Break = Break

Its finally winter break… I cannot being to tell you how excited I am to just HIBERNATE for these next four weeks: catch up on some long over due sleep, Netflix, maybe read a book, gym.gym.gym and spend time with the pup - I feel like I've barely paid any attention to him (thanks mom and dad for dealing with his spastic ways). I’ve never been so exited to just do absolutely nothing but lay in bed. I honestly can’t rememberer the last time i’ve had nothing to do… I think it was June? 

I feel like a broken record when I say this but I cannot stress enough how important it is to take care of your health when going through any higher education program. If you aren't at your best, your work won't be either. While thanksgiving break wasn't much a break, winter break is. There’s no class, no homework/readings/test, no papers. You’re free for about 3.5 weeks or so. The final days of break - if not early, will be spent preparing for the first week of spring semester.

It’s not allllll netflix and sleep

Although while 90% of my break will be spent resting up, there are a few things that I need to knock out:

BOOKS

this has been nothing short of a hot mess. thankfully i don't need as many as i did the first semester - i don’t have to buy any new books for LCR II. But the books that i do need have been such a pain in the rear to get; Property is a custom book and they only print so many at a time - I ordered it when the professor released it, it was back ordered so now I'm waiting to find out if/when I can get it. Criminal and Constitutional Law both require the 2016 edition which wasn't released until December 16th… the day of my last final. I got on December 17th to order and they were sold out of both of them… I still but in a purchase ordering but yet again I'm waiting to find out if/when I’ll get them. Although I did have luck with my elective - Negotiation - the book was only $10 brand new - why cant they all be than cheap?! and it came in the mail yesterday… Is it sad that I already want to read through it… uh yes.

Resume

THIS IS A MUST. The resume you used for your undergrad and even your law school application has to be reworked. Thankfully, our student life office has a pdf document that we can use as a guideline. I’ll be sure to do a post just on resume’s once I start it next week.

Office Makeover

I was fortunate enough to have my parents agree to turn my old room into an office space. Over the summer, my cousin and I made a wall length desk that I am absolutely obsessed with but I never got around to doing the finishing touches for the whole room - large white board, new storage cube, organization bins, binders, etc.

Revisit final LCR paper

This is also a must. At least for me, the final LCR paper is the one I will be using as my writing sample for externship/internship applications. I want it to be in tip top shape. Even though we haven't received our grades/ papers back, I plan to edit the final I turned in and fix it up as much as I can, then combining that with the edit from my professor.

Any supplies for next semester

Readings/Notes for the First week or so

Winter Break Plans?

Sleep. Netflix. Gym. CHRISTMAS. A good leisure read. Four weeks is probably going to fly by but its completely okay. It’s only my 4th full day of break and I already feel re-energized and myself again… Those last two weeks of finals was draining. I felt like a complete zombie, scattered brained and frazzled to no end. I even made sure to get at least 5 hours a sleep at night - I literately cannot function on 2-3 hours a sleep like most, I would have been setting myself up to fail.

But with break sleep is endless along with Netflix. Speaking of which I’m hoping to find a new show to dive into because I’ve watched the vampire diaries about 4 times through already and I don't know if I can do it again just yet. So here’s a list of a few “law related” shows that have caught my attention:

How to Get Away With Murder

The Deep End 

Conviction 

Law and Order SVU (definitely an all time fav.) 

As well as a few random shows that have been recommended to me:

Parenthood

Black Mirror 

Gossip Girl 

The Originals 

The list is full and the time is short.. I am definitely going to start with HTGAWM and possibly parenthood or gossip girl which ever I enjoy more after the first episode. But I also want to get through a book or two as well because leisure reading is hands down one of my hobbies.. I’m a sucker for a good fiction novel and have my eye on a few:

The Whistler - John Grisham

(all of his books are based around the legal profession & extremely hard to put down once you pick them up)

A Man Called Ove - Fredrik Backman

Never Never - James Patterson and Candice Fox

I hope that all of you enjoy your break and take the time to RELAX once the holiday madness is over.   Go sledding, ice skating, coffee or a movie with friends, or be like me and spend time in bed with Netflix. whatever it is, enjoy it and take advantage of it. YOU'VE EARNED IT.
Happy Holidays && Enjoy this time with the ones you love!
xoxo H

Where Do I Even Begin?

justifiablyblonde.blogspot.com

Honestly, I don't even know how to remotely approach the crazy ride that I took a front seat on for my first semester of law school. There were so many twists and turns, successes, failures and lessons learned that will definitely shape my approach to tackling the spring semester. Over these next 4 weeks, I plan to dump it all on you so be ready because there's a lotttttt - && because I don't plan on doing much over break other than netflix, blogging and hibernating.

"So how's law school?"

you'll get this question so many times within your first semester that you can pretty much count on it being the first thing you're asked. I can't tell you how many times I lied and said it was great or I was doing well when in fact I could barely remember if / what I ate for breakfast that morning yet alone sort my life out while figuring out how to do this whole "law school" thing. 

It wasn't completely horrible though, I did have a few break downs.. questioned whether this was really for me but thanks to my lovely best friends, I got through it. I can finally say that the first semester is over and I made it - now grade wise... I don't even know. Its hard to guess where I am at because of the curve and I find that I always beat myself up over exams. I did not feel confident with my last exam though that is for sure, I was drained. I should have studied more than I did, covered more ground because I sat in this exam thinking over and over again "WTF am I being asked" and shunning myself for not being more prepared. So before I go into all the topics I have planned, here are a few tips to consider before going into the next semester whether you're in law school, grad school or undergrad:

Tips.. I got lots of them.

If You Don't Like Coffee, You'll Learn to Love It. 
its really that simple. I could not have made it through this semester without my DD every morning and most after noons. 

