Scratch That Off the List!

Business Organizations is now a thing of the past. I'm not sure how good I did on the final tonight, but at this point, I don't care. I surely did well enough to pass. I'm just happy to never have to sit in that class again. Yeah!

I'm sure we won't be getting the grades for a month or 2, but that is fine with me. I'm in no hurry to find out my score.

For now, I'm on vacation! I plan to relax and enjoy this weekend!

8 More Hours Till I'm Done with Bus. Orgs!

Tonight's 6:30pm final is just 2 hours, so 8 hours from now I can rejoice in the fact that I will never have to go to that class again. I have been studying all week for this, and I still can't say for sure how ready I am. The professor's fact patterns are usually so long and confusing, and to top it off, he can't use names like Ann, Ben and Cal. He choooses things like Astranaar and Malocchio that are so weird that it is hard to even keep track of who is a person and what is a company!

I think I get the securities fraud issues, but not so sure about tender offers. In my defense, I will say that he rushed through that topic in the last 1.5 classes and didn't seem to care how thoroughly he taught it. At least I understand it better now than I did after sitting through his class. For all of this professor's "brilliance", he really doesn't do a good job on actually explaining to you what the law is. At least in my opinion, it seems to come out covered in webs and you have to dig and search to find of the parts, some of which may have been missing.

What are my plans for the weekend? I will admit that I do plan to do a little schoolwork, but just my exhibits for trial. I'm going to be out of town a few days next week and want to get those done before I leave. Other than that, I think I shall take a few boat rides and enjoy a few drinks!

A Class I Will Actually Miss

Last night was the last class meeting for Criminal Trial Practice. I have thoroughly enjoyed this class and learned so much in it. It will be the first (and I think probably only) class in law school that I will miss attending. It is the unusual thing to look forward to a class and doing the reading for it.

It's not just the subject matter of the class. The professor made the class. It's hard to describe exactly. He is brilliant and confident, yet not an ounce of arrogance. Very encouraging and helpful too. In his critiques, he looked for something positive to say about everyone, yet still gave us the truth about what we needed to work on.

All of this, and then last night, before he let us go, he told us "his story". He was not supposed to work during his first year of law school, but did secretly because he had to. He ended up not doing so well and was on academic probation. After graduation, he got a job at a law firm and took the bar here in CA that first July. He didn't pass. He took it in February, and he didn't pass. He took it again the next July, and didn't pass. He didn't pass it until his fourth try! He told us this to encourage us to not be stopped by our failures, because we will have them. He also said that the things you have to work hardest for are the ones you appreciate most. He told us to call or email him anytime if we want to talk about law school, the bar, or whatever.

It was hard to believe this man who comes across as so smooth and so together could have ever possibly had a struggle, but he just made himself and his past completely transparent in order to help and encourage us. You don't often run across people like this, and it just really strikes you when you do. Since the traits I value most highly in others are sincerity and realness, you must know how highly I think of this professor. I'm really going to miss him and this class.

Spring Break is Almooooost Here!

Tonight's Crim. Trial class will be listening to the remaining 8 students do their closing arguments. Nice to be able to just listen and not stress about doing it myself. Then, if it weren't for the lame Bus. Org. on the Friday evening before vacation starts, I would be on break for a week and a half. Of course, that pesky final remains on the schedule, and studying for it is how I'll be spending the next 2 days. Lovely.

After the break, we have 3 weeks of regular classes left. Since Bus. Org. will be finished, and my trial for Crim. Trial is scheduled for the first week we are back, my last 3 weeks will be short and sweet, with classes only on Monday and Tuesdays. Before I know it, finals will be over and I will hopefully be starting to work on my remaining 144 hours of clinical work I need to do. I have applied at 3 places so far, and have one interview set up. All 3 would be excellent places to work and be able to add to my resume, so I'm hoping one of them works out.

But for now, I'm just looking to finish off Bus. Org. once and for all. Then I get to relax and enjoy a few days off. Yeah!

Overheard in Criminal Procedure

Discussing plea agreements, and if translators are used in court…

Professor:Does anyone speak Spanish in here?
.......................Silence...................
2L: Dos cervezas!

Overheard in Property

2L: Which person would be the one to sue?
Professor: This is law school. Sue them all!

I've got news, I've got news....oooooo, I've got news!

And it's killing me because I can't say what it is about for 2 weeks!

