Law School Diary: Week 1
Dear Seattle University School of Law,
Today marks the end of my first week of fall semester. As a matter of record, I’m calling this letter “week 1” even though I’ve already spent the summer with you, studying Criminal Law. While four credits can seem like 10 when they are crammed into six weeks instead of the usual 15, it seemed a little too much like summer camp and a not enough like the chaos to which I’ve been subjected this week to really count.
What do I mean by chaos? Let me start by saying law school is hard – not because the work itself is hard (although I reserve the right to change my stance on this as the semester progresses), but because the challenge of managing school deadlines requires a different kind of discipline than managing a task list at work.
There’s way too much to do, requiring intense concentration, and not enough solid blocks of time to do it in. I’m up to the challenge as long as I can hole myself away in a secluded study carrel on the top floor of the law library. The mission? To eliminate as many interruptions – however minor – as possible. Each time I’m distracted by something, it adds 10-15 minutes of time when I start reading again to rack my brain for the thoughts that were swimming hazily in the grey matter before I had to change focus. That might not seem like a lot of time, but when you’ve got too much reading and professors breathing down your neck three to four times a day for the “answers,” every second counts.
Despite this challenge, however, I can honestly say I’m floating on a honeymooner’s high: I LOVE law school. (In fact, I have a note on my to do list every day to kick myself for not enrolling in law school earlier.) Think about it: How many times in your life do you have the privilege of dedicating yourself ALL DAY to reading and thinking? And thinking about REALLY interesting things? (Okay, maybe they’re just interesting to me and my dad.)
Take Civil Procedure, for example. Did you know that in Germany, lawyers don’t get to present cases on behalf of their clients? Instead, they are there to assist the judge who calls and questions witnesses and decides which laws have been violated all on his/her own in search of The Truth. This runs somewhat contrary to our notion that everyone deserves their “day in court.” I don’t think that system would work here, where our notion of justice rests on the idea that we each have the opportunity to tell our side of the story. It also seems counter to the idea that there is no single truth, that each of us understands a version of the truth based on our perspective, and that the best we can do is come to some normative legal conclusion about which truth is acceptable given the set of relevant facts. Whew!
In closing, I’d like to share a few nuggets of wisdom from my professors. These won’t help you earn a vicarious J.D. but they might be entertaining nonetheless. (Yes, these are actual, honest to goodness quotes, from my professors, spoken in class this week.)
“You know, people are always optimistic starting a new project. That’s why they get married.” – Professor Contracts
“If you can’t be tall and compelling, wave your arms around a lot.” – Professor Civ Pro
Thanks for the laughs; see ya next week.
Yours truely,
Carry
