Every word that I type looks *wrong* to me right now.

I am not happy with this semester thus far. I feel as though my substantive classes are getting short shrift in favor of all the interviewing and all the meetings that are required by the Class That I Am Teaching. I have Mondays and Fridays with no classes, and they were meant to be time to spend working on the paper/project that goes with that Class, but instead, they're spent going from interview to interview and then from meeting to meeting.

I missed all 3 of my substantive classes on Thursday due to a Call Back Interview, and I will be missing them all again this coming Thursday due to My Brother's Wedding. There were no classes today, in honor of Rosh Hashanah, so I'm really missing two in a row.

I don't think this puts me too far behind, realistically, but because of the holidays, it feels like I haven't been to class in forever, and I FEEL like I'm pretty behind.

I have a paper due in Family Law on Tuesday, and I finally this past week have gotten to where I feel like I'm in decent shape. I have not, however, been able to connect with my professor - due to interviews and days off - to be sure that we are on the same page. So I need to just cross my fingers and hope that I have anticipated what she meant when she said, "why don't you start with this case, and see what's happened since."

Fortunately, interviews are almost over. I hope I can then really focus on my substantive courses. Evidence is slightly confusing for me, and for some time now, I've wanted to sit down and put all the rules on notecards, so I can be conversant according to Rule Number, rather than Vague Concept. It hasn't happened yet. Perhaps on Thursday, a day off, I can get that done. Or started.

I am also taking Advanced Criminal Procedure, which I really enjoy. I feel very capable of being able to happily catch up in that class, and to still do well on the exam. It's a take home. Pick it up at 8 a.m., and drop it off at 5 p.m. No sweat!

Family law is all papers. I really like the class. I had a hard time with one class in the beginning, where we were speaking of incest. My professor sort of casually threw it out there that men who marry women with daughters do not seem to have the filter of the stigma of incest when it comes to sexual activity with those daughters. This bothered me. It affected me deeply, since I have two daughters, and my partner is not their father. I had to sort of struggle through that personal bruising in order to get more "into" the class. There are several times where I feel it is coming from a more conservative place in the idea of family and marriage than I live. But I still find most of the issues fascinating, important, and applicable to most people's lives.

I am really craving the opportunity to delve into these classes more than I have thus far. I can't believe I'm already in my 6th week of school. Since we're on the quarter system, that does mean that I'm more than 1/2 way through. The quarter is only 11 weeks. So I have 5-6 weeks to pull it all together. I am going to think positively now.

posted by Zuska @ 10:36 PM

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