If someone would have told me that I would be in my first year of law school on my thirtieth birthday I would have laughed. I would have guffawed. Not that I really know what exactly I would be doing instead…but law school? Really?
I came to law school just like anyone else does…I thought, gee, I have some extra time, perhaps I should take up a pottery class, maybe do a little gardening, or maybe LAW SCHOOL!?!? Don’t get me wrong, I had thought about it in the past; the thoughts were always kinda fleeting. Then I took the LSAT, sent in applications, and accepted. Now I am here and I don’t know what to do…
I am a pretty resilient person. I am an independent, take-charge kinda gal. So when I say I feel like a child again in the depths of Seattle University’s Sullivan Hall, perhaps you kinda understand. I am shy all of a sudden. I hide as not to get called on. I wonder if he/she thinks I am funny. I always want to skip class. I have a locker. Yes, a locker. I don’t know if high school was as high school as this.
Now I am almost done with my first year. That dreaded year that scares everyone to death. It does. Don’t let anyone tell you different. The fear is palpable. Everyone kinda wanders around looking dazed and defensive. Funny, I heard that Seattle U isn’t even that bad compared to other schools. Geez, I guess I lucked out?
The hardest part is the rest of my life. My non-school life. I feel so checked out. My “old” friends (you know, the ones from a few months ago) have stopped calling. I don’t know any new music. I haven’t been to a movie in ages. And what is TV? The thing that I miss the most is reading novels. Instead, I spend hours and hours reading old legal cases espousing legal rules that may or may not be relevant in my jurisdiction. My head is full of torts, profits, easements, contracts of adhesion, subject matter jurisdiction, and joinder. I can’t believe I was ever a “normal” person. Oh the days when all I had to do was remember to call so and so and request that I get a better IPA on draft.
Yes, prior to this new world of legalese and multi-colored highlighters I was a bartender. Just a bartender. I loved my job. I served people beer. It was the best part of their day. I spent seven years perfecting my trade. I know all the classic cocktails and had fun making up new ones. I know when a wine is corked and how to use the word tanin in a sentence. And hops, oh hops!
I don’t know if I will ever again be as carefree.
Well, I thought that this would be a great little outlet for me to reflect on this new process, this “becoming”.
is there 1L in lost? 