My school is a quarter-system school. 2 of the 4 quarters are spent working. I work in the summer and winter quarters. So I'm in school (duh) fall and spring. Half of my class is on the opposite rotation. This makes things kind of complicated. The reason being that a class may be offered in the fall THIS year, but next year, it will only be offered in the winter. While I'm working, and not taking classes.

I find this to be very difficult. There seems to be a bazillion classes that are being offered THIS fall that I want to take, but cannot.

I got a position teaching our social activist class to first years, and that requires a class for me to TAKE, as well as a class that I TEACH. As well as a giant research paper (fulfills my writing requirement, though). This takes up 4 credits of class time, as well as LOTS of out of class time.

So, someone recommended that I take only Evidence (4 credits), Corporations (4 credits), and this teaching class. I don't want to. I think that's boring-sounding, and I don't want to do it.

I had thought of taking Evidence (4 credits), a seminar that makes me salivate (Balancing Security and Liberty), which is of course, also a paper class, Family Law, which is a TWO paper class, and my teaching class (with it's huge paper).

A 3rd year friend of mine told me - no way. That I will kill myself, and never see my kids, and even if I didn't have kids, I would kill myself, with that much paper- writing and Evidence.

So now, I'm thinking I'm going to do: Evidence, Professional Responsibility, Family Law, and the teaching class.

I really think I want to take family law right now, b/c I'm just coming out of this family law job, and i think i'll know the stuff cold, and it will, sort of, be an easy class. Sort of.

But even just typing all this .... I want to take the crazy route. I want to do the seminar!!!!

Any experienced schedule-builders out there want to weigh in?

posted by Zuska @ 12:58 PM 1 comments

Hello, again, dear blog!!

I have the day off from work today ... so I was able to go for a STRENUOUS walk for an hour, and now I get to post on my blog! While sipping coffee and blaring Rufus Wainright through the house (I'm pretty sure that most of the other people in my building work). Such luxury!

Today is my kids' last day of school, which is why I took the day off. Crazy that their last day is June 28. When we lived in CA (last year) their last day was June 12. This year, now that we're in New England, it was supposed to be June 23, but then there were snow days. Lots of snow days. From blizzards and stuff like that (which we loved). But when I was a kid, in New England, we had days "built in" so that if they said the last day of school was June 23, it was June 23 unless something happened that made us miss like TWO WEEKS of school. But here, even one snow day would have pushed back the last day of school.

I kind of like it, though, b/c my kids spend the summers with their father in the Midwest. This year is proving to be the shortest summer b/c of various school calendars (theirs, his, mine ... he's a professor). They leave on July 5, and come home to Momma on 8/20.

Many posts may be expected during 7/5 and 8/20 ;)

My summer job is the same. Fluctuating between satisfied and not so much satisfied. I have spent many many many many years of my life as an assistant. Call it a secretary, a paralegal, an administrative assistant, and legal assistant, whatever you want. Even a freelancer. But ... I started organizing, typing, maintaining exhaustive amounts of info in my brain for immediate recall as my boss needs them, answering phones, charming clients/customers, and scheduling since I was basically 13 years old. And I went to law school in order to get away from that.

But this job makes me feel like I'm not getting away from that. I'm organizing the trial schedule, I'm having conference calls with attorneys about the status of their case, I'm keeping case names straight with case facts for the judge (who is an AWESOME person, and is very respectful and good), and that's like ... it. We do talk about the merits of cases, and about law, and about attorney conduct, and I do feel that the judge appreciates my input (and follows it sometimes), but I'm not doing much LAW. Not the kind that fills up a resume too well.

Another judge has given me some writing and research assignments, though, and I did well, so my judge kind of raised his eyebrows, and I think will start giving me more. But I don't have that much longer. I'm done on August 5.

And then back to school! I miss school. I love school.

posted by Zuska @ 12:40 PM 0 comments

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Summer!!!

Oh, I haven't posted in so long!! I honestly didn't think anyone was reading, so the blog's position on my priority list was super-low. Then I got comments!! My first! I feel honored.

I'm interning this summer with a Family Law Judge. I am in my 4th week. I'm walking a tight-rope b/t satisfaction with the position and dissatisfaction. It is not a writing job ... my judge is the King of Practicality ... research is for losers, as far as he's concerned. He pushes settlement agreements like the next Crack Cocaine, and caselaw be damned!!

I also feel old. Again. I am interning with another rising 2L, and he is 10 years younger than me, graduated high school and college a clean 10 years after me, and has made it very clear on many ocassions that I don't "get" certain things b/c I'm "so old." For example: I don't understand why it was clear that the 3 hockey players who had oral sex with the same girl within like 10 minutes were not given jail time was b/c it was NORMAL for one girl (15 years old) to perform oral sex upon 3 men in quick succession. If I weren't so "out of touch" I would know that this CLEARLY is not a criminal matter.

I am not going to believe him. because my daughters ... they're 7 and 8. And I don't want them to be giving multiple blow jobs in 7 or 8 years. Call me crazy ... but I think that's gross, and really, kind of slutty.

I miss being in school. Really, I do. I miss the intellectual stimulation, and I'm not finding work to give me that. And I'm just as broke, thanks to the judicial clerkship, which is free. And while I came to law school thinking family law was for me, i'm not so sure anymore. But yet, the school I chose was partly b/c I thought ... "family law is for me." So the things which have piqued my interest ... I probably can't do from this law school. (i.e., constitutional law; appellate work).

Woe? Is that what I am saying? Woe is me? I am not sure.

posted by Zuska @ 1:50 AM 1 comments

Calling all Moms Entering Law School!

The purpose of this post is to attract those who are looking for advice (or more to the point, consolation) for prospective or current law school students who are also mothers. It's a small population, I think, when compared to the majority of law students, and as someone who has survived the first year of this endeavor, I'd like to offer myself as a .... source of encouragement? source of proof that the first two semesters can in fact be survived? Something like that.

I'm a rising 2L. My school is not really traditional, so I can't offer advice on how to get A's at Harvard while my daughters won the national spelling bee and I edited 15 law review articles ... but I can offer advice as to how to manage study vs. family time and still end up the year in the top 10% (of a non Ivy!!!) of your class while your children learn a lot, and learn to see that moms are people too, and that mom's goals are important, and that Mom is smart (as opposed to "dad is smart, and mom is great at getting stains out after soccer practice), and how to deal with existence on the fringes of the social scene (which mostly consists of 22 year olds, so really, my message is -- who cares!!).

So, if you got to this link b/c you are a mom who wants to go to law school, post a comment with any questions, and I'll respond ASAP.

posted by Zuska @ 1:22 AM 6 comments

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