Barrister's Ball

Last night at the Barrister's Ball, I won a $1000 scholarship with the Leon S. Peters Leadership Award, given for demonstrating leadership abilities and academic excellence. I had applied for a bunch of the different scholarships, so it was rewarding to show up and see "scholarship recipient" listed on my name tag. The school has a scholarship committee which apparently meets and decides how to dole out all the awards, making sure no one person gets more than one. That's nice because it really spreads it around a lot. I'm glad so many of my classmates were similarly honored.

It was fun to get dressed up too! I'm normally quite content wearing jeans and a sweater, but I do like having the chance to be a little fancy sometimes. I wasn't sure if I was going to be formal enough, since my dress wasn't full length, so I wore 21+ carats of diamonds just to make sure I did look "formal"- lol! I was happy to see the majority NOT wearing long dresses! Hubby got all dressed up in a gorgeous suit. He looks so nice all dressed up. (Wish he would do it more often!)

For about the last week, I have been waking up EARLY, and it is driving me crazy. I woke up at 5am again this morning. That is just so wrong for a Saturday. I guess I will start working on some of my stuff after I finish this post so I can try to take a nap later.

On a final note, my daughter's spring break starts today and she is, at this very moment, on a flight to Puerto Rico, where she will be taking a connection to the British Virgin Islands. The parents of her best friend at MIT own a boat they keep there, so they are going to spend the next week cruising around the Caribbean in this. I guess that beats spending a week in Fresno!

Moving Up

In my excitement about my closing argument last night, I forgot to mention my Property grade. I had previously said I got a 76. However, my 80 from the December midterm was at a ranking of 15th in the class. The grade spread was posted at school for this current midterm, and my 76 ranked a 13th in the class. So even though I scored a little lower, I didn't drop as much in my grade as the class average. Made me feel a little better.

This afternoon is the last Bus. Org. class before we have the final in there next Friday evening. Half the class is supposed to be finishing up our material, and the other half a review session. Next week there is also going to be a review, but I honestly don't imagine going. If I don't know what I'm doing 24 hours before the final, I don't see how going to a review would make much difference at that point.

Unfortunately, I woke up at 4am this morning. I have been waking up early (around 5am) for almost the last week. I have no idea why. I'm not stressing about anything. I seem to recall I had the same problem last March, even though the time changed later then and I thought it was because of the earlier light. Hmmm. Anyway, since I've been doing stuff for the last 2.5 hours already, I'm going to try to squeeze in a little nap before class this afternoon!

"You would make a good litigator"

Tonight we did our closing arguments in Criminal Trial Practice. I was so excited and couldn't wait to do it. When the professor walked in before class, several students were saying they wanted to go last. I volunteered, "I'll go first- I don't want to carry all my exhibits back next week." The professor said ok, so I set all my stuff by the prosecution table.

The guest speakers went long, but once they were gone, I was called on to go first. I couldn't have been happier. I won't give away what I did, but let's just say I had a creative way of reminding the jury of all the evidence and how it pointed to the defendant as the guilty party. I could see the faces of my classmates and the professor, and knew they really liked my presentation. Very cool.

This is what my professor said in his critique of it, "Excellent. I don't know what else I can say. That was as good of a closing as I've ever seen." He also said I had good inflection and good eye contact, and that my argument was both very dramatic and very powerful.

As if that wasn't enough to make my day (week, month, year?), after class, he then called 3 of us students over to the corner of the classroom. He told us that we would make good litigators and that if we were interested in that, we should pursue it. He told me that I have a good style, and am creative. I was beyond thrilled. This was coming from someone whom I admire and respect tremendously, so I can't even describe how good this made me feel.

To top it off, I mentioned to him that I would appreciate it if he could put in some good words about me to the person I have applied to a summer internship to, and he told me he already had! It would be really hard to top this night for me!

p.s. After finishing my closing argument last night and I took my seat, one of my fellow classmates leaned over to me and said he had a new nickname for me-- "The Assassin"! LOL!

Property Midterm Grades

We got the lecture in Property today because as a whole, our grades were very bad. Our professor spent the first 20 minutes or so going over the exam (which she normally won't do in class) because she thinks we just don't know easements and covenants.

I honestly didn't feel like I got as high as I did on the fall midterm (80), yet I didn't think I bombed it. My estimate to myself was that I got a 75. I ended up with a 76, so even though I wasn't sure how I did, somehow I guessed that right. I really need to review the sample answer now because I did really good on 2 answers and really bad on the other 2. I need to figure out what I didn't understand or what I missed the discussion on.

Tomorrow there is no Crim. Pro. class, since it is the professor's 25th wedding anniversary and he is taking his wife out to dinner. Thankfully that gives me the entire day to devote to reading and practicing my closing argument.

