One More To Go

My last exam, Property Law, is tomorrow. I will have written 4 of 5 exams for this exam period. I've put off Contracts Law for January. My professor has agreed to let me write it after the break, although it won't count no matter how I fare. From what I can tell, about 1/2 to 2/3 of my class wrote 4 or more exams. About 1/5 only wrote the mandatory two.

After my exam tomorrow, we are heading straight to Internet-free rural America so I will be unable to post. I hope you enjoy your holidays and I will continue these updates in 2005.

A bientot,

Procrastinating with Time

Here is a Letter to the Editor of Time Magazine that I wrote in response to Bush being dubbed ;) Person of the Year:

I am appalled that Time Magazine has chosen Mr. Bush as Person of the Year. As an American, I am disgusted that he is our leader. Wherever I travel in the world I find myself apologizing for his childish, cowboy antics. He displays the worst side of America and he does us a disservice as president.

Time Magazine should be ashamed. Mr. Bush is among the least deserving as Person of the Year. I would rather have seen Mr. Schwarzenegger on your cover than the bumbling buffoon in the White House. Although if Time cared about its readers, it would have recognized the zeitgeist of the day and given the moniker to bloggers.

Bloggers are the rising stars of our time. Putting a politician on the cover is so passé; displaying our cowboy-president on Time Magazine is myopic.

Sincerely,

First Final Completed

Congrats to all first year Queen's students! By the time you read this, you will have completed your first final exam. Some us had a 3 hour sprint while others had a take-home marathon. Public Law is certainly not my favourite subject, but the exam wasn't too bad - now for the purge. ;)

And we move onto exam #2: Criminal Law. Thankfully, if we screw it up then it won't count.
:)

To Write or Not to Write

Study Habits

This exam period has revealed the various study habits of law school students. Some students have cloistered themselves away and severed all communication. Within this category, some students have gone to the extreme of leaving the city and squirreling themselves in non-Queen's libraries. At the other extreme, other students are reaching out, seeking conversation and collective understanding on the topics we've covered. Classrooms are booked and opinions are impassioned.

Of these groups, I think most of us are caught somewhere in the middle. The library is teeming with students who seek both private study and social energy. They seem to feed off the energy of their neighbours, while at the same time, they block out any direct contact with their music.

Maybe the next blog quiz (like this one) will be: what type of studier are you?

Which exams to write?

Of the 5 exams we have scheduled to write, only 2 will count for sure. The remaining 3 are "optional" - if our grade helps it'll count, if not, no sweat. You can imagine what's happening. Many classmates are choosing to focus just on the 2 exams that count without spending any time on our others.

In a way, it makes sense. I've heard that for Criminal Law, the prof says in January that we will be tested just on the second semester material for the final. So, we could not write the midterm, forget everything from the first four months and ultimately, we'd be fine! Kinda weird.

My plan: I think I'm going to prepare for all, but I may end up not writing them all.

T minus 5 days

The first law school exam that will count is in 5 days. It is our midterm for Tort Law. We had our last classes on Thursday and our professors each gave us different advice going into the exams. Some said to "have fun". Others said "we don't care if you choose not to write, it means less marking for us". I think most students are concentrating their studies on the only final exam we have before us: Public Law. It counts for the most.

Anyhow, I probably won't be posting much in December. To all the readers who are in the midst of exam preparation: good luck. To everyone else: please send us your positive energy.

LawDork gets Mac

Another law school student just bought a Mac. Sweet.

From LSAT to MT

Wow, a year ago I was studying vigorously for the LSAT, and now I'm studying for law school midterms. Sometimes it seems like life is just one set of hoops after another. In the beginning, we have to be the first one to crawl, then we have to get the best marks in school, then we have to bill the most hours within the firm, then we have . . . It just goes on and on.

What did my philosophy professors keep repeating to me? It's all about the process. OK, I think I need to repeat that to myself. Enjoy the path - it's not about the results. Yeah right. ;)