OUTLINE 

&& stay on top of it. This was my number one mistake was not staying on top of outlining. But I only have myself to blame. I will admit, my lack of outlining came from my stubbornness to admit I didn't know how to. My 4 years of undergrad was spent outlining papers for english papers. I never had to outline for an exam let alone take a cumulative one. I thought I knew what I was doing but once midterms had gone well I thought I was doing it all correctly... come finals I realized how completely wrong I was and how far behind I was. It was a struggle. 

Manage your time

seriously outline your day's to the minute. It was so easy for me to be like "eh I have all weekend to do this" and before I knew it, it was Sunday and the work piled up. I shot myself in the foot with this quite often because of a lack of organization and motivation. 

Organize. Organize. Organize. 

You know what does and does not work for you. I've learned a lot about myself as a student this semester and have already begun to make a list of things that need to be tweaked for the spring semester. I'm usually a fairly organized person but this roller coster ride threw me for a loop when it comes to staying organized when it comes to notes for class, readings, etc. 

Study Group

Find a group that isn't made entirely up of your friend group. Pick a time to meet at the very least one time a week. STICK TO IT. I was in a group made up entirely of my friend group, and don't get me wrong I loved knowing the people in my group, BUT it was entirely too easy to push back the studying and lose focus. I know that next semester it needs to be a bit different when it comes to study groups because they're important. you need to be talking about the material - if you can explain it to someone else, you're one the right path. 

Take time for yourself. 

If you don't, you're going to burn yourself out. That's exactly what I did. I expunged all my energy on midterms when I should have saved that turbo boost for my finals. After midterms I was drained, unmotivated, lacking focus. I needed a break and instead of taking a personal day I pushed myself for another three weeks before I had a melt down. While the melt down was needed... I should have taken that needed me time wayyyyyyy before and things would have been okay. I wouldn't have burnt myself out like did. The other thing I regret was letting my gym time go. I enjoy staying active, it relieves stress and keeps me feeling energized, focused and on track. I let it go way too easily blaming it on not having time when I actually did. 

Upcoming Posts

Finals Crunch Time 

Notes/Organization

Midterm Madeness

BREAK = BREAK

Preparing for the Legal Interview

Midterm Explosion

justifiablyblonde.blogspot.com

I honestly don't even know where to begin. My intention was to keep up with blogging as I tackled the first semester of my 1L year but it quickly proved that I barely have time to remember if I ate breakfast or not. But I just finished midterms last week and I think there are a lot of lessons learned that should be shared and some great insights that I can give.

We are now at starting week 8 in the fall semester and so far law school has been

Different

Challenging

Rewarding

Stressful

Exciting

Frustrating 

Different in the sense that it is nothing like undergrad.... those nights of cramming all that information in your head about the material or starting your paper a day or two before it is due are longggggggg gone. Organization is key so make a schedule and stick to it. This has been one of my weaknesses and something I am trying to tackle.. the beginning of my week starts out strong but by Thursday night I am drained and my focus starts to fade. I think it is important to take a day off from all the law school madness and just do something that I enjoy doing whether it be going out with friends or staying in and binge watching netflix... me time is important. It keeps me sane and lets me refocus.

Law school is hard... its supposed to be or else everyone and their mother would join in on the law school train and pass with flying colors. But the challenge is rewarding when things start to click in place. Its week 8 and things are JUST starting to click.. some things - like contracts - are taking a bit longer than I was hoping and for me that is beyond frustrating. Im the typically one that forces myself to learn it until I know it because I cannot deal with not understanding things.. it makes me feel dumb. These first 8 weeks have really changed my view on learning in the sense that I've had to accept that its not going to click right away. Its going to take time and practice in order for that light bulb to light up and when it does, or even when it starts to flicker, its such a good feeling to be able to say "okay, I'm starting to get it" or "I KNOW THAT".

Law school is exciting yet the most frustrating thing. Time management is key and I have definitely been slacking in that area. I plan ahead and fall behind and that becomes extremely stressful. Sometimes its simply because we don't get to things in class other times its because one class is pulling for my attention more than another so things get slightly pushed to the back burner until the weekend. BUT MAKE SURE YOU CATCH UP. For example, I had a midterm this week for one of my classes but it was my strongest class. Unfortunately on top of the stress to take our first law school midterms we all still had classes to attend and readings to do.. some of my professors actually included material from this week on their exams. I focused my attention on the two classes that I have been struggling with the most, did the readings, looked over my outlines, completed hypos. Although for the class I am doing well in, the class readings for the week were not my priority unfortunately.. but this was ONLY because

A) class was canceled one day this week so that took out a good chunk of class prep work AND more importantly

B) the material from this week was NOT going to be on the exam.

The downside to me doing this was having to do the reading over the weekend on top of all my assignments for next week but that is the price I chose to pay.

MIDTERMS - one word that brings out too many emotions.

I don't think I have ever been so overwhelmed in my 19 years of schooling. In undergrad 80% of the time I had other assignments or mini quizzes that lead up to the midterm so I knew what to expect. I had absolutely no idea what I was to expect when walking into any of my midterms last week other than that

Contracts was a 3 hour exam & not graded

Torts - 1hour and 45 min. & 20% of overall grade

Civ Pro - 2 hours, 20% of overall grade

Contracts

My first midterm was for contracts. I thought to myself there is absolutely no way I will be here for that full 3 hours because thats just insane. WRONG. SOOOOOOO WRONG. The time started ticking and the next thing you know the proctor was informing us that we had 15 minutes left. Thankfully I was almost done with my last question but I couldn't believe that I had been there for the full three hours.

Torts 

If contracts had been graded that would have been the test I was concerned for the most, but because it wasn't my entire focus was on this exam.... It was an hour and 45 minute exam with two fact patterns - one was 4 pages long the other was 3 so by the time I was done reading the dang fact patterns I could barely plan out my answers. I was flustered but I got through it... hopefully I didn't miss too many points but I believe that I did hit the main ones.

