divine angst

I just saw an ad for the University of Phoenix, touting its Masters Degree in Education.

I am now officially back in that place where I have so much to do that I am completely unable to do any of it. I am immobilized.

Meh.

This is the most ridiculous thing I have EVER heard. Because pretty much NO place is far enough from children such that a registered sex offender could live there, the state is SANCTIONING and MONITORING the offenders’ residence UNDER A ****ING BRIDGE.

Sexual offenses, particularly against children, are heinous, to be sure. But offenders are still people and shouldn’t be FORCED to live under a BRIDGE! Isn’t this a pretty clear example of a Due Process violation? Does the government have a compelling enough interest to allow it to deprive free men of the ability to sleep indoors?

I mean, gah.

Ana asked for dog pics. So here are some dog pics. Some of these may be old. But they’re all CUTE!

The dog walker appears to be working out, by the way. I’ve been able to stay at school later every day this week and I’ve been able to get bunches done. It’s good!

“First year, they scare you to death. Second year, they work you to death. Third year, they bore you to death.”

Or so the adage goes. And my experience has tracked with this. We’ll have to see how next year goes, of course, and right now it looks like that last sentence will actually read, “Third year, they squeeze out whatever remaining work is in you.” And that’s OK–next year is shaping up to be a pretty interesting year, actually.

I know this is the time of year when people start to get really antsy about stuff. 3Ls are worried about the bar and jobs, 2Ls are worried about jobs and whether they still want to be lawyers, and 1Ls are worried about jobs, journals, and whether they still want to be lawyers. Oh, and everyone is starting to get a little nervous about exams. Meanwhile, I keep seeing some negative rhetoric about law school,^[1] and my heart sinks a little.

Not because my story is the same as those being told, but because those stories don’t really need to be told. Look, law school isn’t for everyone, and I think everyone coming to law school should KNOW (and I mean really, really know) that they want to be in law school. Because if you go to law school without knowing why you are there, your chances increase EXPONENTIALLY of being miserable. And it doesn’t have to be that way.

I know this is a sort of unpopular sentiment in the law student blogosphere, but I love law school. And I know I am not the only one–a friend of mine today commented how sad she is that she doesn’t have the opportunity to keep taking interesting classes like the one we’re in together and trying out new opportunities, since she’s graduating. Law school can be really, really awesome. Sure, portions of it can suck–when you have a bad professor or you get a random grade; when your job search doesn’t go as well as you wished; when you’re just completely and totally exhausted. But if you genuinely enjoy the work you are doing, then it’s worth it.

I know a lot of people think practice doesn’t track very closely with the student experience and that’s probably true. But the experience of getting to develop an intellectual interest in the kind of thinking that is foundational for practice has VALUE, and if you can enjoy those intellectual challenges, you can enjoy practice. If you don’t enjoy the intellectual challenges, I guess you could still enjoy practice. I hope, though, if you go to law school and hate the experience, but stick it out thinking you’ll love practice that you’re basing that hope on some concrete experience.

Anyway, these are just some thoughts I’ve been having as I near the end of this second year of law school. To sum up: I love law school. Others don’t. If you’re not in law school yet, figure out which kind of person you are. And if you are in law school and are hating it, try and make the most of it–do things that you will enjoy, like clinics or practicums, or take paper classes instead of exam classes.

Wow. This wasn’t intended to be an advice post, but it is.

1. See, e.g., these guys. ↩

I believe this is the latest I have ever done my taxes. I intended to do them over the weekend, but that whole internet being down thing meant I couldn’t, since I do my taxes online.^[1]

So I did my taxes, and, being half of a married student couple means that we did not owe a red cent and we got back everything we paid in, plus what seems like a little extra, which can’t be right, but I haven’t taken tax, so I don’t know. In any case, I finished my taxes, transmitted them online (well, federal taxes; apparently, I have to file by mail in this state, since we’ve never filed in this state before and don’t have whatever little identification number we have to have to file online. Boo. That goes in the mail tomorrow or Wednesday, I think), and even completed my FAFSA. (I would be more worried about La FAFSA except I know I’m not going to get anything but loans from my school because that’s all they EVER give me. Boo.) In the spirit of being fiscally responsible and productive, I even filled out my school financial aid paperwork.

Part of me feels bad about not getting this done sooner–I’ve always gotten my financial aid stuff done super early, so I can be as eligible as possible for as much money as possible. But two years at my school–and the anecdotes I’ve heard during that time–has taught me that it’s really not going to matter. My school gives awards out during the application process and whatever award you get then is what award you have for the rest of your time in law school. This means really, really, really good students who didn’t happen to have the LSAT and GPA numbers to get a scholarship offer when applying to law school end up with full loans for three years. And that pretty much sucks. It sucks more for those really, really, really good students than it does for me, but it’s still really pissy for me. Still, there’s nothing I can do about it, so I’ve accepted it.

And that’s why I didn’t do my financial aid documents sooner. That and the fact that the school didn’t send my W-2 to me and I had to request that they send me a duplicate. (Actually, the same thing happened to Mr. Angst–we have crappy, crappy, crappy mail service–so I wasn’t able to actually DO the taxes early on. But I could have done my FAFSA with estimated numbers. Eck. I didn’t.)

OK. I have to do a little work before I go to bed. Ta!

1. Note that I’m posting in the evening, which would indicate that our internet is back up. Yes, it is back up, and thank God. ↩

One of my professors chose THIS week to decide to start flying through the rest of the syllabus. Where before, we might have covered half a reading assignment in a class, or only one reading assignment in a week, now we are flying through at least one full assignment per class. I.e., my reading load for this week has about doubled. Ack!

Oh my God, internet is still down at home. Whimper.

So our internet at home has been SUPER spotty for the last twenty-four hours or so, which royally sucks. I had to get to school early this morning to do a couple of things online that I had not been able to do yesterday, and I am always a little cranky when I have to get to school early.

Still, I must say, my commute was easier than anticipated, what with all the public transportation upheavals that started today. (I took the bus, which was practically WAITING for me, at both stops, which was delightful, but I was surprised the buses weren’t more crowded. No jinxing, though! Knock wood!)

Anyway, it’s Monday, so I’m back to the grind. This morning is probably going to be a little tense–we have people coming to pick up equipment from the EA, and I’m supposed to get cranking on some journal stuff that’s heating up in the next week–but I think I can manage. All is well, I have plenty of time to do the things I need to do, and Mr. Angst and I just hired a dogwalker, making my schedule just a little bit easier. From here on, it’s a push to the end. Onward!

Despite technical glitches on both nights, the EA was a resounding success. We had a larger cumulative audience than we’ve ever had, we got standing ovations, and (other than my own personal little freakout on Friday night) we had FUN. FUN, my friends, FUN. In law school? Yes, in law school.

Of course, now I’m facing all the work I didn’t get done this week, and all the work I knew was going to come crashing down on me in the next week. Sigh.