Hello everyone!
I thought that I would add a bit of an update here on how law school is going. As you can tell for my occasional updates, I've been extremely busy! At the same time, I'm in love with the opportunities and exciting things going on around the law school. So, there are a couple of quick updates that I thought I would share with everyone.
First of all, we just finished with our Fall Break. Everyone in my class had the intention of doing a lot of work over done over the break. None of us did. I think we spent our time relaxing and catching up on sleep instead. It was really nice to have a little bit of extra time over the past week. I went to some Happy Hours with classmates, a pool party, a hiking trip to a natural waterfall/pool that Todd and I swam in, and spent a day down at the courthouse with the judge who is mentoring me. Overall, it was a truly excellent week!
Now I'm back in the midst of classes, volunteer work, organization meetings, and study groups. I'm starting to look at some online study aids and my classmates are sharing resources to help us all study for finals. I'm still having a lot of fun with things, though the busy-ness of things is a little overwhelming.
I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving. Then again, it's turkey, naps, and football....who doesn't look forward to that?
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Living my Dream!
My mother remembers me saying "I want to be a lawyer!" in second grade. That's how long law school has been my dream.
For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm done jumping through the hoops to get here. I am finally living my dream and I'm so happy!
For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm done jumping through the hoops to get here. I am finally living my dream and I'm so happy!
Friday, September 2, 2011
Law School!
Can I just say that, as much work as it is, I love law school?
Classes are starting to pick up. I'm waking up in the mornings thinking about personal jurisdiction, the components on negligence, IREAC (Issue, Rule, Explanation of Precedent, Application to Client's Facts, Conclusion), and case briefings. The readings are challenging but stimulating and I'm starting to think of concepts in terms of court cases (Oh, you mean the duty to mitigate damages as exemplified in Rockingham County v. Luten Bridge Co.?). I'm part of a Thursday lunch hour study group where I'll get together with some people and go over the cases in each of our classes.
Oh! In case you're wondering, these are the classes I'm taking:
Torts
Contracts
Civil Procedure
Legal Method and Writing
For all my classes we'll have a midterm that they say they're giving just so that the first years have an idea of what law school exams look like. These midterms will count for 5% of our grade. The rest of our grade (95%) is made up of our final exam.
I'm also interested in lots of extra activities. Nothing is building up yet, but I've attended meetings for the Women's Law Students Association, Juvenile Legal Assistance (and Family Legal Assistance) Program, and Moot Court. I'm signing up for a research cluster (Either in social media and the law, or on military technology and the law). They all provide excellent networking opportunities - either with attorneys, mentors, or judges.
The first Moot Court competition is in two weeks. It's a Client Counseling session and they say that first year law students usually do pretty well in it. I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to compete. I'm pretty nervous and I just don't know if I'm ready to jump into things quite so fast.
So that's a quick update on what I've been up to. There's plenty more to tell, but I'm sure I'll add it in as it comes along!
Classes are starting to pick up. I'm waking up in the mornings thinking about personal jurisdiction, the components on negligence, IREAC (Issue, Rule, Explanation of Precedent, Application to Client's Facts, Conclusion), and case briefings. The readings are challenging but stimulating and I'm starting to think of concepts in terms of court cases (Oh, you mean the duty to mitigate damages as exemplified in Rockingham County v. Luten Bridge Co.?). I'm part of a Thursday lunch hour study group where I'll get together with some people and go over the cases in each of our classes.
Oh! In case you're wondering, these are the classes I'm taking:
Torts
Contracts
Civil Procedure
Legal Method and Writing
For all my classes we'll have a midterm that they say they're giving just so that the first years have an idea of what law school exams look like. These midterms will count for 5% of our grade. The rest of our grade (95%) is made up of our final exam.
I'm also interested in lots of extra activities. Nothing is building up yet, but I've attended meetings for the Women's Law Students Association, Juvenile Legal Assistance (and Family Legal Assistance) Program, and Moot Court. I'm signing up for a research cluster (Either in social media and the law, or on military technology and the law). They all provide excellent networking opportunities - either with attorneys, mentors, or judges.
The first Moot Court competition is in two weeks. It's a Client Counseling session and they say that first year law students usually do pretty well in it. I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to compete. I'm pretty nervous and I just don't know if I'm ready to jump into things quite so fast.
So that's a quick update on what I've been up to. There's plenty more to tell, but I'm sure I'll add it in as it comes along!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Law School Orientation
Law School Orientation started on Saturday the 13th with a community service project in South Phoenix. We worked with the Tiger Mountain Foundation. It's a great organization that seeks to plant gardens in abandoned lots. I got there at about 8am and mingled with some of the other law students. There were probably over 100 of us out in the hot summer heat of Phoenix. We stretched, listened to some motivational speeches, did some gardening, listened to live music, and had a great BBQ. We all agreed that it was a great low-key way to meet our fellow students before Monday.
Today and yesterday were full of sessions, information, and preparation advice for our first day of law school. So many of the talks were absolutely fascinating and I find myself becoming more and more excited for my law school experience. The Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law has some really amazing connections with the Phoenix legal community. We've already been told that 25 judges in the Phoenix area will split up my law class and mentor the first year law students, which sounds like a great opportunity to build relationships in the professional community.
