Six Weeks In...

What I've Been Wearing...

* A shameless ripoff of Misty Bennett's blog Across and Down a Little Bit 

 Dress and belt by JC Penny

Shoe by Jessica Simpson

Sweater by Nordstroms

Purse by Coach

 Dress by JC Penny

Sweater and purse by Nordstroms

Shoes by Jessica Simpson

Pants and shirt by Express

Shoes by BCBG

Purse by Knockoff Louie Vuitton purchased by shady guy in Rome, Italy.

So I haven’t been keeping up with this blog as often as I would have liked. When I started it the goal was to post something every day. Then as I started law school and realized just how time consuming it was and I changed my goal to once a week, but even that seems to be too much so now I am going to blog as often as I can when I miraculously find a break from studying. The last time I blogged about school I was feeling completely overwhelmed. I was scared, and sleep deprived, and unsure about what the heck I had gotten myself into. That was two weeks in. Today I finished up my sixth week and am staring down the barrel of practice exams. I am still scared, still sleep deprived, and still not sure what to expect each day, but I really feel like this is where I belong. I’m not sure what it’s like at other law schools, but Willamette does such a great job of holding your hand while throwing you into the deep end all at the same time. I’ve never been more afraid/excited, tried/energized and unsure/sure about anything in my whole life. The professors who are terrifying to me also seem to be some of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet. Even my Civil Procedure professor who everyone says is the most intimidating professor at the school is really quite funny and if you are prepared for her class you will learn a lot, but you MUST be prepared. On the first day of class she talked about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart, and on Friday of the first week told the class that she bawled her eyes out after her first week of classes. She spent the whole class talking about how to maintain our sanity during our 1L year and I think we all appreciated it. I know I did. She has sense gone on to talk about Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, and the Kardashians, and just last class she opened with a discussion of Honey Boo Boo. Hilarious! She had us all in stitches. Then there is my Contracts teacher who I just freaking love! She is a young lawyer. She just graduated in 2008 and is my new role model {I’ll always love you Jessica}. Not only is she funny and really accessible, but she is probably the most sympathetic to our stress levels and work loads because only seven years ago she was in our shoes. She offers unsolicited advice every Monday and it really helps us, because she tells us not only how to survive law school, but how to get the most out of the experience. I find myself preparing the hardest for her class because I really look up to her and it made my day when she called on me and after I answered, told me that I was doing a good job making the necessary connections. She also uses pop culture to spice up her lectures. She quoted a line from Elf the other day to emphasize a point about puffery, and used The Voice as an illustration of illusory promises. And then there’s my Torts professor who seems to be the funniest old guy you could hope to meet. He constantly talks about his daughter and his late wife and is an avid follower of ballet. His class is the last class of the day so its difficult to pay attention sometimes, but he does his best to keep the class entertained. He throws erasers at people to prove his points and just the other day talked about how much of a Green-Bay Packers fan he is and how he could be justified to punch someone in the face if they said that the refs called the game against the Seattle Seahawks right. He was kidding of course. As for me I am doing alright. I am just trying to take things day by day by setting small goals and doing my best to accomplish them. I feel like I am getting the hang of things better and the reading seems to be getting (a little) easier. I have two mentors that the school put me in contact with. One is a student and the other is a judge. Talking to them and asking them about their 1L years really helps to put things into perspective for me. The two best pieces of advice they have given me are (1) being prepared for and going to every class are 75% of the battle and (2) don’t be so busy focusing on being in the top of the class, just focus on getting through and everything else will fall into place. So for the most part I am hanging in there and I just keep reminding myself that Christmas break is just around the corner. I have been trying to set small goals in that hopes that the big picture won’t look so daunting which is so not my style, but so far it seems to be helping. Well my eyes are drooping and its been a long week so its time for me to go to bed. It’s 11:00pm on a Friday night and I can’t keep my eyes open. Hopefully I’ll make it back here soon. Goodnight.