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The decision to quit my job, pack a bag and move into the dorm for eight weeks was not one I entered into with relish. In addition to the loss of income and accrual of significant debt, I had to consider the impact on the lives of my boyfriend and our three teenagers. I was certain that I'd blown my entire law school career the first morning of classes. While munching on pastries and swigging juice in the atrium, the first person pointed out to me was professor Berryhill as he poured himself a cup of coffee. That was all the impetus I needed to join the small talk and I blurted out some snide comment about the amount of first day homework professor Berryhill had assigned. The woman next to me asked what I'd thought about the Civil Procedure assignment. Of course I hadn't heard of one and said so. As my luck would have it, I was talking with Professor Kelleher and had just let her know that not only did I not prepare for her first class, but I hadn't even bothered to find the assignment or purchase the book. Lesson number one: when you have not yet been introduced, keep your big mouth shut. This lesson also applies when you are dying to share anecdotal information during a lecture. The summer entry program seemed like a way to ease into law school. I should have taken the hint from my first encounter in the atrium because summer entry is anything but an ease in. In fact, summer entry has the effect of jumping into the deep end of the pool without bothering to first learn to swim. Lesson number two: look before you leap. Students who have finished the summer entry program are always ready to lend a hand or a bit of advice, but when you ask them how they got through they aren't quite sure that they did anything more than survive. Yet, like Greg Hoffman, most say that "summer entry was the best thing I ever did. It was an awesome decision for me." If you ask why it was such a great decision, you get responses like Jason Cecil's "trust me when I say that you will be glad you made the decision to take summer entry status as the year wears on." Lesson number three: law school is an experience best appreciated after it is finished. At this point the only things I know for certain are that I can survive on fewer than eight hours of sleep and that it's nice to understand the inside joke on the ABA Law Student Division invitation letter. You know, the one about no one understanding the law against perpetuities. Of course, after Professor Berryhill's class, this little joke should actually say that only two people understand the Rule against perpetuities. |
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