Off the Hook

I'm under the impression that the Criminal Law professor checks students off her roster as she calls on them so as to call on each student once during the semester. If so, I scored a coup by being called on toward the end of class today. Ten minutes of light questioning about the eighth amendment, and I can relax for the rest of the semester.

Taking Notes

If you've ever wondered what exactly I do all day, here's a representative page from my Torts notebook. The black ink is notes I took while reading. The red ink was added in class. The letters down the left margin stand for "Facts", "Issue", "Rule", "Analysis" and "Conclusion". Those five parts of an opinion were drilled into us from day one of orientation. Pi and Delta, if it's not obvious, are "Plaintiff" and "Defendant". In the fall, I produced sixty or eighty pages like this in each of the four substantive law classes.

Seating Settled

I scored my Contracts seat (my most desirable seat, it being on the aisle) for Civil Procedure, so all's right with the world. I can tell already that my seat assignment in Criminal Law is going to be a pain. My neighbor spent all of today's class checking Facebook and shopping online. I was flabbergasted. Who can be bored by a discussion of murder and cannibalism? And why would that person go to law school?

Back in the Groove

For the first time since the new semester started, I was happy to be at school today. In fact, classes were over at 2:00 PM and I was completely caught up on my reading, but I decided to hang around in the library and do some extra work just because I wasn't ready to leave. I fully expected to stay in a foul mood until fall grades were posted, but I can't help myself. School is fun.

Criminal Law Shows Promise

Torts was a fun class. I was sorry to see it go. Fortunately, Criminal Law looks like a worthy replacement. The professor seems easygoing despite her background as a military lawyer, and the material cannot but be interesting. The assigned reading for the second class includes a 19th century cannibalism case, for goodness sake.

Seating Chart Madness

I had hoped that everyone would stick to their old seats for the new semester, but no such luck. It's the August scramble all over again, and this time I've found myself in a different chair for every class. I need to draw myself a diagram before I forget them all. Civil Procedure meets for the first time tomorrow, so that will be a fourth chair to remember.

More Reading

The first day of class is Monday the 12th, and several professors have posted reading assignments online. You'd think that a three week break would leave me fresh and motivated, but I dread getting back on the treadmill. Starting the spring semester without having grades for the fall is a real morale killer. It's almost as if the administration wants the students to feel like all this work is a futile waste of energy.