Civ Pro

Okay so I love love love civ pro and I think that is mainly because my professor is absolutely wonderful. I was the least nervous about this exam until I read over the fact pattern and saw the question. The question had us take what we had been doing and rather than arguing for the topic, we had to argue against it. I pounded out the first 4 pieces with no issue proving as to why the court couldn't show personal jurisdiction.... then it came to the last option and I got beyond flustered. In my head all I kept thinking was "BUT THIS ISSSSSSSSSSSS SPECIFIC JURISDICTION.. HOW THE HECK AM I SUPPOSED TO FLIP THE ARGUMENT?!" but the point of the question was to say how it wasn't... I walked out of the exam more flustered than ever because I would have never thought to prepare by arguing the opposite side. 

One huge piece of advice that I think is perfect to give right this second is when you walk out of an exam either tune out what every one else chose to write about or take what they did for answers with a grain of salt. The first two exams I took it with a grain of salt but after civ pro I had a total freak out after listening to one of my classmates talking about how they included something that I did not. At the end of the day, you can do anything about it at that point. People are going to have different answers and you really won't know what you did right or wrong until you get the exam back so DONT LET YOURSELF GET WORKED UP. All it will do is cause you a minor panic attack and you've got enough on your plate to worry about. 

If theres one thing to remember when it comes to midterms, if you have the, is to just give it your all. For most, they won't count as a huge piece of your grade so it is a great way to see where you are at, how you can improve, what is working for you and what it is not. Its also the only way you are going to know what your professor's exam will be like so TAKE IT SERIOUSLY. Breathe, study and put in your best effort and it will be okay.

Catching Up... Literately.

justifiablyblonde.blogspot.com

The original plan was to blog after my first day of classes and then first week... well the first day went by in the blink of an eye and before I knew it Monday of week 2 was starting so instead I'm putting it all in one simple post. Be prepared to answer the question of "so how is your first day / week going" about 100+ times. But my answer changes as much as my clothes do buttt if I were to sum up week one/two I'd say:

Contracts = the devil

Cold Calling isn't that bad

Eat. Breathe. Sleep. Law School.

Skimming the readings does cut it.

Stressed out has a whole new meaning

ORGANIZE ORGANIZE ORGANIZE

Starting week two I was frazzled, in fact I had my first of many break downs on my way home the other day. I actually called my best friend and told her that I didn't know if I was actually cut  out for all this. A lotttttt of the stress is coming from one things - Contracts. It''s completely stressing me out.. I'm not understanding the material and I feel like everyone and there mother is at least getting some of it and I'm sitting there like a deer in headlights praying the professor doesn't call on me to answer anything but the facts cause.... "What in the world am I looking at" is really all that goes through my head for the entire hour and twenty minutes of class. I think what throws me off the most is my professor goes through it so quickly.. the first five minutes of class we are reviewing allllllllll the material from last class and then he hops from one thing to the next. I barely have enough time to take notes because we can only do so through hand written notes, no laptops are allowed. This really gets me going because half the time I start writing down an important point and he is already on to the next important point before I get the first one down. So I'm stuck with a half written important point... because thats helpful. The other thing that drives me nuts is that the professor confuses himself. Last class he skipped and entire case without realizing it and then started mixing the facts from the case we were working on with the one we skipped.. writing that out is even confusing. By the end of that class I was so flustered and the thought of sitting down to read for contracts just got riled me right up. Everything else besides that has honestly been okay. Law school is do-able. Its an adjustment, and by adjustment I mean take everything you did in undergrad and flip it on its head... but its an adjustment that once it all clicks and you get into a return you will be okay. 

Read, then re-read and then re-read again.

In undergrad I could get away with reading what was required, taking some quick notes and know that I'd be okay in class because we would just talk about the readings. Reading cases one time through isn't enough... I think I've read each of the assigned cases for contracts about 3 times before I understood what was going on. Re-reading helps you understand what is going on better, it lets you catch any details you missed and prepares you for class and hypos. Here's an example of what my book looks like after I've read through it a couple of times.

justifiablyblonde.blogspot.com

Skimming won't cut it. For example, one of my peers was called on in class the other day.. they put their head down and began flipping through the book. The professor waited for a few minutes, in silence before moving onto the next person. It was obvious they hadn't done the reading.. or if they did, they didn't pay attention to it.  Save yourself the oh shit moment and stay on top of things. 

Cold Calling

So far cold calling or the "socratic method" hasn't been as bad as I had anticipated. Both my Civ Pro & Torts professor let our class know when students will be "on call" (any questions are directed to you). Civ Pro actually goes by row. This week was actually my week to be on call, whats nice is that there was 6 of us. If one of us didn't know the answer, our "co-counsel" could assist. It has all made cold calling become less threatening and I actually really enjoyed it. It made the class go quicker & the material easier to understand buttttt if I was on call for contracts I would have easily been freaking out because lets be honest...all I understand in that class is the Facts of the cases. 

Law School = Life

To sum up the last couple of points I made, the thing that I have been struggling with is staying organized so I can  stay ahead of the game. When I say Eat. Breathe. Sleep Law School.. I mean exactly that. If I'm not doing something for one class, it's for another. The syllabi constantly changes for some classes and other we stick right too it, so that can be confusing at times - There was one time this week where I didn't look at my syllabi close enough for torts and missed a reading... I got to class and the professor began talking about it. I was confused.. and then terrified I would be called on.. While its important to keep up with your readings and get ahead if you can, kind in mind that getting too far ahead could bite you in the butt if your class does fall behind like my torts one has.

I have noticed though that these last couple of days I have been so tired that reading at any time past like 7 just hasn't allowed me to retain anything - night time would more or so be a good time for me to review/ prep for the following days classes or work on my outlines. So starting this week, I am going to wake up an hour earlier than I have been (I get to campus an hour early as is) so that I can really get reading done. These past two weeks has been trial and error && figuring out what works for me and what doesn't. 

