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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.
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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.
