Orientation: Day One

I want to say a quick word about my first day of orientation. Why does the strategy of law school socialization mean you just throw 200 students into a room and say, 'okay, go make friends'? It's so awkward and uncomfortable. If they just got down to classes, people would eventually get to know each other and I wouldn't have had to hang out with a bunch of people today who I'll probably never speak to again.

I had forgotten how obsessed people are with football. I shouldn't be surprised, it is the Midwest after all. But damn, people, develop some other interests will you? Still, this is law school, so maybe appearances are deceiving. These are serious people, so maybe the football talk is just the ice breaker conversation topic for the first few days. I was, however, the oldest person I met all day. I am also well past my clubbing days, so I felt quite old and lame while everyone else talked about how hung over they were this morning. I did not meet any other married people, but there must be some, because at the cookout, some people brought their children.

With regard to the cookout--yes, I ate. I had a burger--and it was damn good too. They also served these gigantic bratwursts that looked ludicrously phallic, but the girls in the group I sat with were digging in, so, I lost my inhibitions. Plus, the grilling just smelled so good, I could not resist.

I also got the very welcome news that the orientation Intro to Law course has a much heavier workload than the term-time classes. I don't know if that means per class or overall. If it means overall, I will be extremely pleased, but I felt I could definitely handle that amount of work. Yet I suspect it is the former rather than the latter.

I did not get switched into the section I requested. Another person in my orientation section randomly got switched into my preferred section without even asking for it. I'm telling you, I'm on someone's shit list somewhere.

In the welcoming remarks, the dean of the school said something very interesting. She said that there are no law prodigies--good lawyers are not born, they are made. Ojala.

Finally, a word on dress: I don't want to go too far off topic, but I dressed up a bit for the first day of orientation on the advice of several people including Denis Jansen, whose advice I usually rely upon, without hiccup. I was one of the best dressed people there. I wore a pencil skirt of dress fabric, a GAP t-shirt and a black cardigan on top. I think I struck the right balance between professionalism and casual ease. Apparently not many other people felt that was necessary. I think it reflects poorly on them, and I'm going to keep dressing in a way that makes me feel comfortable. I want in every respect to put my best foot forward since this is the beginning of my career. Special thanks to Huma.

Tomorrow is our first class and our first exposure to Socratic method. I'm staying cool though. No sweat.

What I'm Doing to Prepare for Law School

Now that I’m a 0L, I’ve been getting full swing into the 0L thing. What am I doing to prepare for 1L?

I have been advised over and over and over again that the summer before 1L should not be spent trying to learn law because

a.) You won’t understand anything anyway and

b.) The first year of law school is a very brief and intense period before which you should rest, relax and gird yourself for the forthcoming work.

The advice from a British book called Letters to a Law Student by Nicholas J. McBridge is that if you get your books and can study the first few chapters of each, you’ll be a little bit ahead when school starts.

A friend of mine who just graduated from the University of Pomorum Law School this past year has also advised me that I should just try to enjoy myself. He said that once school starts, things will not be bad, just different.

I told him I was only worried about wearing myself out enjoying myself this summer. For one I’m going on a million vacations. I just came back from Scotland. In a few days, I’m going to go to Ireland. Then I’m going to Boston for a family reunion. After that I’m going to visit my brother-in-law where he and his fiancé live. I won’t say where, but I will say it will include a beer brewery tour and a fancy new modern art museum.

After that I’m helping The Economist move to Cowville, then returning to Pomorum City for the briefest of moments before the school year actually starts!

McBride has a few more pieces of advice. First, he suggests that although you shouldn’t read law, you should read a lot to get used to the volume of material. Second, he suggests you should read things you won’t have time to read in school, particularly about different subjects to law. He also suggests that you read a study skills book well before school starts. Third, he thinks you should cultivate an interest in politics and economics. Scott Turow also has an interesting take on this issue, which I will write about later.

Following that advice, here is my reading list for sliz-ummer 2010:

One L—Scott Turow DONE

Never Let Me Go—Kazao Ishiguro DONE

King Leopold’s Ghost—Adam Hochschild ALMOST done

Infidel—Ayaan Hirsi Ali

Gilead—Marilynne Robinson

Moby Dick—Herman Melville

The Rule of Law—Tom Bingham

1000 Days to the Bar—Tonsing

1L of a Ride—McClurg

Succeeding in Law School—Ramy

I might also add a straight study skills book to the mix because I seem never to have developed those myself.

I’ve also been reading from the blogs, such as this post by Dennis Jansen, about what law students should be wearing to orientation and beyond. I’ve realized that my wardrobe is not suited to a semi-professional environment and that I will have to remedy this once I get back to Pomorum City. I do not want to veer too far into a non-law related subject, but I do think that the way you dress is important to the way you are viewed as a professional. It sucks, but there it is.

I feel the following is a delicate issue.

I have always had difficulty finding clothes that fit well and this is especially problematic when it comes to professional dress. You don’t want to look sloppy, or unkempt, or vulgar. The way I see it is that, far from being fashionable, you should try to look so effortlessly well-maintained and well-groomed that your clothes become a non-issue. There should be nothing positive or negative that stands out about your clothes, so that your work and your manner come through as the strongest impression left upon people. Office politics being what they are I know it is impossible to completely escape scrutiny of one’s clothing, especially if one happens to be a woman who works with other women. I want to stick, so far as it is possible, to my ‘ethic’ or philosophy of workplace clothing.

Consequently I’ve realized that I have to lose some weight. I am about to say something controversial, without apology; it’s just what I think at the moment:

You can be a fat man and still be viewed as a professional. It is harder for a fat woman to be viewed as professional.

Women’s clothing always affects the way they are perceived professionally more than men’s. I will see in time if this opinion in correct.

Anyway, I have to get into shape. Since appearances are so important, I’m just going to take this as part of my ongoing professional development. It wouldn’t hurt to be a bit healthier too.

I also got some pre-orientation reading in the mail from Pomorum. I had to fill out the FAFSA for the first time as an independent. It turns out I am eligible for the low-interest student loans, but I think for the first year, I will be able to pay from my savings. And since I will not be paying rent, my living expenses are going to be quite small. I want to delay taking out loans for as long as possible. Luckily, The Economist has full funding and a stipend at Cow College, so we will keep our debt load relatively low. Still, we will end up at least $100,000 in debt between us. This is an amount of money I cannot possibly conceptualize right now, so I won’t try. I think, like most people my age, I’ll just think about it later. What else can we do?

I’m off to continue ‘preparing for law school’ by enjoying the crap out of myself.