I think the best thing you can do for yourself though is take time for yourself. You're probably sitting here thinking.. she just said stay organized, stay on top of readings that can take you forever, etc etc. But if you don't take time for yourself you'll burn out and you've worked far too hard to burn out. So take some time for yourself, either be by yourself like I sometimes need, have a night out with friends, family or a significant other - whatever it is that gives you that "you time" do it. you'll be blessed stressed, more focused and overall happier.

Tips for Starting Your 1L year - The 1L & 2L Perspective.

I'm really excited about this post because it has been in the making for some time now. It's the first, and definitely not the last, collaborative piece on Justifiably Blonde. It was such a pleasure to work with Nikki and together I believe we have really hit the nail on the head with some great tips for the beginning of your 1L year. So here is a little about my co-author for today's post..

This is Nikki,  the gal behind the posts on Brazen and Brunette

Find more from Nikki & other bloggers on our pinterest board!

School: Texas Tech -  2L
Undergrad: Texas Tech
Major: Spanish
Minors: Legal Studies & Poli. Sci.

As a 1L, everything is fresh! It’s a clean slate when it comes to academics but that doesn’t mean that you can just glide through 1L year. It’s actually the complete opposite. It’s time to buckle down and give it your all, all the time. One thing to keep in mind is that law school – studying, class prep, note taking, outlining, reading, briefing, etc. – is entirely subjective. You have to do what works for you & keep in mind that what may be successful for your peer – say studying with a flash cards – may not be what successful for you – you do better with outlines. In this post, the authors of Brazen and Brunette (BB) & Justifiably Blonde (JB) have teamed up to give our readers advice, from a 1L & 2L perspective, on how to prepare for the years to come.

What does a typical schedule look like?

JB: Here is my class schedule for the fall semester:

I’m someone that needs a set schedule for everything, so once my schedule was released, I started to plan out how I wanted the week to look. For example, MWF are great days for me to get all my work done since my class load is light. But one thing that really stuck with me from orientation was making sure that I take time for myself- ex: A stress reliever for me is the gym, MWF will be good days to not only get work done, but also take time to do that. Another thing that my mentor suggested was taking a day completely off from law school. I like this idea and I want to fit it into my schedule to help me wind down at the end of the week. 

Syllabi – More than just a piece of paper with the class policy. 

JB: First and foremost - PRINT THEM OUT. The first thing I did when my syllabi were released was print them out and then actually read them. It seems like a no brainer, but at first I was just skimming through my Torts syllabus but I realized my professor included useful information that I never found in my undergrad syllabi. For example, he talked about how if I am ever unprepared for class email him before hand to let him know. He won’t hold it against me and won’t call on me for the day. If I fail to let him know, and I come unprepared, that’s when it can be considered unprepared and a loss of participation points. Little things like that are extremely useful and unless you read through the syllabus you’d never know. 

BB: The first thing I do once I get the email saying that my professors have been uploading documents is go straight for the syllabus and then get OCD with it. I’ll pick a color for each class and try to make them match (like purple for property) and use this to color code everything. Not all professors make their syllabi the same way so I like to copy the dates over onto a plain Word document and add the color-coded class name at the top so that they all look the same. I’ll use this same color-coding for when I’m writing down my reading assignments in my planner.

You have the syllabus, now how far ahead should you plan?

BB: As a 2L I strongly suggest that you don’t plan out too much reading in advance. If a professor gets just 2-3 pages behind every day for several weeks, then your planner could be up to 20 pages off by the end of the month. I usually spend a little time every Sunday updating my planner with that week’s readings. 

JB: I’ve been planning a little differently, I write things down in two places – my desk calendar and my planner. Once I got the syllabi for each class I made sure to write down whatever important dates were available; mid-terms, assignment due dates, final exam, in both places. I haven’t really color coded my classes when it comes to my planner rather I’ve done it with other things like designating blue to torts so my notebook, folder and the tabs I use for readings are blue and so on for other classes. 

I made sure not to get too far ahead with readings because like Nikki said, not everything goes as planned. So I think I’ll be going about a week at a time with what reading is due that way I don’t get too far ahead and forget what’s going on. 

Where did you get your books and how much did they cost?

BB: I actually just recently purchased my books this past week because I somehow forgot that those were a thing with all of the excitement of transferring. One down side to transferring is that you never know how many hours of a class a school requires, and unfortunately that means I’ll be taking another LRW class and a Negotiation class to catch up. 

I’m being optimistic and assuming that these will be my lighter reading classes so I saved money and rented them used. In fact the only book that I felt like I actually had to buy was my Wills and Trusts book, since it was the only casebook required. In case you’re wondering, here’s the price breakdown of all the books I’ve had to get so far: 

Negotiations: $59 

LRW: $110 (saved $35 because I still have the Blue Book I bought last year) 

Commercial Law: $46 

Wills and Trusts: $254 

I’m just throwing this out there that if we can have a “tax free weekend” to buy school clothes and supplies, then books should count too because I paid like $50 just in tax! 

JB: So unlike Nikki, I didn’t have the chance to purchase my books beforehand. My class schedule wasn’t finalized until the first day of Orientation so I had no idea what books I needed. I opted to do the pre-pack through my school for the first semester because I was nervous that I wouldn’t have my books in time for classes on Monday. It was one less thing I had to worry about but the downside to this- it’s expensive. I made sure to get used books but I am regretting that decision for my torts book because someone went ham with a highlighter and now I’m having to go over it - It’s a bit distracting. Here's the breakdown:

Civil Procedure                       Torts                                     LCR                               Contracts

Casebook: $174.75                 Casebook: $180.00            Casebook: $230.00          4 books: $138.44

Supplemental: $49.00          Supplemental: $ 21.00       Supplemental: $47.00 

                                             Total: a whopping $840.19 – aka I’m broke.

Wait… There’s homework for the first day of class?

