Oh yeah, I'm actually a law student. Not much of one, though; today was the first time this semester that I was completely prepared for both of my classes. I'm having trouble getting it together. Pre-baby I did all my reading in advance, reviewed my notes at the end of the week, even showed up at office hours on occasion. Post-baby? I'm only taking three classes and am weeks (and hundreds of pages) behind in two of them.
Con Law: Dear lord, the class is filled with 2Ls. They are uber-enthusiastic and engaged and have clearly read every word. And then there's me, shopping for boots online. I have become what I once hated.
IP: Along with Con Law, a very theoretical class. Red flags went up when the professor said, "What do we think about this, as lawyers and philosophers?" I am terrible at this type of class. Prof has an interesting point of view on the whole IP system, but the entire class consists of fast-paced intellectual discussion. Meanwhile, I have barely slept in days and am concentrating as hard as I can but can't process fast enough. And did I mention that the textbook, which we're supposed to have read 300 pages of, is still sealed in its box? I have a feeling my GPA will plummet this semester.
Tax: Hooray! A good old statutory class... with math! There's lots of policy, too, but it's actual policy and not abstract theorizing. I may even take corporate tax with the same professor next semester despite his penchant for 8 a.m. classes. This is the only class I have consistently kept up with (and probably my only chance at a decent grade).
I was disappointed that I didn't get to take a clinical this semester -- one of my law school goals was to do one each semester -- but the way things have been going, I'm relieved not to have another huge time commitment. Next semester, I hope.
People keep asking me how I'm managing the school/family balance. Now you know. I'm not managing it. Things are looking up: as of this week, my big time-sucking extracurricular has calmed down (to about 6-8 hours a week instead of 20+) and after this weekend's wedding, we'll be in town for a solid month and a half until Thanksgiving. I'm starting to dig myself out of this hole, but I may just have to write this semester off and try to start over in the spring.
