Highlights from Law School! Yes, there are some!

So...even though today was packed from sun up to sun down...this day was packed with highlights. Class ran back to back for the first four hours of the day. Highlight...didn't get called out without having the appropriate answer! Always a good thing! Got quality study time in before the lawyer mentor reception...another highlight!

So...are you scratching your head wondering what the lawyer mentor reception is all about? Well, let me explain. Willamette University College of Law has a program that matches local lawyers with students. I like to think of it like the law version of Big Brother Big Sister :-) To participate in the program the lawyer and the student both fill out applications which are then used to match pairs.

So, I've been matched with Wendy Johnson, the Deputy Director and General Counsel for the Oregon Law Commission. Now this is the highlight or maybe I should say divine connection. Before I even knew about this program, I had met Wendy at a BBQ. We definitely had a connection with our backgrounds, especially the fact that she is a Christian. Apparently, our applications modeled each other...so much so we were matched. Tonight, the brief time I had with her and some of her friends, was so encouraging for me. My struggles with wanting to quit...normal! My struggles with feeling like I am not smart enough for this...normal. My struggles with being overwhelmed...normal. Although they are normal, they are still hard, but thank goodness God is putting people in my life to provide the support I so miss. I am excited to see how God continues to provide!

Making Time...

Apparently this law student doesn't have a future career as an internationally renowned blogger. It even amazes me how many days I have been leaving between posts. For this I apologize! So, if I were to make excuse for my lack in posting...this would definitely be one---law school is incredibly time consuming!!! I think this has been part of my struggle with life as a law student. My time is basically consumed from the minute I finally decide to get out of bed until I finally can lay my head down back late in the evening.


So...are you wondering what a day in the life of a Willamette 1L student looks like? Well, let me take you on a little journey through my schedule. Tomorrow is a great day to walk you through. Wednesdays are my long days :-) Long in this instance is all relevant!

So...tomorrow looks like this...

7:30 am
Wake Up.....................................8:00am if I keep hitting the alarm and don't care how I look!

8:50 am
Drive to School..........................praying that I make all the lights! No room for red lights!!!

9:00 am
Park and Walk to Class...........this is where the schedule has potential for disaster!!! So far haven't been late to class. That's not a good thing here at Willamette!

9:10 am
Torts Class................................An hour four times a week to learn everything I never knew I wanted to know about tort law...and Professor Richardson's childhood.

10:20 am
Civil Procedure.........................Professor Tamayo's class. Don't show up unprepared for this class!

11:30 am
Contracts Class........................Why are damages so complicated? I don't understand?!?!

12:40 pm
Criminal Law.............................Starting homicide tomorrow. Apparently Law and Order is not a
recommended supplement to the class!

1:40 pm
Study Time.................................I would like to believe it will be study time, but let's be honest it will
probably end up being a time for lunch and a little facebooking!

3:00 pm
Finding Balance Class.............If I were to take this seminar literally, I would skip it so I could have a "balance" in my life and get more studying done!!!

4:00 pm
Study Time................................Seriously! I have to get some serious studying done in this brief
window of opportunity.

5:15 pm
Cocktail Party...........................Now this is not the norm on my Wednesday schedule!!! Just so you
don't all start worrying about having an intervention with me!!! Not necessary! I will be attending this to get connected with my lawyer mentor. Should be fun.
7:00 pm
Study! Study! Study!................What more can I say then STUDY!!!!

11:00 pm
Head home!..............................Finally!

11:30 pm
Lights out!!!...............................My FAVORITE time of the day!

So...Note my life is no longer a life of a life of leisure. No more leisurely coffees at The Woods...by the way...seriously miss The Woods. No more dinners with amazing friends. No more cozy evenings by the fire reading a book. Nope...no more! Ok...gots to go. My Crim Law book is staring me down!

Back on the Blog!

So...things have been a little silent on this here blog! There are multiple factors contributing to that...tons of studying...lots of time in class...and conflicting feelings on how I feel about what I am doing. As some of you know last weekend was an SOS weekend. It is amazing I haven't packed up and moved home. A lot of that has to do with all the prayers so many of you have sent my way! Have really struggled with not feeling smart enough for this. Have really struggled with feeling I am drowning in information. Have really struggled with lack of control over my schedule. As I tried to figure out who to tell I was quitting school, I couldn't shake that feeling deep inside that I have not ended up in law school by accident. God has specifically put me here to move me forward in the plan He has for my life. I would be a fool to stand in His way even though I constantly try! So...the nuts and bolts of it is I have finished my third week of law school and am still alive! Thank you for all of your prayers!!!