The law school seems to provide a great amount of faculty and administrative support, plus offers internships, externships, clinical experience, trial court litigation groups, and so much more.
Needless to say, it's all very exciting and, despite the 100+pages I need to read before the first day of classes on Thursday, I'm looking forward to this experience!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Oh wow, I have a blog!
As I was sitting around at home in Sheridan today, I thought that it was time that I got back into the routine of updating our blogs. Todd and I have kind of fallen off the face of the earth as far as these blogs are concerned. I think a large part of that is due to the fact that we fell out of the routine and just got busy with the normal little things that make up our life. But let's see if we can give this another shot!
To catch everyone up on everything, here's a whirlwind summary of what's been going on.
In October 2010, I hurt my back while I was at work. The injury kept me going in and out of the doctor's office - steroid injections, physical therapy, x-rays, MRIs, etc. Because the injury occurred at work, it fell under Workman's Compensation so I got to experience what that fun little system is like (note that I'm being sarcastic here). I wasn't really able to stay in the classroom, so I did part-time substituting instead in order to finish our my Teach For America commitment. That ended in May and I've been enjoying the hot hot hot summer in Phoenix since then. This is my last free summer for a while (since future summers will be busy with internships and work), so I'm taking advantage of my free time.
Law school orientation starts on August 13th, with actual classes starting August 18th. Todd and I are busy ordering books and waiting for my new laptop to come in.
Speaking of Todd, he's got a real job now! He started yesterday at Amkor Technology. He enjoyed his first day there and I'm sure we'll hear more about that later. Maybe I can push him to update our blog with that information!
Right now I'm still at home in Sheridan, enjoying the cool weather. Well, cool for me at least. I've been able to see quite a few family members while I've been in town. One of my awesome high school friends, Hillary, just got married and I was a bridesmaid in her wedding. Her and Nick had a gorgeous ceremony in the mountains followed by a fun reception at the Best Western.
This is just my quick little update post. I'm going to do the same thing (though maybe in a different format) for our other blog.
Expect more updates!
To catch everyone up on everything, here's a whirlwind summary of what's been going on.
In October 2010, I hurt my back while I was at work. The injury kept me going in and out of the doctor's office - steroid injections, physical therapy, x-rays, MRIs, etc. Because the injury occurred at work, it fell under Workman's Compensation so I got to experience what that fun little system is like (note that I'm being sarcastic here). I wasn't really able to stay in the classroom, so I did part-time substituting instead in order to finish our my Teach For America commitment. That ended in May and I've been enjoying the hot hot hot summer in Phoenix since then. This is my last free summer for a while (since future summers will be busy with internships and work), so I'm taking advantage of my free time.
Law school orientation starts on August 13th, with actual classes starting August 18th. Todd and I are busy ordering books and waiting for my new laptop to come in.
Speaking of Todd, he's got a real job now! He started yesterday at Amkor Technology. He enjoyed his first day there and I'm sure we'll hear more about that later. Maybe I can push him to update our blog with that information!
Right now I'm still at home in Sheridan, enjoying the cool weather. Well, cool for me at least. I've been able to see quite a few family members while I've been in town. One of my awesome high school friends, Hillary, just got married and I was a bridesmaid in her wedding. Her and Nick had a gorgeous ceremony in the mountains followed by a fun reception at the Best Western.
This is just my quick little update post. I'm going to do the same thing (though maybe in a different format) for our other blog.
Expect more updates!
Sunday, October 10, 2010
I'm such a girl.
Last night, we had just finished eating dinner and I was taking the plates to the dishwasher. The kitchen is semi-dark because we're watching Glee on the sectional in the family room. I reach my hand down to open the dishwasher, open it.....AND OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?! IT'S MOVING! OMG OMG OMG!
I screamed. Shrieked. Panicked. I set the plate on the counter as fast as possible (and I'm still surprised I didn't drop it on the floor) and ran across the room, still yelling. My screams turned into hysteric sobs.
Todd, knowing me and all my little quirks, immediately knew what was wrong.
I had seen a cockroach.
So for the next 10 minutes, I stood on my tippy toes on the top of the sectional while Todd hunted through the kitchen with a can of Raid. He finally found it, killed it, and took care of its remains.
I don't know what it is about those bugs, but I really can't handle them. There's something in me that just snaps when I see a cockroach. I think my reaction this time was so strong because I did not just see a cockroach from a safe distance....IT WAS RIGHT THERE, NEAR MY HAND.
*Shudders*
So I told this story to one of my friends. His response?
"You are such a girl."
I screamed. Shrieked. Panicked. I set the plate on the counter as fast as possible (and I'm still surprised I didn't drop it on the floor) and ran across the room, still yelling. My screams turned into hysteric sobs.
Todd, knowing me and all my little quirks, immediately knew what was wrong.
I had seen a cockroach.
So for the next 10 minutes, I stood on my tippy toes on the top of the sectional while Todd hunted through the kitchen with a can of Raid. He finally found it, killed it, and took care of its remains.
I don't know what it is about those bugs, but I really can't handle them. There's something in me that just snaps when I see a cockroach. I think my reaction this time was so strong because I did not just see a cockroach from a safe distance....IT WAS RIGHT THERE, NEAR MY HAND.
*Shudders*
So I told this story to one of my friends. His response?
"You are such a girl."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)