1(year in)L HAS MOVED
1(year in) L can now be found at it’s own domain! Completely unnecessary, but a fun project. WordPress wants $10/year (and for me to do some confusing programming stuff), in order to have this site automatically redirect, so I have opted just to try it this way since the blog has only a few posts anyways.
The new address is:
To those of you who have been kind enough to link to my site, please change to this address. Thanks!
Law Cave
Man, I’m on a posting-roll here.
I just have to share this very cute Blawger story I stumbled upon via my friend at Raspberry Torts.
Old Dawg is a 39-year-old rising 1L, showing us that it’s never too late to begin the career you really want. Check out the “Law Cave” he created in the spare bedroom, complete with desk, recliner and all the office fixings. Then, Old Dawg returns home to find that Mrs. Dawg has surprised him by decorating the Law Cave with trinkets from his law school. The college dorm room-look of it all is what I really find charming. What a wife!
Dating A 1L
The boyfriend and I have been together for four years, living together for the past one and a half. He is patient and understanding and low-maintenance, all the things I, admittedly, am not, and I have no doubt he will be a very supportive Law School Wife. Unfortunately, due to my decision on which law school to attend, we are going to be living in different cities during 1L while he finishes his graduate program. While at first I feared this would put a strain on our relationship and my studies, I’m actually starting to think it may be to the benefit of both. I’ll have less distractions from school and I won’t have to feel as guilty about the drastic reduction in time spent together. Plus, I’ll have less opportunity to lash out at him when I am stressed out :)
Yes, I see the obvious flaws in all of this logic and the many counter arguments, but no one say any of that to me, please. I am indulging in this optimism in hopes that it all works out. It will all work out.
Anyway, I was recently invited to this Facebook group by my friend who just finished her first year in law school. I showed it to the boyfriend who was pleasantly unsurprised and accepting of it all.
How to Date a 1L: First Year Required Companion Class
Fidelity:
- Just because I never call you back or I text you a week later, does not mean I’m not interested, or I’m cheating on you. Really, I’m not that deep. I don’t have time to even consider what kind of signal I’m sending or how you might interpret it. I’m just not sending it because I. Did. Not. Have. Time.
- Just because I talk about that guy/girl from my class incessantly does not mean we are sleeping together. I actually don’t even like him/her, we just spend 14 hours a day together so it’s hard not to repeat their name.
- Speaking of sex…when I have a window of opportunity, you need to drop everything. That window might close in 5 minutes and it might not come again until after LRW.
- And if I only last those 5 minutes, it’s no indication of my real performance ability– it’s just that I have to get back to the library.
Communication & Language:
- If you want me to actually read your email, label it with the name of one of my classes (civpro, con law, exam, etc).
- If you get a real live phone call consider yourself lucky, it’s the equivalent to spending a day together.
- Essentially we’re down to text messages and a booty call.
- I may talk funny and disproportionately use the words burden, rational, substantial, reasonable….and injury. See attached Glossary of Terms in the Index. Please know what LRW stands for and that a Tort is not edible but that I can’t explain exactly what it means either.
- Please download the attached LRW schedule into your PDA. Circle those days in your calendar and know that the 7 days preceding I will turn into a psychopath.
- My sense of humor might seem a bit warped because I can now joke about murder, rape, euthanasia, and sexual harassment. It’s really a sign of maturity and nothing else, but you might not understand.
- Know my professor’s names, nicknames, idiosyncrasies, and physical endowments or abnormalities. It’s not strange, but funny that I comment on their genitals, facial hair, boxing ability, or how they’d look naked. I have to sit and watch them everyday, what else would you start thinking about? Nod when I begin to channel them, and if you can mimic them back – even better.
Support:
- Don’t ever, I repeat EVER, try to encourage me by using the word ‘fine’ in any iteration. I.e. “I’m sure you’ll/it/everything will do/be fine” is prohibited.
- Instead, when I am complaining or crying, remind me how incredibly hard this is and that you can’t believe how I am able to make it, the only answer is that I have superhuman strengths and therefore I deserve mad props. And tell me I am going to be an excellent lawyer.