BB: If you think the first day will just be a professor going over the syllabus and that’s it, you’re in for a fun surprise lol. Go ahead and assume that your professors have posted reading assignments for the first week already and get started on that. If you can’t find these, it might be safer just to double check with your professor before showing up without reading. 

JB: I couldn't agree more. DO YOUR READINGS. But that alone isn't enough. You need to engage with the text - Highlight, make notes in the margins, write out briefs, take notes on what your reading, ask questions as you go. Be prepared to read things more than once, I haven’t even started classes yet and I already have noticed that I need to read things two or three times to even attempt to understand what in the world is going on in cases. 

How will you take notes?

JB: This completely subjective but keep in mind that if you take notes on laptop – like I do – not all of your professors will allow the use of laptops. MAKE SURE YOU READ THE SYLLABUS TO FIND OUT & PLAN FOR THIS. So for me, using a laptop to take notes is easier because I can type faster than I write so I find that I get more out of my class notes. The downside – your laptop can be such a distraction. But if my classes are anything like my Orange Edge class, there isn’t enough time to do internet searching while actively paying attention and taking notes.

Is there anything else you think is important?

BB: Budget - With every new semester I like to create a new budget. I look at what I stayed on budget last and what I went over most often, and use that to create a new budget and spending goals. Last Fall I somehow forgot that I would need to make my 9-month school budget stretch a full year through the summer. This meant that during Spring I had to cut spending a lot to cover those costs, so just keep that in mind this semester. The very last thing you want is to have to take out another loan midway through a semester because you blew through all your money too fast.

Update Resume - Law school doesn’t kid around, and pretty soon you’re going to be preparing to apply for summer internships. While you’re too young to participate in the fall on campus interviews (2Ls and 3Ls only), you still need to be getting your résumé updated. If you had a job over this summer you can add that, and if not you can at least add that you’ve graduated and are now going to law school. The American Bar Association actually doesn’t let full time 1L’s work their first semester, but if you’re feeling confident next spring you might could look around for an easy part-time job on campus so you might as well do that now while you’re getting everything together.

The Orientation Break Down

So first and foremost, I apologize for being completely MIA for what seems like the last couple of weeks. A ton has been going on from completely Orange Edge to diving right on into Orientation. I know some bloggers like to break up Orientation and do a post for each day but when I started doing that it turned out to be a waste of a post because a lot of what occurred during orientation was informational and could be laid out in one post. So here it is:

Day One: Convocation Ceremony

Many want to know what you wear to Orientation - thankfully there was a dress code for the week which helped plan what I was wearing so that I wasn't underdressed. On Monday it was Business Professional so this is what I decided to wear, mind you I added a blazer and I'm glad that I did. It really brought it all together - apologies for the classic mirror selfie.

justifiablyblonde.blogspot.com

Welcome Class of 2019 to SU College of Law. This day was really just a welcome to the college of law kind of thing. When we got there at 11:30 we had the chance to get professional portraits taken... and of course, I don't like mine. I feel like I look like a deer in headlights. 

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This whole process took forever though so a lot of the morning was spent hanging out with peers. Thankfully I got my photo taken right away so I wasn't sweating like a mad woman and then having to take yet another photo looking like a ran a marathon. Later on in the afternoon we had a convocation ceremony with an alum guest speaker which was basically a mini version of what graduation will be like. We have about 220 students in the class of 2019 which is one of the larger classes to attend SU in the last couple of years.

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Alumni Network - Day Two:

The second day was all about interacting with the Alumni Network that we as SU students have available to us. The dress code was business casual so I wore a skirt and a tank with a jacket. I may have been a little over dressed but I would rather be overdressed than under.  I really enjoyed this because we got to talk with a local attorney who is part of one of the larger firms in our area. He gave great advice not only for law school but for life after law school. I really encourage taking advantage of the alumni networks at any school, they're great resources! 

Faculty Mentors & Campus Policies - Day Three:

So for the third day the dress code was lax. I decided on a pair of jeans and a t shirt since we were going to be spending most of our day in a the ceremonial court room.  As a 1L, you get assigned both a student mentor and a faculty mentor along with tutors. On the third day we met our Faculty Mentors, had brunch and went over some basic information and common questions for the 1L year. 

From there we went in and sat for a couple hours and discussed the academic handbook, school policies, drugs and alcohol within the legal profession, sexual harassment and abuse. It was a long afternoon of seminar after seminar of dense topics and information so by the end of the day I was ready to go. But we did have a cookout afterwards which was nice and refreshing while we got to walk through the student organization fair. As a 1L student org's aren't really a main focus, the focus should be on school. But I did sign up to get more info on a few of them for future reference. If anything the only one I would like to get involved with this year is the Sports & Entertainment Law Society so we will see where that goes.

Pro Bono - Day Four:

The final day of orientation was centered around giving back to the community. The morning was spent talking about pro bono within the legal professions and the opportunities to do so locally. After we boarded buses and went to a local farm to pick vegetables that went to local food banks and families in need. This was a great way for our class to do a community service project and get to know one another beyond the walls of the law school. 

After the community service project was done we had a couple of hours of down time and then later on that night we had the chance to go to a local baseball game which was another great opportunity to get to know people within our class.

The Orientation experience was a whole lot of info packed in just a few days, but it was a good experience and really made me more excited about this semester and the years to come! Fall semester, I'm ready for ya!

Orange Edge - Worth it or not?

When I finially made the decision to go to Syracuse University for law school I had a freak out moment:

How was I going to get back into the swing of school when I've been working for the majority of the year I have had off? Am I going to take notes properly? Read actively? How in the world am I going to do with cold cut calling?

