A Day in the Life

My apologies for the severe lack of posts lately. Life has been extremely hectic in the lead-up to exams, so the blog has fallen by the wayside.

Since nothing terribly exciting is happening in my life right now, I thought I would give you a glimpse of what finals week looks like for a law student. I warn you, however, that this is not for the faint of heart. :)

When Exam Week Hits:

(1) You have to remind yourself what day it is...because they all seem the same.

(2)  You have chocolate fudge brownie ice cream, dark chocolate M&M's, and homemade chocolate chip cookies in the house to satisfy any craving you might have...and to provide comfort when necessary. This is just one example of the type of indulgence - during exam week, it's all about survival, at any cost.

(3) You study in your pajamas all day long - because you can.

(4) On days when you need to get out the house, you spend 7.5 hours at Starbucks and go through two grande bold pick of the day coffees while running torts hypos and memorizing how to determine whether a product is defectively designed.

(5) Your mirror is covered with legal analysis.

(6) You become immensely grateful for planning ahead and stocking the freezer with single-size portions of food. Not having to cook is a huge relief!

And that, dear friends, sums up the past 48 hours or so...However, unless you fret, it really isn't that bad. You see, with finals also comes the light at the end of a tunnel - after this week is over, a new quarter will begin, and at least the first couple of weeks will be relatively enjoyable, with time to resurface and once again live life. And since this is my second set of exams, there is the boosted amount of confidence obtained from surviving the first set.

I just devoured a dark chocolate/mint chip cookie, per my Dad's recipe (SO much better than the one on the package!), and am headed off to run one last Torts hypo before my 8am exam tomorrow morning. Ta-ta for now!

Revelations

Despite the dread of coming back to Waco that I experienced exactly one week ago, this past week has flown by. Once I was actually on my way back, the sick feeling of saying goodbye subsided and I resigned myself to the fact that it would probably be at least four months before I am back home. Although I expected that this first week back would be pretty rough, it was actually fairly enjoyable.

Additionally, I had three revelations this week.

(1) I LOVE law school. I left the school about 3pm this afternoon, armed with a 1-inch stack of papers that need to be read and processed in preparation for a 12-page memorandum (a very specific type of legal paper) about defamation. And what was I thinking"Gee, I'm so excited to write this paper - I think defamation will actually be interesting!!" What kind of nerd have I become?? :) I like to think it had something to do with the stack of papers - something about walking out with that huge stack of cases made me feel like a real lawyer.
I also experienced this revelation on Monday (of all days), while I was sitting in Contracts class (and I despised Contracts last quarter!). I was sitting there thinking, "Man, I really do enjoy this!!" (Though I still have not changed my mind about writing contracts.)

I think this fresh outlook on life stems from the Christmas break. Having two weeks off has made a huge difference in my energy level and my mental sanity. It was so wonderful to resurface and be able to breathe again, even if for a very short period of time. And, in four more weeks, this quarter will be over, and word on the street is that next quarter is the easiest one so far (thank goodness!).

(2) I am not cut out for the Texas climate. This entire week has been in the mid-60s, and while it is nice to be able to leave the heat off, I still can't convince myself that it's not January when I'm not even wearing a coat. Today when I got home, it was warmer outside than it was in my apartment, so I ended up sitting out on the patio while doing homework...in January. I have decided that a slightly more northern climate is more desirable for my permanent home. :)

(3) Running is so therapeutic...and I adore it. After Thanksgiving, I took five weeks and did a "Kick-Back Plan" to give my body some rest time. When the plan started easing me back into running, I found it difficult to motivate myself to get out and go. It was so frustrating...I do enjoy it when I'm out there, I just have to fight all the excuses I so brilliantly devise!! However, this week was different. Not only did I want to go run, but while I was running, I felt wonderful. I enjoyed every minute, and it didn't even feel that difficult. It's such a wonderful time to get out, stop reading, and clear my head. Thank goodness for the ability to run!

Well, those are all of my thoughts for now. I am currently curled up with a peppermint steamer while listening to Michael Buble (my recent favorite). Such a wonderful end to a Friday evening spent working on homework!!