I'm a REAL law student!

Yes, it true. I have officially became a legitimate law student today. I am a poser no more! No turning back. Nope, not now! Why today you ask? Why not yesterday or last week? Today was my first experience of having a professor analyze a case with me as the analyzer. It is every first year law student's fear...getting called on, being asked a ton of questions, not having answers for them and ultimately looking unprepared and not smart enough to be in law school. When I got up today I should've automatically known today was going to be my day. I should have known because I woke up tired, foggy and had remnants of a migraine from the day before. (No, not a hangover, a migraine! I'm not at Wazzu anymore!) Please...let me now recreate the scene for you, so you too can experience the joy law school :-) This glorious moment came at the beginning of my fourth class for the day. The fourth class of back to back classes. (Wednesday is considered my "busy" day...even though I am under the firm impression that Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are also my busy days. I could be mislead in that thought, but I don't think so!) As I settled into my seat, got my laptop plugged in and opened my casebook, Professor Appleman walked in. Right then, in that moment I sensed my name was going to be called. As I sat quietly, trying to blend into the crowd, the professor perused the setting chart picking her victim. (Darn seating chart. It kind of sabotages one's ability to keep a low profile!) Then it happen. I heard those oft feared words, "Miss. Reese, please give us a break down of Martin v. State." To my luck, the fog cleared and answers for the questions continued to materialize. Note, when you are called, you never know how long you will be on the hot seat until you are told you are off. Luckily, my seat only remained toasty for about 15 minutes. With great joy and sense of accomplishment, I survived with no fatal battle wounds. After getting my first true taste of this oft dread tradition of law school and surviving it, I was left thinking...not so bad. I can do this! I just have to keep shoving the idea that it wasn't so bad...this time...out of my mind!

Funny thing happened on the way out of the library!

So...just a quick update to my earlier, unfortunate rant! So, shortly after down loading my stress by posting it on my blog, I went to the action plan I should have probably gone to first. I down loaded my stress in prayer. Would you believe with in the next 10 minutes both, yes I said both, books were found! I am super excited and thankful for answered prayer. Mind you, one of the books had been missing since early last week! Now they are back in my hot little hands ready to read, highlight and underline. I am excited not to have to rebuy them. Now, let's just pray my mind stays intact and I stop misplacing books! Other then the book debacle, today has gone relatively well. I met Andrew, a 2L student who gave me lots of good advice and insight into the perils of life as a 1L. I've come to the conclusion that I need to study more. Now is just a matter of trying to find time to study more! Tomorrow is a long day of back to back classes so I should probably get some sleep so I am not falling asleep in class!

Losing my mind?

I think it is way too early in my law school career to feel like I am losing my mind, but it is very possible I have done just that! I have lost yet another book today!!! It is the second time and makes me want to cry! I never lost a book in undergrad and now I've lost two books in a week! When I think back over where I last had it, it always seems to lead back to the locker area. My last recollection is both books were in my locker and now both books are gone. The books disappeared on different days. How incredibly random is that. So want to cry! I am not financially in a position to keep re-buying books that were already expensive!

Here we go again...

A new week is here! Week 2 of law school. Only about 95 weeks left give or take a week or two! So, how do I feel so far? Very mixed emotions. Besides my brain feeling like Swiss cheese filled with holes that limit my ability to retain the massive quantities of information I need to digest, I worry that I am not studying right, hard enough or efficiently enough. I fight thoughts of everyone else being smarter at this and understanding it more quickly then I do. I am finding weekends to be hard, filled with battles of insecurity and loneliness. It has been hard not having freedom to do what I want when I want, something I haven't had to think about for a long time. Thankfully, there are slivers of hope when a case interests me or I remember the different theories of punishment without having to look them up again. Those moments make me think I can do this which counterbalances my development of an escape plan! Often I fail to remember the ease of which this whole opportunity fell into place. Often I forget to recognize God's guidance in this whole process. Often it is easier...simpler...to focus on me and my miseries then to focus on God and His glories, without which this whole endeavor is truly an impossible!