I was used to my 8-4, Monday thru Friday schedule with no homework, no projects, no tests to prepare for, no class participation, sleeping in on weekends, basically doing as I pleased and when ( although the LSAT, applications and entering checklist did take of a lot of my time this past year once the major things where done I fell into a more lax routine)

I mean yes I could read the suggested readings on the reading list, and I managed to knock out a few, but what I was looking for was something where I could get the opportunity to get back into the school mind set without being graded. 

Luckily enough my school offers this amazing program called Orange Edge. It gives participants an introduction to the first year of law school through learning how to brief cases, effectively take notes, improve study and writing skills, begin networking with peers, professors and university staff, and becoming familiar with the socratic method. In addition to all this, I got to take an exam and complete a legal writing memo. 

So I registered, paid the fee, and waited anxiously until last Monday when the 1- week course started. The first day I was excited but equally nervous. I really had no idea what to expect and I was seriously hoping that I would really gain something from this. 

First "mistake" I made was dressing casual, unlike my orientation which has a dress code for each day, there was nothing stated about what to wear for this program. I decided jeans and a t-shirt was simply enough but I immediately felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb when 95% of the class was in business casual outfits. Way to go Heather. Thankfully someone asked if there was a dress code for the week and the answer was no. The remainder of the week people were dressed casually which made me feel better.

So the Edge program was a week long program that followed this schedule:

9-11 Legal Writing - went over hierarchy of authority, took a quiz on it, worked on legal memo.

11-12:30 Law & the Legal System - learned to read / briefed cases, figure out the rules, then worked on hypos (examples), all which led us to the "final exam" it wasn't graded, just for experience. 

lunch til 1:30

1:30 - 2:30 Group Sessions - met with our fellows (2L's that were basically mentors) and discussed note taking, test taking, oral arguments, briefing, basically anything and everything law related. We got to brief a case together, work on a hypo and conduct oral arguments as a team.

2:3-3:30 members of different offices within the law school met with us; career services, student life, etc. etc. and presented on all the resources and opportunities that are available to us at the school.

Overall I found this opportunity to be completely worth my time and money. I had zero expectations walking in because I had no idea what to expect. Before the course, I was overwhelmed by how stressed out I was to start the school year. This course definitely calmed some of those nerves but while I am still nervous, the course helped show me that I can do this. Its going to be an adjustment  , from undergrad and how I approached school, and its going to take a while for everything to "click" but once it clicks I know I'm going to be okay. 

If the school you are going to offers a course like this I highly recommend it. Not only is it helpful in an academic and personal sense because it prepares you for what lies ahead, but you get to meet some of your peers & professors in a relaxed setting. I absolutely loved our instructors. They treated the courses as they would in an actual class. For the record, Cold Cut Calling is not my friend. The first time it happened I heard the question asked, answered it in my head and then I was called on. My mind went BLANK - go figure- && I tried to explain what was going on up in there but it came out like gibberish and I ended up saying"I don't know" - you're truly a winner H. The instructor then said "think about it and try again" which calmed my nerves because rather than just moving on to the next person, it forced me to think about it, and then give an  answer. After that the random-being-called-on-nerves calmed, a little. Our group was around 25 people and we all meshed really well with one another. I slightly expected the environment to be "competitive" and similar to legally blonde where Elle tries to join a study group and is immediately denied. I was pleasantly surprised that everyone, including myself, was really positive, willing to help one another and worked well together.

So, long story short, if the opportunity presents it self for you to participate in a program like the one I did, I highly recommend it. You'll meet so many great people and get a feel for what to expect from your first year at law school. With that, I am looking forward to my Orientation which starts on Monday, I seriously cannot believe its already here. 

The Photo ID Fail

Today I had the WONDERFUL task of completing one of the final items on my entering student checklist form. Let me tell you this was less than fun to do. First of all.... I'm really not sure my school would leave it up to me to take my own ID photo because lets be real.... I took about 100+ photos and hated EVERY.   SINGLE.   ONE. Here's the second crap part about this little "to do"... Its 90+ degrees here today, we don't have central air and because this photo is going to be my ID along with going in a directory that gets released to students & staff,  I knew that I needed to look professional. Blazer it was.  So wearing a blazer made me sweat balls and that just got RIGHT under my skin considering I just got my hair done today - which I was lovvvvvinnnnnn until about 2 hours ago (yes.... it took me 2 HOURS to take a damn photo) and since I was sweating my ass off my freshened color looks like total shit - there goes looking decent for date night.

I kid you not... I tried 4 different blazers, with two different tank tops && with my hair pulled back... then completely down. I took photos in three different rooms - sorry mom for moving all of your photos, tables, chairs, the dog cage, and sorry to max for getting yelled at about 1,000 times because he wanted me to throw the ball or play tug of war.... it just wasn't happening - on two different chairs all because the dang lighting was "Off".

Funny part is... I never really noticed how much I tilt my head to take away from things like my right eye that squints more than my left, my smile which sometimes looks all weird because my lips are small or just to make my face look thinner. This was all a NO go in this photo. It had to be straight on. Plain background. No one else in the photo. I almost wonder if I should have worn my glasses but decided against it just it case.

The end result.. (and judging by the photos above which showed how much fun I was actually having) I have a half ass smile, cocked eye, and my hair looks like shit. Great photo ID right? Buttttt none of this would have happened if I didn't wait so long to submit it. I mean I've only had about 4 months to take the perfect ID picture and I waited until the day that it was due. Lesson learned..... DONT WAIT. Get it done as soon as you can. So Congrats H... you're slacking && you photo ID looks like you just ran a half marathon, put on a jacket and faked a smile. Fall semester I'm coming for ya!

