My First Week:

Ah, I have forgotten how glorious the weekend is. After all, during the summer, when I had no job or real responsibilities, it was one great big weekend. But no more! After my first week of law school, I am back to cherishing those two days like the last french fry in the bag.

So, what is it like so far? I'm glad you asked. It's definitely a different feel from college. I go to the same classes with the same 70+ people, so there's some quick bonding within the section. Especially over our confusion with Civil Procedure. It's certainly a relief to know that everyone is just about as lost as I am (for now, anyway... I'm sure that will get better, right?). The really nice thing about Professor Desan is that she breaks up the class into 6 panels, and each day a panel is responsible for the material. While anyone can volunteer to answer, she only 'cold calls' people from that days panel. So, if you're not in the panel, you don't have to worry about being called out of the blue. Unlike in Criminal Law. Professor Weinreb calls on volunteers and the seating chart. (Oh, that's right. We have seating charts again. Ah, the comfort that comes with order and predictability in an otherwise crazy world. Can you tell I'm borderline OCD/anal retentive?) Weinreb doesn't seem to be cruel about it, but then again, I haven't been called on yet. He is very much the classic, old-school law professor (who still calls students Mr. and Ms.). I really enjoy the material, but then again, I'm a crim junkie (hence the criminology major). The last real class that I have is Torts. So far, the class amounts to "good-touch/bad-touch" (ok, not really...). I really enjoy many hypotheticals that Professor Arlen tosses tosses out at us. She's the professor with the sense of humor. She's a visiting professor from NYU, and commutes here every week. I think since she wants to teach here, she's really trying to win us over. I'll take it! The last class I have is Legal Research and Writing. Since this one is pass/fail, I don't think anyone takes it seriously. Our teacher is Sonja Starr, who looks like a cross between Amy Poehler and Reese Witherspoon. The LRW classes are taught by fellows that want to become professors, and this is the first big step. Sonja seemed pretty nervous and a little awkward, so I hope she becomes more comfortable. The whole class is rooting for her.

So that's what my classes have been like. Once I'm out of class, I head over to the library for several hours. I'm definitely not used to spending several hours on studying every night, so I've been trying to get in good study habits now (I sure as hell can't coast like I did for undergrad.). Time sure flies when you're spending 3 hours of reading per class each night. But that's not the end of it. There's always something to do at night, most of which involve food and drink. The best ones offer free food and drink. The core crowd from Section 3 has been pretty good about going to events and planning our own. We don't go out every night (like some certain sections that will remain nameless), but we're pretty tight already.

So, it's been a week. A hard week. But a damn good week nonetheless.