Happy for a 60

I'm normally the type of student who doesn't just want an A, I want the highest A. I have since adjusted my way of thinking to the law school reality in that I no longer expect grades in the 90s. Heck 65 is passing, so that's the minimum I need to work up to by the end of the year (May). Of course, not that I only want to do that, it's just there's no use beating your head against the wall when most of the grades in a class are in the 30-40% range. (NO, there is no curve at my school.)

After scoring well for my 2 papers in my Legal Analysis class, today was the day I was getting back a quiz in one of my actual law classes, Civil Procedure. (LA isn't teaching law, but how to write and research in the proper legal way.) I have to say.....Civ. Pro. is my hardest class. It's just not something that the normal person has been exposed to before (unlike a contract or tort/injury). It seems to consist of roundabout complications of layers that don't make any sense. If that sentence confuses you, that is about .01% compared to being in a CivPro class.

At the beginning of class, the teacher went over the question, and what his answer to it would have been. But, he made us wait an hour and a half before we got our papers back to see our grades. Now, these aren't worth anything at all towards our grade. It was really just a practice...a trial to see how we faired. So, ultimately, it doesn't hurt us at all and only can help if we use it to learn from our mistakes. We were warned that the grades started at 10%, and that since the question was straight from the bar exam and we've only had 7 weeks of law school, our professor wasn't expecting much out of us. He said that normally at this time, he would expect an average score of 35.

At break, I am leafing through all the tests, and couldn't find mine. I had to go through twice before I found it. So, before I tell you mine, let me tell you about my study group. All 4 others in it are smart, bright, insightful people. I think we are all on the same level here. We had one get a 30, 2 get 35s, and one get a 40. Just from that I'm seeing how the class overall scored.

So, what do I get? Yeah, my title gave it away already....I got a 60. And I have never been so happy for a 60 in my entire life. For the class that I felt so lost in, I feel a twinge of hope now. In my mind, I will only go up from here, so passing the 65 mark is no problem. I don't say that to be arrogant. It's just how I work....once I get feedback I know how to adjust, which I will. Yeah! :)

To make my day even better, we crossed into a new subject today that was SO much easier to comprehend (subject matter jurisdiction). Even more hope....yeah! It won't ALL be so hard to understand!

And to top it off, I had a great conversation with my LA professor. She is such a positive, encouraging person anyway, but I found out that I will (most likely) be able to work at the small claims advisory next semester. I'm excited about it....will make all this learning seem more real, plus I always like doing something when I know I'm helping others, which that does. And it will get me on my way to earning the necessary 4 units of clinicals.

It is sooo nice to have a day when you get LOTS of feedback, and it is all good! :)