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22 & Still Excited About School Supplies

Yep I'll admit it I'm a 22 year old, soon to be 23, young adult who still gets excited about school supply shopping. I mean really who doesn't get excited about stuff like new pens and not just any new pens but the ONLY pen that makes your writing not look like you were in a rush or just plain chicken scratch. But let me take a second and share a little bit of my anxiety with you about this years school supply shopping experience... I had absolutely no idea what I needed. After reading one of my recommended reading books I began thinking about how I want to take notes... Do I want to do notebooks or Legal Pads or both? Or should I do everything on my computer? Then it was... well I no longer have a backpack so now I need one of those bad boys, which is going to be the best for everything to carry around.. A laptop sleeve for my new Mac, Pens, Highlighters.. the list went on and on. So here is my post on what I have / will be purchasing for my 1 L year:

Planner - I originally wanted to get the one suggested by Brazen and Brunette (which, by the way, you should definitely check out her blog)but after purchasing a laptop and new backpack I decided to go with one from target.  It is similar to the one from Plum Paper but a bit cheaper and without all the cool extras.
Large Desk Calendar - I'm huge on writing things down multiple times in multiple places so that I WILL not forget. So a desk calendar was a must for me.
Flash Drive - In my post on "The Laptop Dilemma" I shared my wonderfulllll experience with all the dells I went through just in undergrad. One actually crashed a week before finals but thankfully I had backed up everything on a flash drive. So this too was a no brainer just to back up all my notes, outlines, whatever I need.
Post It Tabs - great for reading markers.
Post It Notes
Notebooks
Legal Pads
Protector Sheets
Folders - Wasn't sure if I'm actually going to use these but I got a few just in case
Pens - Blue & Black, colored- From what I've read having pens in different colors can help with note taking so I'll give it a shot.
Highlighters - I got a pack of 24 - can never have too many
Index Cards - Not too sure if I'll actually use these but they are always good to have.
Back Pack - This sounds absolutely ridiculous but I really had no idea what I wanted for a backpack. My old backpack for undergrad actually smooshed my laptop because there wasn't enough room for laptop, books, notebooks, etc so I knew that one wasn't going to work. I wanted something that was going to have enough room for everything along with being reliable. I ended up buying a Northface Backpack on amazon.
Pad Lock - My school assigns lockers to each student so I found one that I never used just in case they don't supply them for us.

Some other things to keep in mind that you might need would be a printer + paper & ink cartridges, stapler + staples, paper clips.

Beyond Justifiably Blonde

I created Justifiably Blonde as a way for me to share my entire experience when it comes to law school. When I began this chapter, I would search for answers to things I was needing some advice on, help with, etc. and there were few places to turn to. It was after that moment that I just started to write everything down in a notebook as a way to recap on what I did to get to XYZ and as a way to just vent. Writing has always been a stress reliever for me especially during this entire process. 

During undergrad, a few of my classes used blogging as a way to share thoughts on a project, book, etc. or was used for assignments. I was familiar with blogger and thought maybe this would be a great way for me to just put my experience out there. For months I went back and forth with the idea and just relied on putting my thoughts down in the notebook. But a few months ago  I decided to take the plunge and create a blog to put my story out there with the hopes of helping, relating to, informing at least one person on what even getting into law school can be like. 

Throughout this journey I have gradually stumbled upon some amazing blogs that are definitely worth your time to not only browse through but to follow. As you'll see, not every single one of these blogs are solely about law school experiences... why? I think each and everyone of these blogs has something great to offer regardless of whether or not you are thinking about law school, in law school, done with law school or on a completely different career/education track. So, take a moment and check out these blogs, I know their authors would greatly appreciate it!

Brazen and Brunette

The Beautiful Fool  

(this blog is great for undergrad students)

Curls and Constitution

Duchess Of Plumewood

Lawschooli

Legally Foreign
(great blog for undergrad students that are about to begin the entire process)

Ms.JD

Survivor Caribbean Med Student  

(this blog is great for entering med students)

Wish I Would Have Known

If you would like to have your blog featured on this list, or know of any other blogs that should be on this list, please feel free to contact by emailing me!

Crossing Off Some Recommended Books

It's definitely been a hot second since I have posted last. The last week or so was absolutely crazy due to my parents surprise 30th anniversary party that my sister and I hosted.. it went very well though so it was COMPLETELY worth all the stress && was a really great way to say thank you to my family & friends for all of their support. 

But enough with that, if you happened to check out my post on Some Much Needed Time Off you'll remember that I mentioned the "Recommended Reading List" that my school released for incoming 1L's (if you haven't, check it out fast!) I picked a total of 4 books off of that list and then found another one on my own. With only two weeks let until I start my Orange Edge Program, I am disappointed to say that I have only completed one of the recommended reading books. Although what I loved about this book is that I was completely pulled into it, I just couldn't set it down so I actually finished the book in 24 hours and then basically needed a break because I had just blew through a 130 page book in a heart beat...

One thing I highly suggest before I get into the details of why I enjoyed this book so much, TAKE NOTES ON WHAT YOU READ. This book provided so many great tips that I know I want to use in school that writing them down was the only way to save me the time from flipping back through the book to find whatever it is I'll be looking for. 

Coming To Law School - How to Prepare Yourself for the Next Three Years is so COMPLETELY WORTH THE READ & YOUR TIME. I decided on this book mainly because it is actually written by one of the professors at my law school. I figured it would be a smart idea for me to read it because it is actually written by one of the professors at my law school and at a first glance it looked as if it could really give some useful information for the upcoming semester and year to follow. I was right - Gallacher covers the basics and when I mean basics I mean BASICS. His book doesn't talk about life as a 1L, instead his book is focused around how to on properly study

When I first was going through the table of contents I was a little surprised to find that the book focuses on reading, writing, note taking, outlining, etc etc. But as I started to really think about all these things I realized that I was slightly freaked out about simple things like..

Will I read properly and get all the information I need? Will I take notes in a way that helps me rather than hinders me? Should I use a laptop to take notes or should I just do pen & paper? Am I going to outline in a way that I can really study from? My mind has been moving closer and closer to completely frazzled as my start date gets approaches but Gallacher's book has really helped calm a lot of the nerves that I really didn't realize I had. 

