Part Time is no joke.
I feel for those who must work during their first semester of law school, regardless of the number of hours, the program, or the school. I haven't been lazy; I've just been inefficient. And obviously, those who are working, and especially those who are working with the added responsibility of a family do not have the luxury of being inefficient. I'm not behind, and I'm not ahead. The heavy lifting starts tomorrow, and in all honesty, there's no good reason why I didn't begin it sooner. By heavy lifting, I'm talking about a thorough review of my notes and the assembly of my outlines; and the practice of synthesizing what I know by writing and submitting the optional essay assignments.
Supplements.
If you're unfamiliar with law school course supplements, think Cliffs Notes, even though that's a horrible characterization of them. There seems to be a lot of talk about them leading up to the first year of law school. There is a lot of value in using them the proper way. Like Cliffs Notes, they're most effective when used as supplements and not substitutes. Read the material, formulate your own understanding of it, and then check with the supplements to ensure that you understood it correctly, and use the supplements to fill the gaps, ie the points that you might have missed. I initially thought that these things were like lifelines, critical to the success of law students. Interestingly enough, I haven't touched them. I was fortunate to be given some PMBR materials before school started (supplements can get very expensive), but I have yet to look at them. I've found a pretty adequate level of comfort reading the material, briefing the cases, paying attention in lectures, and taking notes. With that said, I will begin referring to them next week as I piece together my outlines. I'm guessing they will have more articulate and cogent accounts of the concepts that will be extremely helpful.
Study groups.
I let mine happen pretty organically, and so far it's been almost totally beneficial. We did a nine-hour stint in a group study room at the library a couple of Sundays ago. That's the longest I have ever sat and studied. I'm more focused while working with the group. It's nice to receive help and reciprocate it while affirming what understanding I have of the material. It makes me feel less lost, more in control, less behind. Even though in reality I'm not behind... am I? Which brings me to:
Self-doubt.
If you're unfamiliar with the feeling and are dying to know what it's like, might I suggest law school. So far, 1L has been a bit of a psychological see-saw, with me on one end and my professors, my classmates, and my heavy-ass books on the opposing end. I spend too much time sizing up my abilities, the material, and ultimately the people around me. At my most calm and confident moments I feel grounded. Then the reality of my school's pretty harsh curve hits, and how that means I am likely to wind up in the middle of the pack, and how I have so *not* gotten myself and my wife into this crap to be an average law student with the ultimately limited career outlook that an average law school graduate possesses. Must..work..harder... but, must... also...relax.
And now for the random notes.
superlative wedding.
I served as a best man of a best friend's most excellent wedding at the most beautiful church in Chicagoland last weekend. Greatest amounts of fun and alcohol.
Dawgs.
I have now served as best man in two weddings. Both weddings involved great guys marrying great girls, were thoroughly planned and required very little on my part, so of course they went brilliantly. Here's the kicker though: both of my best man stints were on gamedays against our biggest rivals, and we lost. Should I ever have the honor of being a best man again, I'm asking for the wedding date and checking the damn football schedule first.
golf update.
So now that I've finally broken 80, I've made the haphazard decision to completely change my swing and the setup of my clubs. I visited MaxOut Golf in the valley the other week for a swing analysis and equipment evaluation. They made several recommendations for newer equipment that would better suit my game. They made lie and loft adjustments to my irons, and put bigger grips on them. They took three inches off the shaft of my putter, counterbalanced it, and put a wider grip on it. As for my swing, I've changed my ball placement from way-too-far-back to what feels like way-too-far-forward in my stance. It's been a looming and very necessary change. I've also changed the position of my hands at address, from almost resting in my lap to a more normal height. Though my setup now looks correct, it feels incredibly wrong and will take lots of time for me to get comfortable. I made these changes during my swing analysis, prompted by my clubfitter who happened to be a veteran Class A PGA professional. My first round since the 75 is this Friday. I haven't even swung my clubs with all of these new adjustments yet, so it will be interesting.
