Sun Tzu says...

"on difficult ground, keep steadily on the march...on desparate ground, fight"

This semester I see more of the cut-throat things that everyone hears rumor of before they start law school (but still the majority of people haven't turned into cut-throat warriors.) Once first semester grades came out there were some surprises (as there always are) as to who did well and who was disappointed. The gunners quieted down a little and some even started to listen to other people's answers. A couple of "sleepers," now feeling confident from good grades speak up in class and offer incredible insights. As we get closer to finals though, its now obvious who the big competition is in class and who you need to beat to get that elusive "A." People are less willing to share class notes with each other if someone missed a class, and many will not share outlines they've found from 2Ls. Everyone's keeping it quiet how far they are in outlining and what their study schedule is.

Guess this means the battle for top class rankings (and success in OCI) has begun?

I've found that the best thing for me to avoid all this behavior is to avoid everyone but my study group and non-law school friends. I seriously don't have time for drama.

Only a few more weeks until I start my summer job :-)

Don't Panic!

But finals are almost here! Holy S**t!!! Where the heck did the semester go? What happened to all of my plans to start outlining really early this semester? I just finished my exam study schedule and I want to just get back in bed and hide under the covers.

I'll be sad to see this year end. It's been brutal at times, but being a 1L is kinda fun, in that "everything's new and there's still hope for us all to become big successful lawyers and make enough $$ to pay of these debts" exciting way.

I Got A JOB!!!!

It's official! I will be employed by..."1L Summer Firm" :-)

Come on, do you really think I would give up some of my anonymity and reveal who I'll be working for this summer? Not a chance. I'd rather stay under the radar in law school.

All I will say is that I'm very excited about the firm and the work I'll be doing. And that i will get PAID!!!!!! Yes, that's right, I'm going to be one of the lucky 1Ls that I know who will be earning enough $ this summer to be able to survive AND still have $ to pay off some of the bills I racked up during 1L year.

How did I get this job? I'm not at a t-14 school, I'm not anywhere near the top 10% of my class, and I don't have a father who is a partner in the firm. Nor did I blanket applications to every big, mid and small firm, judge, and public defenders office. Instead I focused on the areas that I really wanted to try out and that interested me and worked with my counselor to write targeted cover letters and perfect my resume. I received a lot of rejections which really sucked, but then I got a couple interviews and focused my energy on winning over the interviewers.

Something must've worked because I HAVE A JOB!!!

Happy Valentines Day!!

...Now stop hugging and kissing and get back to work!

Appellate briefing season is here and 1Ls at law schools across the country are spending hours in the Westlaw labs printing cases hoping to find the one supreme court decision that pulls everything together for the winning brief! The trash cans are overflowing with Starbucks coffee cups and everyone's so uptight that at any minute someone might snap if someone in the reading room dares to cough or type too loud.

It may be worse than exams. There's more at stake now that fall grades are posted. The library that was empty for the first few weeks of class is now full of 1Ls trying to get their $**t together and rebound from the below the curve grades of first semester or outstudying the rest of the class and win a few more Cali's.

Sorry I haven't posted in ages. I'm feeling more overwhelmed this semester. Classes that i loved last semester are pure torture this semester and the new classes seem to be piling on the reading all the while i'm trying to work on my brief. The competition is pretty fierce in class as we're all competing for 1L summer jobs. Instead of friends being happy for you when you get an interview or an offer, its 1/2 happy and 1/2 silent thoughts wondering how the heck you are better than them.

That all said, I'm still loving law school. Briefing is so much work, but i'm not hating it. What i'm hating is that I'm struggling to not fall behind in class reading. Attendance is really slipping in some classes, which just puts a bullseye on the small group of us who show up. when only 25% of the class shows up there's even more pressure to be prepared b/c now instead of a 5% chance of getting called on, its more like 30-40%.

Just a few more weeks til Spring Break right?

alrighty, back to briefing!