September 5, 2006
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Third Week of Law School (AKA: 1L Redeux)
I have to admit--despite being embarrassed when my classmates from last year ask me why I'm not in any of their 2L classes this year, there are a lot of great benefits to coming back as a do-over 1L. For one thing, I get to see the innocence and naivete I once had as an incoming student last year because the new students this year all reflect that same "virginal" aura. They complain about how hard the reading is, how nervous they become when being called on, and how they didn't know the stuff on "Law & Order" wasn't an accurate representation of a real legal environment. They are hesitant about using commercial outlines because their professors and their copy of the "Idiot's Guide to Law School" cautioned against using them, and they think battery is a tort done negligently against another. They are fresh, well-dressed, straight-out-of-an-Abercrombie-catalogue kids, with perfect make-up and perfect hair...but all it takes is one more week and they'll start looking like the worn-out, burnt-out, soulless zombies law school students are really meant to be.
That's the nice, great thing about being a 1L again. The rest of the perks are purely ego-boosts. I have done quite well in my first writing assignments, some of which I didn't even have to do because they were repeats from last year's work so I just reprinted my old copies and changed the date from "2005" to "2006." I also know the answers to most of the professors' questions so I look like some sort of genius whenever I raise my hand. Little do they know that I'm just a fake. Mwahahaha.
However, having to hear lectures on stuff you already know is quite boring...this is especially true for my contracts class because it was my favorite class last year and I was well-prepared for it. So I'm basically hearing stuff I know verbatim...which can be physically and mentally taxing, but I try to mix it up by raising my hand and showing off.
...I have typed a conclusion paragraph and erased it multiple times, and now I'm getting tired so I'll just end it here.
Comments (2)
i'll have to say... i am proud of you. =) you should try your best to make this 1L redeux a truly meaningful experience -- hound your professors at OH about how you are repeating and try to get some outside work to do so you can move forward and progress from last year. you got to build off of what you already know and correct what you did wrong from last year. it may very well be a waste of your time hearing the same crap over from last year. It's time to practice, practice, practice. maybe just do practice exams every week for the rest of the semester and have your prof. look over every one of them and give you feedback? idunno.. these are just suggestions to make sure you get the most out of this... again.. I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU! jia you! *you can do it.
keep on truckin'