Characters

This will not make sense for the vast majority of people reading this blog. But I needed to store these terms for safekeeping for when I write my book about law school characters.

That Guy, Duckie (Have to Look Good for the Ladies, Yo), Boogie, Amigas, Harry Potter, Frat Row, Chinatown, Night Court, Boyscouts, Black Shirt Guy, Chomper, Captain Obvious, Mean Girls, Queen Bee, Hand Maiden, Crazy Gardner

So it begins . . .

Nothing makes me more excited than when I get packages in the mail

. . . except when it is a thirty pound box of bar review books. Yes, I weighed the box.

We have all known since first year that we would be going through bar review classes, but now with books in hand, it finally feels real.

Final Edit

Today I completed my last major task as a note and comment editor for my law journal. We still have a few odds and ends to take care of, but the bulk of our work is done after a long journey. It seems like almost yesterday when I was editing an article by flashlight when the wildfires knocked out the power lines in California over the summer. Since last May I have accumulated almost five hundred hours mentoring ten writers, editing over five hundred pages, correcting hundreds of citations, and grading forty-four articles.

Being a note and comment editor is like being a combination between a teacher and a parent since we work directly with a small set of law students. I love watching and being part of someone's entire writing process--from seeing them come up with a topic to turning in a final submission.

You tend to grow attached to writers and their work when you are there from the beginning. When someone does well or gets published, you feel proud; and when a submission fails, you ask yourself what you could have done to prevent this. I have experienced both situations this year. And I really do not know how professors grade so many papers, I feel horrible giving bad grades--and these do not even stay on a transcript forever.

I know it is cliche to say that I probably learned more from my writers than my writers learned from me, but I feel like I did. In addition to improving my bluebooking skills, I learned about random topics that I would have never normally covered in law school ranging from organic milk regulation to Native American tribal land laws to oil shale development.

Most people do not like the work on law journals, but I can really say it has been a fun year. I am not sure what to do with myself now that I do not constantly have a pile of papers in front of me to edit.

Things I Will Miss About Law School

One more month of school plus finals, a little over a month until gradution. Let the sappiness commence. What I will miss about law school . . .

• Eating lunch in the cafeteria with friends.
• Hanging out in the ALR office and discussing Bravo shows, obscure political events, and grammar.
• Weekly meetings with the Dean's Fellows with Popper's stories and catering.
• Receiving, on average, a free meal per day from a different event.
• Studying and other antics in the fishbowl, the only redeeming part of finals.
• Seeing a favorite professor say hi to you in the hallway.
  

Duped

Last semester I had a client in the law clinic that I felt really bad for. I remember going home during Thanksgiving and feeling guilty that I was leaving him all alone to endure the cold weather on the streets. I felt even more guilty when I had to tell him that I would not be continuing on his case in the spring.

Then I found out that everything was a lie. Everything that he told us, everything that made me feel bad for him, everything we told the court.

I felt so duped. I could understand why he did it, but I still feel betrayed. I know I should not take it personally, but when my clinic partner thought if something seemed "off" about our client, I defended him. I believed him and rationalized any holes in his story.

The clinic told us that many of us would experience clients who lied or omitted facts to us. I just did not think I would be the person who fell for it.

Cat

It is one of those busy Mondays where I do not feel like writing anything, so I will just leave you instead with a picture of Alex's cat, Cherry. After a year and a half together, she has basically turned into me--covered in papers to edit and busy gchatting. I, on the other hand, have turned into a crazy cat lady taking pictures of animals doing human things.

In all seriousness though, this was not posed. The cat loves sitting on my school work and books.

Law School Prom

Seeing as how law school is similar to high school with lockers, a cafeteria, and gossip, it is only fitting that we end the year with a prom (officially called Barrister's Ball). Here Alex and I are doing our best awkward prom pose and below is the obligatory group shot. Memories.

Despite some debauchery from a small group of students who act like they are in high school drinking for the first time, law school prom is what high school prom should have been. Just a good night out with friends and significant others.

No drama about finding a date or fluffy dress, no wasting money on getting your hair done up with so much hairspray you become a fire hazard, no serving on a prom committee and spending months arguing over a prom theme that no one remembers (yes, I was on the prom committee and yes, I can make a balloon arch). But alas, high school prom would not have been as memorable but for these teenage rituals.