- I have no idea what is going on in the outside world so I might sound a little ignorant when we’re talking with your parents. Please don’t make me feel worse – just whisper a few current events nuggets into my ear, I can make up the rest. Remember, I’m a lawyer.
- Gifts you ask? Food, food, and food. Preferably of the hot-meal variety – please no granola bars, any bars, sandwiches, pizza, or 85c cookies. Or you can send me an assistant who will do things for me that a normal person has time for like: laundry, taking out the garbage, paying my bills, changing my sheets, reminding me to shower…
- On the subject of gifts – you won’t be getting anything for a while, and thank you for understanding that I have forgotten your birthday and Christmas. For the next 3 years. Valentine’s Day – not a chance, it’s a made up holiday anyway.
Aesthetics:
- I am well aware that I look like crap on a stick. Just wait ‘til May.
- And don’t remind me. Instead of telling me I look really tired, try this: “You look like you really could use a massage, here – put your feet up”.
- When we first met I know you probably liked my fresh, youthful baby face. Learn to embrace the new rugged, creased, homeless-man at times look.
- My shower and primp frequency might not be where it used to be. And around those circled LRW days in your calendar, it will be close to zero.
- I will brush my teeth though – for me that is ‘dressing up’.
In the spirit of relaxing and enjoying life before law school, I am making an effort to do all of the Martha Stewart/art project-y/annoyingly-together-person stuff I can this summer. (Recap: I am currently unemployed.) And because at this point I rarely have anything to say here relevant to law school, I will blog about these experiences in a regular entry I call Crap I Had Time To Do Before Law School. Say, around November, I will look back on these entries and [select one] laugh/sigh/cry at the memory of the endless amounts of free time I once had.
Tonight, I made whole wheat pasta. From scratch. Personally, I think the homemade stuff is just so much more thick and chewy and delicious. Usually not delicious enough to warrant the effort after a long day of work, but certainly delicious enough for the bored, yet ambitious unemployed. Sorry in advance for lack of pictures – didn’t decide to blog this until most of the food was already in my belly. I promise the next adventure will be better documented.
My Pretty Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer with Pasta Maker Attachment
(Courtesy of GIGI637 at All Recipes)
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
Instructions:
- Mix dry ingredients. Slowly stir in eggs, then EVOO.
- Knead into stiff dough.
- Put little balls of dough into Kitchen Aid Pasta Maker, turn on mixer, and wait for pasta to magically* come out!
- Gently separate pasta and let dry for at least 15 minutes.
- Boil in lightly salted water for 2-3 minutes.
- NOM NOM NOM :)
*Note: Homemade pasta can obviously be made without this fancy gadget. While more a bit more difficult and imperfect, you could roll it out and cut by hand.
My creation, with tomato sauce (semi-homemade) and freshly grated parmesan cheese
Philosophies on the 0L Summer
The weather is getting nice, my various temporary jobs have ended, and my boyfriend and I have just moved into a super nice (and seriously discounted) summer sublet where I intend to spend the next two and a half months doing only the leisurely of aforementioned activities, when….
Dear Ms. 1(yearin)L,
Congratulations, once again, on your admission to [Law School]! We hope that you are enjoying your summer, and looking forward to starting law school in late August.
Many students inquire about recommended reading for the summer prior to law school, and there are more resources available than we can possibly list. However, we have found the following guides particularly helpful.
…
Shit. Am I really the only 0L who hadn’t considered summer reading? I feel like a complete idiot. At this point, I proceed to read every law school blog post on this topic that I can find. Below, I will document some of my findings for you, organized by intensity, on a scale of 1 to future-gunner.
- Relax: Don’t worry about doing something relevant or gaining experience. Take a pottery class. Travel. Work at Starbucks. Relax. Enjoy having nothing to do, because we all know that won’t last long.
- Relax with Purpose: Get yourself into an exercise routine, get bills in order, update your resume, and practice healthful cooking. Basically, do what you can to get your affairs in order so in a few months when things get crazy, you at least won’t have to worry about some of life’s little details.