Now to get through 3 hours of Con. Law....ugh.

So Pretty!

For those of you who missed it, here is tonight's sunset. I did not retouch the colors at all. Love the pink and blue!

Closing Arguments

We are doing our closing arguments this week in Criminal Trial Practice, at least some of us are. We are having 2 guest speakers first, so we won't have time for all 14 of us to give our 10 minute (max) presentations in the leftover time. I am SOOOO excited about mine. I think I have a really good concept in my presentation and can not wait to give it. It is going to kill me if I have to wait until the following week to do it.

It's funny because back at the beginning of the semester when we were doing our opening statements, I just wanted to go first because I was nervous and wanted to get it over with. Now I want to go first because I'm so excited that I can barely contain it. It's strange too, because I have written out my outline for notes for it, and am working on my visual aids, but I haven't practiced actually saying it yet. I'm more leaning towards doing what the professor told us to do at the beginning of class and not over-rehearse. I'm sure I'll practice it at least 2 or 3 times, but I doubt I will do it over a dozen, like I did for my opening.

Either I'm definitely pursuing the right direction for me for my career, or I'm a total nerd to get so excited about this. (Well, maybe it is some of both!)

The Joy of a Cancelled Class

Bus. Orgs. was cancelled today because the professor was ill. I was able to stay home all day and work on stuff for school. I did a bunch of preparation for my trial, and started working on my Bus. Org. outline. I have another free day tomorrow, so I plan to do more work on my trial, and write my closing argument for Wednesday's Crim. Trial class.

The class today was supposed to be the final substantive class, though there was another class schedule for this coming week for a review session. I guess we won't have a review session now, since we are apparently using the next class for covering the last of the material. The professor usually has a food fest during the review sessions and encourages everyone to bring something good to share. He had even wanted alcoholic beverages at this one, but I suppose that is off if we actually have to have a real class session. Bummer.

At least I had a free day today, well, not exactly free, but free to work uninterrupted. That's always a good way to start a weekend. Hopefully I will be able to enjoy the beautiful weather a bit more this time.

Overheard in Criminal Procedure

Crim. Pro. Professor: Don't you ever just wake up on Tuesday mornings and say, "Yippee. I have Criminal Procedure tonight!"?
........scoffing laughter by students......
Crim. Pro. student: At least it is better than Bus. Orgs.!
----------------------------------------------------------
No, that student wasn't me!

Property grades can't be posted online apparently, so we will just get our exams back on Monday. I can live with that (considering most other professors take a month to get anything back to us).

I got caught up on my reading this morning, so now I need to concentrate on 3 things: getting ready for the March 30 Bus. Org. final, preparing for my Aprill 11 trial, and getting my outlines together for my 3 other classes. Gonna be busy!
---------------------------------------------------------------
90 Minutes into class:
Crim. Pro. Professor: Sometimes I like being able to talk like this and get all philosophical. ButI know you’re thinking, “Philosophical? Bullshit! I just want to get out early!”

Glad That Weekend is Over!

Ugh! I hate weekends that are worse than the weeks they follow. I had spent all week long studying for Property, so I had to spend the weekend catching up on reading. I spend Saturday reading from Criminal Trial and getting ready for the in class exercises questioning expert witnesses. That took longer than I thought, plus, I had to run some errands, so that is all I got done on Saturday.

On Sunday, I spent eight fricking hours reading 85 pages of Con. Law! *%&# That pretty much sums up how I feel about that. I cannot possibly say how much I hate Con. Law. Our book is nearly incomprehensible and I absolutely detest it. It literally took my entire day. Good thing I don't bother reading it except when I know I'm going to be called on. It would ruin one day of every week for me!

At least I had a couple hours last night to relax before starting a new week. Hubby took me on a boat ride around the lake. It was so beautiful outside, and that was the first chance (7pm) I got to enjoy it at all. I love the spring, so it was a treat to be able to even have a little bit of time to enjoy the outside.

This morning I had to read for today's Property class. I absolutely hate reading material for the same day's class. But Property reading is fast, at least for me. I finished the 50 pages in 2 hours, so I feel less stressed now that I'm caught up (meaning I'm done with this week's assignments- the ones I plan on doing anyway- and can now start working on next week's).

Time to run to class!

Property Midterm- Grades by Thursday?

Our Property professor said last night before the exam that she didn't have time to grade them this weekend. (She is known for how fast she gets them graded.) But she is taking off Tuesday and Wednesday to do, so maybe the grades will be online as early as Thursday. That would be nice. It's good to get grades when you actually still have some recollection of what you wrote and why.

