That's right, folks, my first year of law school is over!! I can hardly believe it's happened. It seems like just yesterday that Blake and I were moving up to DC to start the next big step in our lives, but it's actually been almost a year now!
Law school has been an experience for sure. I thought the first semester was bad, and it was in its own way. In the fall I had thick, heavy books and was assigned pages upon pages for each day of class. I was thrown into Section 11 with about 115 total strangers. I had to navigate public transportation for the first time in my life. My professors all had these incredibly intimidating resumes, and getting cold-called was a constant fear. I also had to prepare all semester for one, 3-hour exam to dictate my entire grade for the semester. And though I have always put a lot of pressure on myself to perform well as far as grades are concerned, my grades have never mattered as much as they do now--internships, jobs, journals... everything depends on grades. Thankfully, I did well on those exams, I learned how to do a lot of reading and think on my feet in class, and I forgot all the things I've ever learned about writing and started over with my Legal Research and Writing course. I also got on a skills board fall semester.
This semester has been different and a lot harder, in my opinion. The topics are a little more complex, the cold-calling was even worse than last semester (I got cold called 4 times in one class! I shudder when I hear my own name!!), the other responsibilities of being a first year law student took up all of the free time I had. On top of everything else, I had to find a job for the summer! I wrote somewhere around 60 cover letters and sent copies of my resume to what felt like every job opening in DC! I started volunteering at Capital Area Immigrants Rights Coalition and I did Mock Trial and Moot Court. My last final was yesterday though, and I am saying goodbye to law school for a little while!
Sorry for all the whining and complaining, but the good news is that summer is here! So here's what my summer looks like:
1) My trip to Tennessee! I'm taking Megabus on the 5th at night to get to Knoxville in the morning! I'm planning on hanging out with Blake's family, spending the day with Pamela and some Oliver Springs friends, going to Chattanooga for a reception that my dad is attending, hanging out with my family, and maybe a trip to Nashville? I'm not exactly sure. I'm only going to be there for a little over a week, so I have a lot to pack in! My beautiful little sister is going to Guatemala with Health Talents International for the summer, and she leaves on the 14th. Hopefully I'll get to see lots of family and friends and still relax a little too!
2) My job! I scored a summer internship with Legal Services of Northern Virginia! LSNV is a nonprofit organization that provides free legal care to indigent people in Northern Virginia (which is about two miles from our apartment haha). Me and another dude who I have not met yet will be working together as the legal interns for the attorneys there. We'll probably spend most of our days writing legal briefs, performing intakes of clients, maybe making drafts of papers for court, etc. I don't know! It should be fun and give me lots of good experience to use for next year!
3) Summer School. Well this isn't quite as exciting, but I am pretty pumped about getting 6 hours of credit to apply toward graduation because it is FREE! That's right, I love you GW because you are not making me pay for summer credit! It's pretty much a win-win situation for me though. I do have to commit to two nights a week and a paper, but I get to take one less class in the fall, which will be really nice. Plus, my corequisite course is Public Interest Lawyering, which I wouldn't take during the school year, but I am really interested in it!
So that's a rap! Sorry for the length! Hopefully see you soon!
--Catie
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| Just over a year ago, in DC apartment shopping! |
This semester has been different and a lot harder, in my opinion. The topics are a little more complex, the cold-calling was even worse than last semester (I got cold called 4 times in one class! I shudder when I hear my own name!!), the other responsibilities of being a first year law student took up all of the free time I had. On top of everything else, I had to find a job for the summer! I wrote somewhere around 60 cover letters and sent copies of my resume to what felt like every job opening in DC! I started volunteering at Capital Area Immigrants Rights Coalition and I did Mock Trial and Moot Court. My last final was yesterday though, and I am saying goodbye to law school for a little while!
Sorry for all the whining and complaining, but the good news is that summer is here! So here's what my summer looks like:
1) My trip to Tennessee! I'm taking Megabus on the 5th at night to get to Knoxville in the morning! I'm planning on hanging out with Blake's family, spending the day with Pamela and some Oliver Springs friends, going to Chattanooga for a reception that my dad is attending, hanging out with my family, and maybe a trip to Nashville? I'm not exactly sure. I'm only going to be there for a little over a week, so I have a lot to pack in! My beautiful little sister is going to Guatemala with Health Talents International for the summer, and she leaves on the 14th. Hopefully I'll get to see lots of family and friends and still relax a little too!
2) My job! I scored a summer internship with Legal Services of Northern Virginia! LSNV is a nonprofit organization that provides free legal care to indigent people in Northern Virginia (which is about two miles from our apartment haha). Me and another dude who I have not met yet will be working together as the legal interns for the attorneys there. We'll probably spend most of our days writing legal briefs, performing intakes of clients, maybe making drafts of papers for court, etc. I don't know! It should be fun and give me lots of good experience to use for next year!
3) Summer School. Well this isn't quite as exciting, but I am pretty pumped about getting 6 hours of credit to apply toward graduation because it is FREE! That's right, I love you GW because you are not making me pay for summer credit! It's pretty much a win-win situation for me though. I do have to commit to two nights a week and a paper, but I get to take one less class in the fall, which will be really nice. Plus, my corequisite course is Public Interest Lawyering, which I wouldn't take during the school year, but I am really interested in it!
So that's a rap! Sorry for the length! Hopefully see you soon!
--Catie
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