- Do Law-Related Reading: Read some general books on the law school experience and legal writing. Or, to a more extreme level, pre-read law school text books or study guides/supplements to try to gain some early understanding of the specific subject matter in your first year courses. While there are many that argue this is useless before actually beginning the classes, let’s face it, it’s law school. It’s high pressure, and there are a lot of people out there who are so Type A that they absolutely have to do something for piece of mind.
- Practice Being a Workaholic: Work as hard as you can without endangering your health and sanity. Work three jobs. 70 hours a week. Because if you get used to a schedule of 10 hours of sleep a night, law school will be a major shock. Better to learn how to fit in housework, social commitments, etc. while also juggling a regular work schedule.
- Be Super Nutso: Take an actual, in-person summer program for your 0L summer. According to the website, Law Preview students receive comprehensive course materials, outlines and lectures from our distinguished faculty of law school professors for each of the following first-year classes: Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Property, Torts and Legal Research & Writing. By week’s end, you will understand the general framework for each of these courses. Additionally, you will have read and case-briefed more than 30 of the most important cases you will again encounter during your first year of law school. Honestly, this does seem to make more sense than trying to interpret that CivPro book on your own, but still, OMG.
Where do I fall on this scale? I’d say, somewhere between 2 & 3. Completely on board with dedicating the next two months to getting my life in order, and I have reluctantly placed an order on Amazon for some light law reads. More to come on this later.
What are you doing/did you do during your 0L summer?
What I Have Been Doing Since Undergrad
- Interning with a law-related non-profit
- Complaining about life in retail
- Spending hours every night learning to cook things from scratch
- Substitute teaching
- Reading for pleasure
- Visiting friends
- Scoring middle and high school writing assessments
- Netflixing all seasons of Big Love, Lost and Gilmore Girls
- Actually sticking to an exercise plan
- Taking weekend trips whenever I want cuz I gots no homework
While some elements of this life are, admittedly, less than ideal, I can’t help but wonder, am I really ready to go back to school…?? :-/
Into the Blawgosphere
First lesson learned on blogging:
Writing a post takes 20 minutes. Obsessively reading other law student blogs consumes HOURS.
It’s like a whole new world has appeared to me. A dazzling place I never knew. And for my poor boyfriend who wanted to hang out last night, almost as bad as when I discovered TLS and Law School Numbers about a year ago.
So much good stuff out there. Mostly scary, but also clever and well written and helpful. Here are few initial reactions:
- Ivy Lea(gue): Love your blog. Also, your layout is the prettiest law student blog layout I’ve seen :)
- Law Student At Last: Wait, I won’t have time to do anything fun over winter break?? But I’ve already been planning my tropical winter vacation… :(
- The Reasonably Prudent Law Student: On your post the Masjid Near Ground Zero, YOU GO GIRL! Tell that crazy comment lady! (Love getting riled up over this kind of stuff.)
- I Don’t Wear Skinny Jeans: What can I say. The writing in your blog is phenomenal. Very David Sedaris/Augusten Burroughs-esque.
- Oh Hay, It’s Kay Kay: Relieved to know I won’t be the only law student that watches The Hills.
The Beginning: It Was A Dark and Stormy Night
I’ve been feeling some pressure over how to begin this blog. All day at work I’ve been contemplating that opening line, jotting down ideas in between doing actual work. Nothing law school-related really came to mind, but it did remind me of this…
In the book world, where I have been employed for the past few years, we laugh about a funny little competition called the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest. Sponsored by the English Department at San Jose State University, the contest challenges entrants to compose the worst opening sentence to a novel. As you may have guessed from the title of this entry, Edward George Bulwer-Lytton is the English novelist who coined that famously cliched opening phrase, “It was a dark and stormy night.” (Sound familiar? For my fellow Wiki addicts, here is his link.) Also, check out the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest Website for recent winners. I think it’s good for a few laughs.
And with that, welcome to 1(year in)L!