I did think of some stuff I didn't say and should have. And I think I went off the deep end on one part in particular and threw in tons of crap that didn't really belong. And I had no idea on the MBE style multiple choice extra credit questions. I kind of doubt that I will have matched my fall midterm grade, but I'm sure I did at least decent (passing).

I have a huge pile of books sitting in front of me. Somehow, I can't bring myself to start reading Con. Law before 9am on a Saturday. That just seems so wrong to me. So, as a surprise to no one, I am going to start with my Crim. Trial reading. Guess I should get going....

Property Midterm in Two Hours

No, I'm not freaked. I really don't get freaked out by exams. Mostly I'm annoyed that I have to spend a Friday evening at school. Not my first choice of ways to kick off a weekend. Of course, since I have tried to devote the majority of my time this week to studying for this, I have tons to catch up on over the weekend: I need to read Con. Law and get ready to brief in class on Monday, I need to read Crim. Trial and be ready for questioning expert witnesses, and read Property. I think the Con. Law assignment is 85 pages, and given my complete boredom with the subject, I'm guessing that alone will take me more than 4 hours to read. UGH! Property will probably take a couple of hours. Crim. Trial will probably take me 3 hours or so (but of course, I don't care how long that takes me because I actually enjoy it!). Sounds like all day Saturday to me. Bummer, but at least then maybe I can have Sunday free. The weather is going to be so nice. I think it would be the perfect weekend to get in the first boat ride of the season!

Needed Even a Little Less

My son has now been driving himself to school and back for the last 3 days. Yesterday, he left for school, and then afterwards went to my parent's house to get some Algebra tutoring from my dad, had dinner with them, then went to church (where he volunteers every week). He didn't get home until almost 9pm. Of course, I was in school and got home a bit later, so I didn't see him from 7:30am until after 9 at night. It's just weird.

When my daughter was still here, I got used to her driving him around, but for the last 6 months, I got back into the routine of me doing it again. It just seems strange and kind of sad for my "baby" to now be more independent and not quite need me as much. While I appreciate having the extra time every day, I can't help but miss being needed, and that extra one on one time while driving around with him (that often seemed to extract the most interesting tidbits).

Maybe it stings a little more because my daughter has always been very independent, so in many ways, it hasn't seemed like she "needs" me as much for awhile. But my son, being the baby, and never being quite responsible as I wish he would be, well, like I said, it seems weird. I know it's all part of the process, but honestly, when did they both grow up???

Schedule Online for Summer

The summer school schedule was posted yesterday. Fortunately there are no electives that I'm dying to take, so I can take Moot Court and Professional Responsibility as I had planned. Those two classes are being offered Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and evenings, so that will probably make it easier to work part time those weeks (if I get something lined up), as I could easily work a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. The Family Law Mediation 1 unit class MAY be offered during summer school, and I did check, and it is ok to take that with 2 other classes. I may end up taking that as well, as that would be 1 less unit to worry about in the following school year.

I turned in a resume, writing sample and transcript for a summer internship today. I have no idea if I have any chance of even getting a call for it, but it would be ideal if it worked out! More details if anything comes about from it.

Summer School Schedule

I checked with the assistant dean today and found out that the summer school schedule will be online later today or tomorrow. I had been planning on taking Moot Court, Professional Responsibility and an elective, should I see one that I was interested in. However, the assistant dean told me that the maximum class load for summer school is only 2 classes. Ugh. So much for that plan. Now I will need to wait to see that schedule (which when I checked minutes ago, was not online yet). If I see some elective I must take, I will just have to take PR next spring, even though I preferred to take it from the professor who is teaching it this summer. If no electives are enticing, I'll go ahead and take PR.

Of course, this means my goal in having 4 classes each semester next year is defeated. I must take Evidence, Wills & Trusts, and Remedies, plus one semester class of Community Property and 4 units of electives. I suppose I could take the 1 unit Family Mediation class that is offered on 3 Fridays, and then a 3 unit elective, which would give me 4 classes each semester (not counting the Friday Family classes). Ugh- I would have taken that this semester, but I figured with the summer school 2 unit elective class, it would not end up helping me.

On the more positive side, this should help me get an internship for the summer lined up because I won't have to take off the 5 weeks of summer school. Now to pursue that....

