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10/19/2004: "Mmmm, doughnuts"
My legal writing professor brought doughnuts today because we weren't supposed to have class, and then she changed her mind at the last minute. Who said law school couldn't be fun?
Speaking of law school, I have to laugh because Amy told me I'm the only person she's ever heard say that law school wasn't as difficult as they expected. It's not, really. I think it might be because I'm not as competitive as a lot of people are here. One girl in my section was dramatically moaning to anyone who would listen, "Oh my god, last night I was in the library reading until 9:30 at night, and then I woke up at 5:30 this morning to read some more." I wanted to smack her.
We don't really have that much reading to do each night. We only read what we can go over in class the next day. I get about 75% of it done during my 2 to 3 hour lunch break, which frees up time at home to spend on my legal writing assignments (Memo II is due on Monday, blech) and on more fun things that one might do in their free time. This girl is either A) a really slow reader, B) reading ahead, or C) trying to sound impressive but failing horribly.
Furthermore, if there are concepts I don't understand while I'm reading (most of the reading is court cases surrounded by notes and a few paragraphs of explanation), I can count on my professors to clear things up in class the next day (barring the Torts prof; he does the opposite by screwing up something that I thought I understood perfectly well, which, according to the TA, ends up being the correct way of understanding it anyways).
A lot of people are annoying me by buying commercial outlines (which any law school prof will tell you is a waste of money) and books that were written to go along with the textbooks that summarize the court case and analysis. I know lots of people who are only reading the one-page summary and analysis just in case the prof calls on them in class. To me, that's counterproductive. It seems much more important to me that I become familiar with reading court cases and figuring out the analysis by myself. A lot of professors use textbooks that they put together themselves, and then you don't have the benefit of a commercial summary. A lot of people view reading the assignments as a means to an end (being prepared in class just in case you're called on), but I think there's more to it than that.
Maybe my laid back attitude will get me somewhere, or maybe all those ultra-competitive people will leave me in the dust. I won't know until December or so. School will get more difficult once it comes time to study for and take the exam (the only grade in my classes except for legal writing), but I think I'll be fine.