Halfway There and Definitely Livin' on a Prayer

Not halfway through law school (unfortunately), but halfway through the first semester! See, this is both a good and a bad thing. It's a good thing because I'm halfway through and I'm still alive (although after a pretty serious bout of food poisoning that I'm still recovering from, the alive portion of that statement is questionable). It's a bad thing because this means I'm steadily inching towards finals and I don't know that I really want that to happen. I mean sure, I can't stop it, but I want to. (Except I don't want to because without finals I can't graduate, and I really want to graduate.)

The really nice this is that at this point, all of the classmates are really starting to bond together. At the beginning of the semester there was this kind of nervous energy and we were all on our best behavior, trying to impress each other -- or at the very least trying not to make complete fools of ourselves. Now, somehow, eight weeks into it, we're family. Of course, part of that could be because we see each other literally more than we see our families. It is hours a day we are at that school, people. (Although, really, it seemed like the time was much more productive before we became friends. Now we talk and study. Before, we used to just study... Now I have to hide in different places in the law school if I want to finish my Contracts reading or get ahead on anything. All my classmates are just too fascinating to ignore.)

Trial Ad just finished last week, and that was a delight. Trial Ad is essentially a mock trial that 2nd and 3rd year students can put on and compete against each other. First years can't actually compete as lawyers (because we know nothing) but we can enter as witnesses, which is what I did because it's a fascinating experience. I was lucky enough to get on with an incredible team of attorney's and we actually made it all the way to the finals, which they proceeded to win.

Seeing what actually goes on in a courtroom was kind of crazy intense though. It's so formal. And you have to ask the judge permission to do anything. And you always have to stand. So much up an down, it's got to be great for your thighs. I imagine it's much like anything else though, the first couple of times you do it you're nervous and full of fits, but the more you do it the easier it gets. I used to think that I could never in a million years do litigation, but now I'm thinking maybe I might. There's a thrill to being in the courtroom, you know, there's just this adrenaline that gets pumping and the heart gets racing and you have to be prepared for absolutely everything. I love the idea.

Of course, there are so many career paths that I've been introduced to since school started that I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do. The nice thing is that options abound, and who knows? Maybe one day I'll have my day in court and I can lawyer the world.

They Knew we Would Want to Kill Ourselves, so they Gave Us a Break

There's a magical thing in law school -- it's called Placement Break. I mean really, I don't know if it's just BYU that does this or if it happens across the board, but it's actually one of my favorite things of all time.

What they do, is they get you about six weeks into school, you know, when you're feeling all shades of helpless, exhausted, and idiotic, and then they give you a week off. It's like drinking from the fountain of living waters. And you think that maybe I'm exaggerating, and maybe I am a little, but guys, you don't even know.

I haven't been ignoring this blog for the last six weeks because I just got bored of it. It's not even because law school is kicking my trash. It's because law school combined with life is kicking my trash. They talk to us all the time about balance, about doing school but still having a life and so that's what I've been trying to do. It turns out that there's where the challenge actually lies. Wanting to have weekends and still pull good grades? Wanting to go to birthday parties and still understand what's happening in the cases? Wanting to see the sun occasionally and still create an outline? That's the struggle people.

Although the real struggle may actually be that I think my sense of humor is failing. Not failing in the fact that it's leaving, failing in the fact that it's becoming so lawyerized that it's just not even funny anymore. Now I make jokes about torts versus tortes. (One's a pastry in case you didn't know. The other one is a class that I may or may not fail, we'll see in a couple months.) Now, when I read a case about a house being built on unstable soil and it falls apart, someone will say something about a foolish man building his house upon a rock and I laugh for days. (Although, in all fairness, that isn't a lawyer joke that I'm laughing at. That's a Mormon joke compiled with a lawyer joke. It's doubly not funny.)

But then they give me a week to recuperate. I have a week to breathe, research, read cases, write memos, update my resume, apply for internships, create outlines, draft cover letters.....

You know, I'm not actually sure if this is a week off.

I think they've lawyered me.

(But guys, fall is here! Colors and joy! Pumpkins and apple cider! It's all I love!)