested in the feedback.
In the mean time, just keep swimming, just keep swimming...
Monday, September 19, 2011
The Boy Loves the Gridiron
Bambino continues to do well at football. He blasted his knee back open over the weekend, but we put the skateboard knee pad on it and he had a good practice.
The coach is making some adjustments. Logan is now starting at fullback in the I-formation and halfback in the jumbo package. The coach is also putting together a long-yardage formation with Logan at QB.
They ran a few plays and Logan was drilling people on the numbers. He really has gained a lot of arm strength over the past year.
This is going to be a little more involved for him. He loves football. Told me yesterday that it was by far his favorite sport. I think of all the sports he plays, he shows the most talent at baseball, but the pacing of baseball is tough for a little kid to appreciate.
He's doing pretty well at football, too, though. I think if he keeps this up, he could stand a shot at QB1 next year. Just depends. At this age, everything depends on how they grow and progress.
The coach is making some adjustments. Logan is now starting at fullback in the I-formation and halfback in the jumbo package. The coach is also putting together a long-yardage formation with Logan at QB.
They ran a few plays and Logan was drilling people on the numbers. He really has gained a lot of arm strength over the past year.
This is going to be a little more involved for him. He loves football. Told me yesterday that it was by far his favorite sport. I think of all the sports he plays, he shows the most talent at baseball, but the pacing of baseball is tough for a little kid to appreciate.
He's doing pretty well at football, too, though. I think if he keeps this up, he could stand a shot at QB1 next year. Just depends. At this age, everything depends on how they grow and progress.
Uggghhhh...
Today was the first day I felt sort of lost in a class. I'm going to have to memorize a bunch of numbers for civil procedure rules, as well as the rules. Other than that, I am willing to bet that most of the class is more lost than I am based on participation in class today.
Though I did notice that one girl in class (super smart one) is grasping the material much better than I am, too.
Just gotta hang in there. Soon as I post this, I'm gonna knock out some reading and go to bed.
I need more sleep.
Though I did notice that one girl in class (super smart one) is grasping the material much better than I am, too.
Just gotta hang in there. Soon as I post this, I'm gonna knock out some reading and go to bed.
I need more sleep.
Sunday, September 18, 2011
End of Week 4: Getting the Hang
I'm about a quarter of the way through the semester, and I'm getting the hang of this.
Today, I should be able to finish up all my reading for the week and begin working on my outlines.
Really, I figure this whole thing boils down to 3 tasks:
1. Staying current with the material.
2. Preparing great outlines, especially my 1-page summary outlines for each class
3. Getting the test-taking down.
Right now, I've been doing a good job of #1. I think I've only showed up to class once having not-read the material in advance. I know this sounds really odd, but it can be difficult just knowing what you're supposed to read for the next class. Every prof gives the reading assignments differently.
Some of them (the more organized ones), have all the reading for the entire semester laid out in their syllabus. That's the easy ones to stay current with.
Others will post the assignment on the class web-site. The class web-site, unfortunately, can be in one of three (and maybe more) places, depending on the prof. It can be either on our UT account, on the Lexis class web-site or the Westlaw class web-site. Or they e-mail our reading assignments to us.
The third category tells us at the end of class what to prepare for the next class. I need a better method for this. I had been making a note in my class notes, but that didn't work very well. (That was how I missed a reading assignment for class.) I switched to posting any assignments to the top of the notes page and making a note in my day planner. That works a little better, but still is problematic. I think I just need to have a separate file on my computer for "assignments due" when they're not specified in any of the other methods and work it that way.
Today, I'll be able to start my outlines. I know what my torts outline is going to look like. Property? I think I've got that one figured out, too. Contracts? I may need to visit the prof because he invented his own tool called "Davis Boxes" which others have said practically substitutes for the class outline. I'm already pretty far along on POICTARACO.
That leaves Civ Pro, which I'm maybe 30% clear on what the outline will look like. Our school teaches it backwards from the way most schools do: we learn pleading first and venue in a subsequent semester.
I hope to have the outlines substantially done sometime in October with just minor tweaking from then on out. This would leave all of November for test practice.
My 5th class is Legal Research and Writing (aka, "the bane of my existence.") We've got the first of our two papers due. This one is not-graded. My initial reaction was, "Oh, great, ungraded homework. Like I don't have enough to do already." Now, though, I'm eager to have them look at what I can do to see where I need to improve for the second, graded paper.
LR&W is a mutha. The other classes? You can stay current on the reading in anywhere from 1 to 4 hours a week. (4 hours is extreme, too. Most don't involve that much reading and the one class that does, doesn't involve that much every week so far.) LR&W? Including class time? Probably takes up 15 hours a week.
I can't wait to be done with it. I realize it's all necessary. They're making me practice things I would not practice, otherwise. However, it's a muthafargin' black hole of study hours. To add insult to injury, it's only a 2 credit hour class.
So far, a few aspects of my life are fraying a little bit.
I'm still managing to make time to be with my son. That's not so bad, actually. I'm still helping coach his football team. (Total workload there is maybe 16 hours a week.) I'm still available to him in the evenings. I might start having him sleep over at his mom's house, though, so she can have him in the mornings. That'll free up my mornings and give him more time with her. Her work schedule has changed. She sees a little less of him, now, because she has fewer days off.
Exercise has been a diaster. I was making good progress until recently, but did no workouts last week at all. I also probably need to drop my gym membership. I barely have time to bathe. Getting to the gym is out of the question. I can still hit the weights at the biz, though. So, that's not a big deal.
