Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Dreams

I had one of those post-traumatic-stress/post-exam dreams the other night. I was taking my IP Survey exam (the one I don't feel good about), and after it was over we were informed that it was only a practice exam, so we would get another chance. I was so relieved! Notice I called it a dream, not a nightmare.

Technically I'm not done with my classes. I still have a paper to re-draft. For my Information Privacy class, I managed to engineer a three-birds-one-stone process. I wrote one 25-page paper, and it counted as 1) half my final grade for the class, 2) my upper-level writing requirement, and 3) a directed research credit. I was pretty proud of this because my professor admitted that no one had done it before, but she didn't see any reason why I couldn't do it. The unfortunate part is that she can make me re-write it as many times as she wants.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Halfway Through

As an afterthought, I did finish exams. The last one, IP Survey, was brutal. Just too much to write about with too little time. This was my open book exam, and for the record I'd like to put down the technique I plan on using in the future. I'm going to have two outlines, one that is very short and with the most basic elements. The other outline will be filled with details and cases. So if I have time to add in the details I will, but if there's no time I won't get caught up picking and choosing which sub-elements to include.

Also, I was annoyed that my prof didn't give time recommendations for each section. He had 5 short answers worth 50 points each, and one larger question worth 120 points. I'm terrible at math (that's why I'm in law school...) and I really couldn't spend the time working out fractions. It was frustrating.

The Curve

Classic and amusing post on how professors grade exams. Check out the comments following the post, they're also hilarious.

A Guide to Grading Exams

Thanks to Traditional Notions for the link.

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Shout Out

Hey, I got a vote for top law blog on this website! Thanks to my anonymous voter, who wrote: "I had to vote twice. This is a blog written by a law student. Usually funny and concise. As a law student I don't do any extra reading. thanks." Much appreciated.

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Cramming

My girl on cramming, and the humbling experience of law school:

Anne: It really is so much smarter to study along the way, you can't cram for this stuff. Evidence would have been a good one to get on top of ages ago.

me: I mean you can cram, but it's not enjoyable.

Anne: Yeah, tell me about it. I knew much more con law 3 days b4 the exam than I do with evidence. But I will get there.

me: Yeah, can't underestimate the power of your brain.

Anne: I never used to...What an ego blow this law shit is for me.

me: Ahh, for all of us.

Anne: At least we are still hot! Haha.

me: LOL

Anne: My step mom used to always say to me, whenever I would feel bad "Well, at least you will never be ugly." I thought she was so shallow. But it did make me feel better.

me: Bahahha!

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

There's Still A War Going On

A friend of mine is in Iraq. I want to show this excerpt from an email I got from him today. So we don't forget a war is going on. So we remember the bigger world out there. I was/am against the war in Iraq, but I know it's this Administration that's to blame - not our soldiers. They all have different reasons for being in the military, and they're following orders. Anyone willing to risk their life for our country deserves respect, and more, deserves all our efforts to bring them home. Pause and remember how precious life is.

"I've had a long, tough week. I spent most of it traveling around the country. Hopping helicopter rides from FOB to FOB(Forward Operating Base). I got back on Sunday. Some Soldiers in my unit were KIA. Whenever this happens we are blacked out, meaning all communication to the outside world is cutoff. I found out today that a friend of mine was killed last night. It makes you pause and appreciate life. Everything that I am currently doing, every simple act, breath, sight, sound, taste, emotion, all these, these people will never experience again. How grateful I am, yet so sad. Death is natural? Not when you die by unnatural means. How is that loss of life justified? I don't know what to say. I have to think it through."

And now I have to study my Wills and Trusts. Ironic. There's an exception to the formalities of wills for soldiers in action, or sailors on a ship.

Monday, December 04, 2006

First Exam

The morning before the first exam is so funny. Everyone you see has the same wry smile on, like 'Here we go again...'

I just finished my Con Law exam. We were all running out of time, lots of bullet-pointing and outlining occurred. I answered everything without outlining, but usually I have too much time, and I went right into the 3 minuted warning on this one. That's good - it'll help the curve. The other anomoly occurred when we got the multiple choice portion. The instruction page said we had 32 questions, and about the same amount of true/false. But the exam only had 19 MC and no T/F questions. A gift of sorts, but definately not intentional.

I have my Wills and Trusts exam on Thurs, so I'm digging right into it instead of having a beer with my comrades. Wills doesn't induce any major excitement for me usually, but the other day I was reading my supplement, and I got so into it. I literally couldn't put the book down; I ate dinner while reading it. Very bizarre.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

Day of the Week

During reading period before exams, every day is Sunday: You don't have class, but you have to do school work. And you have something huge and impending hanging over your head.

Virtual Study Grouping is in full effect. Emailing practice exam answers and exchanging outlines, discussion of issues on IM.

Friday, December 01, 2006

Cold

You know it's finals time when it's 8 AM on a Friday and there are already 10 people on your gmail chat. IM is obviously a mixed blessing. It's fabulous when you have a random question ("Is intent an element of intimidation under the 1st Amendment?" Answer: Yes.) because you can get a quick, succinct answer. Remote Study Grouping. But of course IM can be terribly distracting. Great test of will power.

I have a cold, and I'm pretty sure I got it from the same friend who gave me a cold during last semester finals. I'd be furious, but what's the point? Nothing I can about it except suck on Cold Eeze and pop Sudafed. (Note: Sudafed has a slight Ritalin-like effect. Maybe it's the caffeine, but it is a stimulant.) At least it's still reading period. I've imposed a quarantine to protect my friends. Last night a friend of mine stopped by; he remained in his car while I stood on the sidewalk outside my building, chatting.