Sweatpants...

"Again with the sweatpants?"
"What? I'm comfortable."
"You know the message you're sending out to the world with these sweatpants? You're telling the world, 'I give up. I can't compete in normal society. I'm miserable, so I might as well be comfortable.'"

I used to really love watching "Seinfeld." This was back before we decided to dump our cable TV, but that's another story. In the pilot episode, Jerry and George have the aforementioned exchange, and it popped into my head as I sit here in the library, preparing for exam three of four. It's fascinating to witness the effect finals have on the student population. Usually we all come to school looking, if not dressed to impress, at least neatly groomed. During finals, people start wearing sweatpants...and stop sleeping and showering. Those things take too much time away from studying. It's true though. If you're miserable, you might as well be comfortable. Or as much so as you can muster during this dark, dark hour of mental torture.

Pop the cork...

And start the celebration! No, seriously. Some 3L brought a bottle of champagne to my Admin law class today and when the professor finished his lecture, the kid popped the cork and started getting drunk right there in class. Now, I'm no expert on alcoholism, but isn't 10:00 in the morning a little early to start getting wasted? I know I'll probably be thrilled to hear the last law lecture of my academic career too, but someone should probably let that guy know that there are still two weeks of finals left. And even then, graduating from law school means exactly nothing until you pass the bar. This reality check is brought to you by an overworked 2L, who only wishes she were in that guy's shoes.

Where hope goes to die

Finals sap my will to live. But I have found it helpful to reflect on times past when I still had a life worth living. Or at least blogging about, in something vaguely resembling a positive manner. For your enjoyment (sorry, only viewable to those with a myspace account), the oldies but goodies from my early blogging days. The older the post, the more spirit I still had left in me. The transition from happiness to hell is quite fascinating to witness. http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog&friendID=52579780
As if people really needed proof that law school is a soul crushing abyss...

It may or may not be the headlamp of an oncoming train...

Another semester is winding down. I wrote up my April calendar last week and it was almost jarring to see written down dates and times for my final exams. I haven't quite gotten into full blown panic mode yet, which is odd because next week is the last week of class before exams. I find that the anxiety-fest starts later and later each semester. I'm sure that's a good thing for my mental wellbeing. Not so sure it's a good thing for my level of preparation. Although if my steadily increasing GPA is any indication, I could use a lot less stress in my life. I think another reason why I'm not convulsing in a corner yet is because of the four exams I have to take, two are open book/open note, three of my classes are not going to be graded on the curve, and I found out today that another one of my exams is going to be flexed, so I can space them out more than I've been able to in the past. That is definitely a good feeling. And the most convincing reason as to why I feel okay about blogging right now, rather than committing to memory when ex parte communications are and are not alright in administrative law. This semester has been so crazy busy. I competed in two moot court competitions, passed the professional responsibility portion of the bar exam, judged rounds in the first year appellate competition, and wrote my third year paper. I get a little overwhelmed just thinking about it all, and yet I find that my incidence of seriously entertaining the notion of dropping out are becoming more infrequent. Don't get me wrong, I will probably consider dropping out until the moment they hand me my diploma. And I'm pretty sure that if I could go back and do it all over again, I really wouldn't have undertaken this particular adventure. However, being where I am now, with just one year to go, I'm really glad I've done something that was this hard; something that not everyone can do. Odd, I know. But in less than a month, I'll be a court-certified 3L, handling real cases at work rather than just trial prep for the attorneys, and I'll have a much deserved respite from this academic insanity. Just don't get me started on next year. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get 15 credit hours with the classes they're offering in the fall, and keep my job and extracurriculars. For some reason, I've already taken most of the bar courses I need, which means I'm either going to have to take a ton of worthless 2 credit classes, or look into credit options at the business school or the liberal arts school. I'm considering taking another advanced spanish class, just to brush up, but a business class could be useful as well. Like I said, don't get me started. Because I really have no idea. I just know that it feels really good to have gotten to this point.