I need to start just taking 25 minute exercise breaks. Taking an hour away from the books, then taking a shower, for a total of 90 minutes away, is just not a good idea. However, taking 25 minutes away from the books a few times a day is probably actually beneficial. So, I need to just nail 25 minutes on the rower or dreadmill every few hours to clear my mind and pump up my energy level.
My diet has been absurd. I think I'm going to start going to an all-oatmeal for breakfast routine. The rest of the day? Who the hell knows. I'll figure it out as I go.
My time at the biz? I just need to be there studying in my office a lot more.
The end result of all this? I'm going to be getting a lot less sleep. So far, I'm doing well, physically, but we'll see how long I can keep this up.
If I do well on 1L grades, I will try to get an internship with the SEC or CFTC this Summer. It'll be unpaid for 10 weeks. So, it'll be a big hairy deal, but I think it'd be worth it.
In my typical "go big or go home" fashion, if I don't manage that, I'll probably end up reverting back to plan B, which is to set up a PI practice here, locally.
And that's all there is to say about that at the end of week 4.
Today, I should be able to finish up all my reading for the week and begin working on my outlines.
Really, I figure this whole thing boils down to 3 tasks:
1. Staying current with the material.
2. Preparing great outlines, especially my 1-page summary outlines for each class
3. Getting the test-taking down.
Right now, I've been doing a good job of #1. I think I've only showed up to class once having not-read the material in advance. I know this sounds really odd, but it can be difficult just knowing what you're supposed to read for the next class. Every prof gives the reading assignments differently.
Some of them (the more organized ones), have all the reading for the entire semester laid out in their syllabus. That's the easy ones to stay current with.
Others will post the assignment on the class web-site. The class web-site, unfortunately, can be in one of three (and maybe more) places, depending on the prof. It can be either on our UT account, on the Lexis class web-site or the Westlaw class web-site. Or they e-mail our reading assignments to us.
The third category tells us at the end of class what to prepare for the next class. I need a better method for this. I had been making a note in my class notes, but that didn't work very well. (That was how I missed a reading assignment for class.) I switched to posting any assignments to the top of the notes page and making a note in my day planner. That works a little better, but still is problematic. I think I just need to have a separate file on my computer for "assignments due" when they're not specified in any of the other methods and work it that way.
Today, I'll be able to start my outlines. I know what my torts outline is going to look like. Property? I think I've got that one figured out, too. Contracts? I may need to visit the prof because he invented his own tool called "Davis Boxes" which others have said practically substitutes for the class outline. I'm already pretty far along on POICTARACO.
That leaves Civ Pro, which I'm maybe 30% clear on what the outline will look like. Our school teaches it backwards from the way most schools do: we learn pleading first and venue in a subsequent semester.
I hope to have the outlines substantially done sometime in October with just minor tweaking from then on out. This would leave all of November for test practice.
My 5th class is Legal Research and Writing (aka, "the bane of my existence.") We've got the first of our two papers due. This one is not-graded. My initial reaction was, "Oh, great, ungraded homework. Like I don't have enough to do already." Now, though, I'm eager to have them look at what I can do to see where I need to improve for the second, graded paper.
LR&W is a mutha. The other classes? You can stay current on the reading in anywhere from 1 to 4 hours a week. (4 hours is extreme, too. Most don't involve that much reading and the one class that does, doesn't involve that much every week so far.) LR&W? Including class time? Probably takes up 15 hours a week.
I can't wait to be done with it. I realize it's all necessary. They're making me practice things I would not practice, otherwise. However, it's a muthafargin' black hole of study hours. To add insult to injury, it's only a 2 credit hour class.
So far, a few aspects of my life are fraying a little bit.
I'm still managing to make time to be with my son. That's not so bad, actually. I'm still helping coach his football team. (Total workload there is maybe 16 hours a week.) I'm still available to him in the evenings. I might start having him sleep over at his mom's house, though, so she can have him in the mornings. That'll free up my mornings and give him more time with her. Her work schedule has changed. She sees a little less of him, now, because she has fewer days off.
Exercise has been a diaster. I was making good progress until recently, but did no workouts last week at all. I also probably need to drop my gym membership. I barely have time to bathe. Getting to the gym is out of the question. I can still hit the weights at the biz, though. So, that's not a big deal.
I need to start just taking 25 minute exercise breaks. Taking an hour away from the books, then taking a shower, for a total of 90 minutes away, is just not a good idea. However, taking 25 minutes away from the books a few times a day is probably actually beneficial. So, I need to just nail 25 minutes on the rower or dreadmill every few hours to clear my mind and pump up my energy level.
My diet has been absurd. I think I'm going to start going to an all-oatmeal for breakfast routine. The rest of the day? Who the hell knows. I'll figure it out as I go.
My time at the biz? I just need to be there studying in my office a lot more.
The end result of all this? I'm going to be getting a lot less sleep. So far, I'm doing well, physically, but we'll see how long I can keep this up.
If I do well on 1L grades, I will try to get an internship with the SEC or CFTC this Summer. It'll be unpaid for 10 weeks. So, it'll be a big hairy deal, but I think it'd be worth it.
In my typical "go big or go home" fashion, if I don't manage that, I'll probably end up reverting back to plan B, which is to set up a PI practice here, locally.
And that's all there is to say about that at the end of week 4.
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