Surprise, Surprise

This past weekend, in addition to trying to study for my Property midterm and working on things for Crim. Trial, hubby and I tried to find a used car for our son. We were hoping to find something decent, reliable and clean- preferably a Toyota or Honda. Since I was busy, I didn't go to see all the vehicles hubby did, but I saw some and heard about the rest. Frankly, it was disgusting. Half the cars were sold by the time we would call about them. The ones that weren't either had 170K miles on them, mechanical issues, serious cosmetic issues (cracked windshield), smelled like smoke or vomit, and/or were priced $2K over their book value. I figured it was just going to take us a long time to find a good car at the price we were willing to pay.

Yesterday afternoon, I met with a couple of classmates at school to work on Property together for a few hours. When I got home and opened the garage, I saw a white car parked next to where I park and at first I thought it was hubby's car and wondered why he didn't park in his normal place (3rd stall). But as I pulled in, I realized it wasn't his car- it was a Toyota Corrolla. As I parked, I stared at it. It was clean and nice. I was sitting there trying to comprehend how in the matter of a few hours hubby could have located and purchased such a beautiful used car.

As I got out of my car, hubby came into the garage. He quickly explained that it wasn't used. He went and bought a new one! He was afraid I was going to be upset at not being included in the decision, but I was happy and relieved! I hadn't wanted to suggest getting a new one, as I knew we were trying to spend much less than that, but we had both seen the pitiful selection that was available in our used price range. It just became apparent that buying new was going to be much easier, and end up lasting us for a longer time.

The new car is really nice too. I had a Camry a number of years ago, and they have increased the size of the Corrolla so much that it seems very similar in size to what I used to have. I would have no problem driving this as my own car (which I can't say for any of the used cars we saw this weekend). As soon as we get son listed on our insurance, he can start driving himself to school and stuff. Yeah- more freedom for him, and for me! Thank you baby!

Oh, The People You Meet

I was just thinking about this today. When I started law school, all my thoughts revolved around if I would be able to handle it. And that meant, me, by myself. But I soon learned that law school doesn't work that way. There are so many people you meet, and then work with in one way or another......whether in a study group, in doing research, in comparing notes in classes, or in group projects for classes. I really underestimated how much "people" business is involved in going to law school.

What I've come to find out, especially in this second year where I have gotten to know people better, is that there are some really great people at my school. Some of these I would have been too intimidated to ever talk to, and some are so shy I probably never would have talked to, but various situations have led me to meet so many of them, and by far, we have such an wonderful group.

I feel like as a first year, I made many hasty assumptions about some people, and I have seen those turned around. It is a nice surprise. And while I usually consider myself the introvert, I find I really enjoy getting to know the different people I end up spending time with. Sometimes I think I'm changing with old age. Well, maybe middle age anyway.

Being A Parent = Doing Cross Exams

"Isn't it true that I asked you to start working on your homework an hour ago?"
"And you have not yet started your homework, correct?"
"And you were told that if you didn't finish your homework by 8:00, there would be no tv for you, isn't that right?"
"Thank you. No further questions."

The Dread is Over

The last few weeks I have known my Bus. Org. professor was getting closer and closer to my name on the class list to call on me. And as he's gotten closer, I have spent more and more time each week preparing, just hoping to not be humiliated. Today he was up to the letter before mine by break time. I looked over the cases we had left to do, and since the easiest and shortest one was the next one up, I decided to just volunteer and get it over with (and to prevent being stuck with the longest case that followed it). I don't think it will count as a true "volunteer" which earns you a "V" and probably bonus point for participation, but he did let me brief that case, and just let me say my bit without asking me any questions I didn't know. We were done with it in a matter of a few short minutes. THANK GOODNESS!

My Property midterm is next Friday evening, and I anticipate pouring all my time and energy in the next week into preparing for that. I was figuring if I had not been called on today that I would skip class next week (and save the time of having to read and study to prepare for that class). Now I can just attend without reading and not miss taking any notes. Phew.

What makes me even happier is that I sincerely doubt there is any way I will be called on by that professor again EVER! We only have two substantive class period left, and since the class has over 30 people, I don't see how I'd get called on again. It's not that I hate to talk to class, well, normally I guess I do. But if the situation is one that really encourages learning, and is not intimidating, I have no problem talking in class (ie., Crim. Trial Practice- have I mentioned how much I LOVE that class!).

So, here's my life for the next week: Nuisance, Air/Light/Sky/Water, Easements, and Covenants. And squeeze into that trying to get organized for my trial and beginning to work on that. As soon as the Property midterm is done, I need to start concentrating on the Bus. Org. final which is at the end of this month. Of course, the first half of April will be concentrating on my trial, and the rest will be taken with studying for my other 3 finals (Crim. Pro., Con. Law and Property) which are the beginning of May. It's going to go fast!