SCOTUS

...has made some really huge rulings this week. And people are either extremely happy, or extremely angry. I wish that people would take a second and step back and listen to themselves. Slinging mud and name calling in the spirit of "well the other side did it first" doesn't make you any better than the other side. It doesn't matter what I think about the rulings, but I'm tired of hearing educated law students, who I've heard form amazing arguments, slinging mud like first graders.

Just my .02.

Law Nerd Alert!

Exciting news! I'm going to be spending a week on the east coast in the fall, and that includes a couple of days in DC! The Supreme Court will be newly in session then so the plan is to try and get in and hear some oral arguments. I'm so stoked - I thought I'd have to wait a few years to put this trip off, but nope - tickets are booked and I am ready to go!

I'm pretty excited to see all the other nerdy things, the Pentagon, Washington Monument, the Vietnam Memorial Wall, The Capitol, White House, etc. However, in trying to tour the White House, there's a lotta hoops to jump through. Kind of crazy I had to go through my Senator to try and get a tour, and won't know until two weeks before our trip.

Anyway - my question to everyone out there - besides all the things I've listed, what are the must sees? And any tips on how early to get there to wait to see the oral args? I've never been so I'm really really excited and could use any and all advice.

Thanks! :)

Talk

I think the two biggest surprises about law school for me were 1. how much everyone talks about everyone else and 2. how unprofessional people are. First off - the stuff that people spread is just untrue and hurtful. But no one thinks to actually ask if its true. I've heard things about classmates recently that are just so untrue it's laughable, but people still spread it around. And if anyone thought about it, they'd figure out who it all starts from.

Secondly, I can't believe how unprofessional people are - even during class. A classmate tore apart another classmates paper in front of our entire class last night - and the paper was only wrong because of poor instructions from the professor. And as it turns out, her paper was just as bad. It was terribly unprofessional, but the person who's work got torn apart was a good sport and stayed calm about it, even though many, many shots were taken at him.

Law school is completely different that I thought it would be. I'm glad that the class is separating and that most of us are going our separate ways. It makes  it a lot easier to interact with those who you want to, and to not have to put up with the bad apples who like to make up lies and gossip about each other.

A word to the wise for those about to start in August: watch what you say, who you say it to, and how you act. People won't remember what you said, but they'll always remember how you made them feel.

Summer classes are...easy?

So, tonight marks the last class for first week of summer session. One week down - six to go! At least that's how I'm dealing with being at school every day, instead of out by the pool soaking up the sun.

The really good news is that my classes seem to be pretty easy so far. I have an International Sales and Arbitration class that's awesome. The professor cancelled the final and hates the book pretty much. Most of the class is spent talking about current events, how they play out in the world, international events, monetary and fiscal policies, etc. We're writing in groups in that class, but it doesn't seem too bad so far. And then also Crim Pro with a professor that I've had before so I know what to expect and how to handle it. My terrorism class got cancelled, so it looks like only 6 credits this summer, then 4 during intersession and 9 next semester. My graduation plans have been post poned, but with the way things are going it looks like that's the best idea.

The thing about law school is that everything seems to happen at once. I had a fairly calm end of the semester with finals. I was relaxed and easy going, and so far my grades have gone up and proven how much better that is for me. And so far summer has been pretty easy, like I said my professors seem good, I have some group work, but overall its nothing too stressful. I have some SBA duties but they're easy and I always have people to keep me company while I'm staffing the book exchange. But I can already see my summer getting incredibly busy with finals and moving and trips and vacations. Thank god I'm only in school three days a week next semester. I can't wait to just be Mon, Wed, Fri and get my AWR and MPRE knocked out of the way.

But overall, that's how summer is going. That, and talking to all of the new prospective 1L's at school that are incoming. It's so nice to be relaxed about law school instead of being so nervous and amped up. I don't envy them those feelings at all.