And lo...it begins

Ramblings Post #155
There are moments that define our lives. Hopefully this will not be one of those moments. Hopefully, this will be one of those mundane moments that slips by unnoticed, barely to cause a ripple in the synapses responsible for memory. Hopefully this will not be a moment looked back upon except to say, "Man it sure got cold fast." Because if this isn't one of those moments, it means everything went just like it was supposed to. I hope.

Once again, we arrange our thoughts into the patterns which are now familiar, with thoughts of relevance and standings, of legal standards and concepts emanating from holdings. And once again, we ask ourselves why did not like ourselves enough to subject ourselves to this madness. Once again...law school finals are upon us.

As a part time law student, I again have three finals: Wills Law, Family Law, and Evidence, in that order.

The wills law test is open book, open notes, open everything. Which means in the grand scheme of things, our professor will attempt to pull out those little idiosyncratic facts that she only glossed over for seconds in class, in an attempt to see just how good your notes are. Which really isn't testing! I have my outline fleshed out with an old outline from a previous class of hers ( the handwriting of my notes in class left just too many gaps) which I will be reading and re-reading until test time, and then beyond.

The Family Law test also, is open book. And three days long. You see we download it and then have seventy two hours to finish and upload. And considering there were classes we didn't even touch the assigned reading, this promises to be a whole different kinda test. Especially since she's looking for crafted legal opinion based upon a given set of facts...and those are always tricky, seeing as how I'm just still a law student. At least she was nice enough to give us an example.

The evidence final is my only closed book final. Which makes me feel good, as it limits the amount of a mental frustration. I've been working the flash cards...for which I'm getting the right answers but giving the wrong reasons...and breaking down the case file she gave us for the big questions.

I'll admit studying has been off and on all last week. I would do some flash cards, then laundry. Read through an outline, then watch some TV. Look through my family law notes and the example, look at my new slimmer figure in the mirror, pose for pictures. Okay, let me stop joking...I didn't do that much laundry, mostly folding.

Most law primers say you should start studying for the final in week one. Which would be great, if our professors didn't say "don't concentrate on the final". Which is odd, since our entire grade is usually based on that one event. It both is, and is not, helpful. So you can't start studying, if you have no idea how the professor is going to test. Details? Grand concepts? Do these people realize I still have a full time job? 

Barkeep. I will need fifteen shots of Jager, two lemon drops, and one shot of bourbon, rum, and moonshine. And when I finish drinking that, point me to the books...