This has been a trying day, a "close up shop and go home" kind of an experience. I think I jinxed myself by putting that motivational quote on my FB wall today. Anyway, details later.

OTOH, I did earn a B on my Civil Procedure midterm, ensuring that I can earn no lower than a 'D' in the class. That's even if I earn a zero on the final, which is a performance, knock on wood, I think I can surpass.

And the Gosselin's are back, this time restylized as "Kate Plus 8"

 Just finished my Civil Procedure midterm. On the way out of the building I ran into the Dean who asked me how I'd done on the exam.

"Eh", I said. "I've had better nights"

"Well, you survived," he replied.

"That remains to be seen," I said. "I'll get the score next week."

"You'll make a great lawyer," he said. "You refuse to commit to any definable position."

Exam Grades

Remember when I said my contract law final was one of, if not *the*, hardest exam of my academic life? Did you think I was exaggerating, or being unduly modest regarding my performance? Think again. The professor emailed the class the results, which account for 100% of your final grade in the course. Of the 80 questions on the exam, the best score (not mine) was 52 correct, or 65%; the worst was 23 correct, or 28.75%. I notched a 36, or 45%, and thanks to the curve created by this collective ass whupping I received a B on both the exam and the class. This, well, . . . . wow. Lisa dismissed the results of the class as evidence it was designed to scare and weed out the weak links of the incoming class, but either way . . . zoinks!

Contract Law Final

I'm back from my Contract Law final, and officially done with my first semester of law school. The test itself was a b--ch, right up there with the toughest of exams I've ever taken (for a course where ambiguity is bad and vagueness is a killer, there sure were a lot of vague and ambiguous questions). I still finished after two of the allotted three hours, and I'm reasonably certain I didn't fail. I've taken the night off from work and - if I can get Lisa to agree - strongly desire to party all night, Old School style.

update: He did not, in fact, party all night. Old School. Or New School. 

A Little Light Reading

My contract law flash cards

Hot Dog!

To my great shock, it appears that I learned something in Criminal Law and the final went well!  I think that, barring the professor being on the take, I aced 32 of the 45 problems, bombed one, and listed 12 under "maybe" - but I'd go to Potawatomi on the odds of those "maybe's" being largely "correct" answers. This portion of the exam is only 1/3rd of the Final - the other 2/3rd's coming from two 2000 word take home essays I had to hand in to receive today's exam - so the possibility still exists that I stunk it up. But if I did, I stunk it up less than I feared four hours ago.

Changes at Marquette

 Today Marquette took a concrete step towards eliminating the part- time evening program ( I'm grandfathered in). So if you're a working adult hoping to get a law degree, you have only a year or so to apply and get in the final class.

The Law

Back from class. In a belated answer to a ? about it, I like it a lot. It's a ton of work, with the reading alone almost overwhelming me (which is saying something) but I'm getting the hang of managing the homework around the obligations of work and family.  

While I thought I would like criminal law best, so far I find it very boring. The professor is great, the subject just doesn't seem to inspire me. Moreover, it's the one room in the world where I appear as a bleeding heart liberal, and that takes some doing. It's typically me and two other students vs the other 15, with the 15 taking the stand that any action by the police is kosher, any charge correct (no matter if it truly fits the crime) and all crimes worthy of time behind bars. Hopefully a few years of law school knocks some of the fervor out of their system. 

Contract law, which I thought would be a horrific bore, is for the moment hitting all the right buttons. There's a lot of thinking, a lot of hands on work, and it's suddenly dawned on me that it's an area of law that affects everyone, no matter their age or income. I like it. I may not like it a few semesters down the road, but I do now. 

What do I like best about law school? The private parking in an underground garage, and all the classes confined to one gorgeous building. If only I'd had that at UWM! LOL

A - drafting Peyton Manning in my fantasy draft was not my worst idea ever and B - of the 19 members of the part-time law school program two have already dropped out

My First Day of Law School

My first day of law school is officially in the books :)

Two thumbs up! . . . Oh, sorry. - Fred

Gulp

Less than 90 minutes until Marquette orientation. Rattler's in my stomach . . . .

Student loans make it possible to anyone. When there's a will there's a way. It's a huge financial risk....but sometimes risk pays off. - Lisa

update: 

Orientation at Marquette went fine. It was five hours long and featured two one hour class sessions, despite, you know, school not actually starting until next week :) 

The program is big on the Socratic method, which is a bit of an adjustment, but once I was called on and grilled for four or five minutes the nerves passed. I'm one of only 18 students in the part-time program and it looks like we'll be stuck with one another for years, so for good or bad we're bound to become a tight knit bunch. 

By coincidence my seat was next to someone I'd met and chatted with at the LSAT. We both congratulated each other on making the cut. Small world. 

This is just the beginning of the process, and as we all know (and some people may desire) this may all wind up a disaster. 

But, *IF* this was some dorky TV movie, and the start of law school was the denouement of a standard underdog story, it would have ended on the very view I saw driving home via 794: The moon, full and bright against a pitch black sky, surrounded by blossoming fireworks as it cast a single bar of light over the still waters of the lake. 

I almost laughed out loud at the cheesiness of it. :)

Law School

Well, it's done. With a hit of the 'enter' button a big chunk of next month's mortgage payment instead went to Marquette as a down payment on the fall semester. A meeting there earlier this week gave me a lot to think about; I knew the financial cost (gulp!) but they were quick to tack on a year (at least) to my timetable, meaning even more time stuck in this miserable financial status quo. That . . . gave me pause. And by 'pause' I mean 'gut wrenching doubt'. But in the end it came down to a simple fact:the situation ain't getting any better on it's own, so I might as well bite the bullet and go all out to elevate Team Slap. Wish me luck.