Two Sides of Law School

Well, I got my first legal writing project back, Memo 1. And... (Cue dramatic music)
I didn't do nearly as bad as I thought. That's not to say things were great, but there were actually a couple of pages that escaped the wrath of the instructor's pen. There were some small things here and there, as well as some big things here and there. I do think that she could have been a bit more diplomatic in some of her comments, though.

Examples:

"You handle the [first section] in a competent and conventional manner."
Implying that the remainder of my paper was handled incompetently?

"You jump from rule statement straight to conclusion without the merest glance at applications of... facts"
Well, I had discussed the facts earlier. If you think I should restate them, fine. But you could find a nicer way of writing it.

The commentary was also lacking in remarks about the paper in general. Generally good, generally bad... hard to say for sure. But I guess I should be thankful for the fact that there was actually some positive comments (heck, the first part was competent!). Overall though, it wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. Which may all mean a bigger setup for a fall come the return of Memo 2 (and the grade).

In other news, today my CivPro prof donned a Burger King kid's meal crown for class during our discussion of the case Burger King v. Rudzewicz.

But the big news of the day: Alex being social at the law school.

Yeah, let that last sentence sink in for a minute. Completely different from my usual routine (and, some might hasten to add, a bit out of character). It started right after legal writing. A bunch of us commiserated over the experience of getting the memo back, which led to a bigger discussion in general. One of my classmates even sent me an invite to the new Google email system, GMail (so if you want to send me a big file, email me at lxraptor@gmail.com). I then went out to lunch with two fellow 1Ls, and had a good laugh over the ridiculousness of yesterday's diversity seminar and even discussed Star Wars for a little bit. Finally, I joined a few other people at a bar this evening to watch the Presidential Debate. And talk about law. 'Cause that's what law students do. So in one day I probably socialized more than I have since getting here. And with three different groups of people, no less. Will this streak continue? Or will Alex return to his hermit ways of laborious hours spent toiling alone in the law library? Only time will tell - so stay tuned.