Aside from all the great topics and information that he gives, I LOVE that he includes 10+ exercises that you can do to help prepare you for what is to come. It allows you to really give what he is saying a try before you have to actually sit down and take notes while reading, briefing a case, preparing an outline. One example would be the exercise he gave for writing. He starts by saying:

"Try to write every day, even if you write a journal recording the events of you day. Imagine that a future biographer wants to know about you, and think about how what you are writing would convert information to that person. Would your reader think of you as a technically skilled writer? Would your reader like you? Does that matter to you, as long as the events are accurately recorded? Try different drafts to vary your tone, compare different drafts to each other, and think carefully about every word, phrase, and sentence in your journal entry....." Gallacher 89 (did I seriously just cite a book on a blog...... sureeeeeee did)

The purpose of that exercise revolves around his chapter on Writing and that writing is reader centered, with little errors, structured, uses the appropriate voice/tone etc etc. This exercise is simple, and honestly does not take long to do. Its his way of bringing it all together and providing his readers with something to actually do in order to get something from what he is saying.

Besides the fact that he discusses the basics like active reading and writing in law school, I really enjoyed the chance to do a sample case brief. It was a great "preview" of what briefing will be like. Whats great is that he included a sample of his own case brief to compare mine too and that really helped get my wheels turning because it showed me what MORE I could be doing; What more I could be asking, commenting, thinking as I read; it showed me all that I could get out of a case brief and how completing them will benefit me in the long run. I actually briefed a case before my senior year of undergrad and i think that helped me a bit but where i struggled was looking beyond what lies in front of me, thinking about the things that aren't being said, what's in between the lines. I think realizing this now and completely some of his exercises will help me strengthen my active reading and note taking skills. 

Long Story Short - Read the book if you get the chance. There's a lot of little things that I didn't think I would be concerned about like note taking and reading because I mean we all did it for undergrad. But I was nervous about it and if I'm going to be completely honest I'm nervous about law school in general. But this book took away a lot of the fears I was having and that was because his book is like an ongoing, casual conversation filled with great tips and exercises all that will only HELP you along this journey. Hopefully over these next two weeks I can knock out the last couple books and give some feed back! If you have any questions feel free to contact me!

The Laptop Dilemma

My apologies for not posting in a hot second... I've been pretty busy with getting my room re-done, reading & getting the most out of these last couple of weeks as I can. I knew that by the time it came time for me to go back to school I was going to need a new laptop. My school actually prefers if you have a laptop that isn't older than two years old so I also knew from the school requirements that it was something I was going to have to invest in. So what laptop did I pick?

Well all four years of undergrad I had dells.. yes that word was plural. My dad swears by dells and that is what I got when I first started school. My first one was great… until it randomly crashed. I ended up with a new laptop, same model, and that too worked fine until I somehow snapped the hinge on it and one button on the keyboard just refused to get unstuck…. then it crashed over the summer of my junior year. But thankfully I got that all fixed and it was working smoothly….. until the end of spring semester my junior year.. 1 week before finals…. and it decided to completely crash and not let anything turn on… It is safe to say that was my week from hell. I was beyond panicked… I had two major papers to finish up, an online exam and all my notes for the other exams were on my laptop…. I was smart enough to put everything on a flash drive just because I had been having issues the week before where the laptop would randomly freeze or turn off on me so I made sure to back everything up.

Side Note: I highly suggest purchasing a flash drive or two just to keep all important documents, photos, etc in one safe spot and so that it is portable

I don't even know how I did so well at the end of the semester but I made it work. It was at that point that I swore I would never ever ever get another dell because they were not compatible with the amount of work I did and the long hours and research I had to do for all my papers ( I also know that the server my undergrad used for its research data bases gave many many students viruses and issues with their laptops so that didn't help the situation either)

My mind is blanking a bit but I'm pretty sure I ended up with a new laptop my senior year or dell sent a new hard drive and my dad put it in. But christmas time came and my dad surprised my sister and I with dell laptops. Up until now the thing has been great but I haven't been in school for a year and I really don't trust the thing with the amount of work, papers, exams and what not I am going to have to do come the fall, I was in the market for a new laptop and after some research and comparison I finally got my hands on the laptop I've wanted for sometime: the Macbook Pro and it's safe to say that I absolutely LOVE IT.

Yes Mac’s are expensive, but as a student I received a discount (any little bit helps, if you're looking into a mac or any laptop check to see if there are discounts available!)  && Apple is running a promotion right now where if you buy certain products like a laptop (I’m not sure if its all laptops or just specific models) you get a pair of $300 beats for FREE - who doesn't love free stuff?! && let's be honest those bad boys will come in handy at the library, or at home, when I need some extra quite time to study or get work done. So why did I pick a mac book pro and not the air or just a mac book? Honestly it was all based on personal preference. If I was going to invest in a mac I wanted something I would love to have for the next couple of years. I like the size of the pro: its light weight and not bulky like my latest dell. Compared to the air - which only comes in 11" and 13" - the pro has more storage space but cost a bit more than the air. Compared to the just the mac book again the pro has more storage space, additional ports like usb, hdmi & thunderbolts. Long story short, I got more for my money with the Mac Book Pro then I would have with the other two models: BUT any of the models would be a good laptop! 

But here’s a major point I want to make: you don't need to go out and buy a mac, you don't need to go out an buy a dell. ITS ALL PERSONAL PREFERENCE. My experience with dell clearly wasn't a great one but that doesn't mean they don't make good products and they won't be a good fit for you, they do and it could be. But their products and my experience with them just hasn't been the best relationship… so I moved onto something else to try and hopefully the Mac will be a better fit. If not, I’ll try something else next time. Just purchase a laptop you trust, have read good reviews on, will be RELIABLE. COMPATIBLE with your schools system. WORTH YOUR MONEY. Buy whatever you are comfortable with and familiar with. Its going to be YOU who uses it, not anyone else.