Some optimism, and some confusion.

For months, a lot of what I've heard is doom and gloom about law school. "your life will be over once it starts", "you'll only see the inside of the library", "it's important to remember to get some non-law school air", "you won't understand anything until halfway through 1L", etc. Obviously since I'm working full time and doing law school as a part time evening adventure, my circumstances are a little different. However, last night I sat down and did my Contracts homework. And I finished the majority of it for next week (I'm only missing 2 problems which I need Lexus for, and I won't get it until Saturday's orientation). And it wasn't bad. It was somewhat interesting to see that ways in which contracts can work and not work, and how the circumstances affected whether or not they were binding. I answered questions, felt like I had a good grasp, and went back and made notes on the answers I had after I read cases and understood where I went wrong. It seemed, do-able, which was nice. Hopefully it stays this way, and this isn't just a beginning of the semester introduction before it gets really complicated. ;)

Now let's talk about Crim Law. Seriously, so far it's much much harder for me, as our first assignment was to read 1 and 1/2 pages on environmental law and then answer questions about the use of criminal sanctions on environmental  law, and whether or not the absence of mens rea (intent) matters, and how that affects the criminal law system in a greater scope. Yeah, okay, what? My knowledge so far on criminal sanctions is just about 0.  So I typed up an answer and tried to be clear and make good points, but I'm not really sure how I did. Here's to hoping that the professors aren't looking for us to actually hand in the questions that they want us to answer. The other stuff we had to read about (sodomy cases and prostitution) were a bit easier, and the questions were more about our opinions and being asked to back them up, etc. I'll be tackling class #2 for crim law tonight. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

So anyway, that's pretty much my first week readings in a nut shell. Other than that, I love Maybe So, Maybe No's blogs about her orientation. I have to say, since my orientation is Fri from 5-9 and Sat from 8-5, I'm a little jealous. I wish we had that kind of orientation with sit down dinners and mixers spread out over a week, where we get to meet student organizations and see what's going on. It sounds like fun. But who knows, maybe mine will turn out a little more like hers once it gets here.

This is my last week working full 8 hour days. Next week I'm down to the 6 hour days, and my plan of studying 3.5 hours a day before class. Lucky for me, that means my upcoming Sunday will be spent cooking meals for next week. Anyone have any good ideas for meals I can make Sunday night that will stay good all the way through Friday (think dinners)? Plus Saturday, the boy and I are celebrating a year together. Exciting stuff.

Finishing and understanding my contracts homework has given me some much needed optimism, and I'm actually starting to get excited to start. Or at least to be at orientation and get the ball rolling. 1L, I'll see you next week! :)