2nd week

I have become a weekly blogger which is not a completely terrible theng but there is just not enough in my daily life to blog about. I go to school, workout/swim, eat and study, then sleep. It really is not that interesting to the outsider but everyday I learn so much about the law and myself that it seems new and almost exciting. I say almost because it is still school and nuances that accompany that association seem bland. Bar review is an interesting concept and an almost necessary end of the week event in which the busy law student can unwind. Study hard, play hard is a maxim most seem to live by. This law school thing is a marathon not a sprint I keep telling myself and I have only gotten through 2 weeks of this things with a lot left to do. Looking too far ahead can make you crazy but staying on top of your current week's work will make you sane again(and make you look like you know what you are talking about in class). On to the next week, learning and thinking, keeping my head straight, studying and studying, trying to do what I need to. See ya soon, gotta keep goin and making it work for me.

First week

Dear Diary, it is 9:30 Thursday night and I feel close enough to the end of my first week of law school to taste it. There are many reasons which I am grateful this week is ending but the most important is survival. I survived the first week! Its like going to high school again, new schools are new schools i met a few cool people and got a general idea of what the next 3 years are going to be like. 3 years...so to break it down for everyone who is wondering what my week has een like. The professors are not only entertaining but are intelligent and not afraid to show it off. There are a certiain numer of my classmates who take the opportunity to try and prove they can speak at every moment the teacher is not. They find solace in trying to raise their hand and be called on more than any other student. They read the material and want no wait need everyone to hear their opinions and hypotheticals on every issue we discuss. Not that I am annoyed or anything but I mean sometimes I am just starting to understand the concepts being explained and someone will raise their hand and beg to be called on in hopes of eliminating any semblance of a rhythm the class was getting into.
Finally kicking back and relaxing, without a care that tomorrow I will be tested on material I am not familiar with. However, as long as I do all my work and understand most of it that can't happen. Law school doesnt seem so bad so far, but it is the first week, reading the material is long and agonizing when the cases are out of date and in ancient language but it can be done. Until next week I will be studying my ass off all weekend to get ready do it all again for next week.

Busy busy

I have been busy settling in and getting aquainted to Sac my apt and everything else I need to get used to that i havent spent time on my blog at all. Hmmm...I hope I didnt keep you in suspense but orientation was cool. it really was just a way to meet classmates before actually going to class. I met some interesting and nice people everyone was really nice actually but I guess you cant expect otherwise upon first impressions. I like the campus it seems laid back and chill everyone is there for the same reason, to study of course. The work has all been assigned and i just finished my last reading of first day material so that should technically last me til wednesday. haha case briefing really is tough i would suggest anyone to start earlier than I did and brief your heart out so you have some inkling of what you will be doing in school. However, it i shard to brief without instruction on doing so and im sure every school will have different expectancies on your briefing abilities. Anyways lots of reading and briefing to come. I like how animated and exciting all the teachers seem and I am already worried about a summer internship as it seems like its getting harder and harder for those of us in the legal profession to gain that all important experience. Anyways, the apartment situation is actually giving me more grief than the school thing, well maybe about the same. Its lonely living by yourself for the most part, I had to come home this weekend to get a good nights sleep, it is hot up there in sac. Makes you think how much of your time you spend actually working and how much is used to play, now most of mine is work barely an play. Just gotta endure, 3 years left only 13 weeks left in the semester. HAHA damn wat have I gotten myself into, this is supposed to be fun! Maybe it will be...stay tuned

Final Day at Home

The time has come and it is very real now. Tomorrow I move to my new apartment and hopefully don't look back. I finished my briefs for orientation on Wednesday next week and plan to do the rest of my reading next week sometime between getting acquainted and figuring out my brand spanking new life. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow everything is always happening tomorrow or the next day. Well not for me it is all happening right now and I want it to go nice and slow 25, 26, even 27 hours to a day. That sounds like some time manipulation but really its more a frame of mind. Slowing down and savoring the experience for what it is and not agonizing over the difficulty of it all or attempting denial of where and what we are.
I might be moving out but really it is a temporary living arrangement and not one of true independence yet. However, it will be nice to have my own hours and personal space and I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited about being my own roommate. This year is going to be some kind of experience, and I am finally excited enough to begin to enjoy it.

New City, New Rules

Today was the day, the dream became real today. I moved some of my belongings into my apartment in the Capital(of CA, of course!). It was a long and exciting day of new things, new apartment, new city, new carpet(they just finished putting it in when I got there, new school, new cleaning supplies, new bed(they are expensive new!), and many other new things that just aren't that notable.

New classes and books were the real steps forward today. I found out which section I will be in this upcoming year and the schedule of my classes this semester. Also I bit the bullet and purchased all my textbooks from the campus bookstore. It was quite a hefty price but then again all this new is costing me a lot of old green. Serious money is going into this year and I don't expect it to change in the next three at all. However, the experience and excitement that I am getting right now realy defies any price tag. Finally I feel that rush of new beginnings and am straight juiced about the situation I am going into. I am Exhausted from all the running around I did today but the anticipation leading up to this day came flowing out of me in droves.

On a more somber note I found out my teachers and classes today and bought my books. yes, thats the same thing I was excited about but also the thing I am nervous about because with that began my first real coursework towards a degree in law. I have started briefing my first cases which is mandatory for the orientation program next week. It is only three cases but I am taking it very seriously I only have a week left to do them anyways!!! Geez, but I also got my books and found out that some of the assignments for the first week have been posted online. I quickly printed out this page, I want to start off right this time, new school, new rules. I have to study my brains out and go beyond what I expect I am able to achieve. This is no undergrad program that I can skate through I need to work and prove my metal against some of the top students in the area. One side of me is saying what have I gotten myself into and the other is screaming Go, go, rock this shizzz!!

Materialism

Looking around in my home it seems that everything I have was purchased at one time or another. We as Americans are such huge consumers of goods, both good and bad. a lifetime of purchasing things and and receiving gifts begin to clutter our lives and our homes until we are forced to either trash the commodities we once felt obligated to buy or recycle, give them away, or find other places to keep them(an attic or garage closet, maybe even a storage unit). It is this overwhelming urge to spend on those extra things we have grown accustomed to as Americans, a people of excess.
Lawyers are supposed to have expensive cars, clothes, houses, and the rest, a life of luxury basically. How can we break the addiction for material goods, it pretty much is ingrained into us from the moment we are born that success equals things. Success can be measured on many levels but in its most basic and true form success involves meeting goals and getting where you want to go in a career sense of course. In a society which puts so much emphasis on money, materials, and excess there is little room for morality, righteousness, and charity. This unfortunate truth scares me to death as someone who is entering a field that is based upon morality and righteousness and all too often is associated with a materialism and excess and skirting ethic behavior in favor of enhancing material wealth. While looking at all these facts now I have made a small goal of my own, which is to use every ethical and moral fiber of my being to avoid such pitfalls and to do soemthing with my career that I feel morally and ethically successful, with material wealth being inconsequential. Let's see what happens...