Even a night student needs unbroken study time, so after my first semester I made a policy of taking a day off of work the day before each final exam. My grades skyrocketed almost instantaneously; an unbroken day of peace and mental preparation seemed to be the key to excellent performance. It hasn't failed me yet.
Today, however:
- Someone has been hammering in the apartment above me for about three hours now. There is no end in sight, as some new contractors just walked over there.
- I can't stop thinking about all of the work I have to do tomorrow afternoon; I work at a municipal law department and I am responsible for the preparation of the prosecutor's files for next week.
- Coffee is not clearing my mind; and does not seem to be fueling me with a passionate intellectual drive.
Frankly, I'm academically panicked; I can not concentrate, and I have five hours to perfect a paper for my Judaic Law course. Then I have another seven hours to master Civil Procedure.
Despite the positive attitude I try to maintain about school, I must admit there are moments when I definitely feel I am drowning.
I keep in close touch with the student mentor I was assigned my first year. He's now a federal attorney with the U. S. Department of Homeland Security's Bureau of Customs & Border Protection; he's proved to be a wealth of comfort and wisdom at the times I most needed those things. In response to a panicked email I shot off this morning, he assures me:
"You're going to be fine. Mark my words: in a couple years, you'll have an awesome job and will be happy and fulfilled. I know that doesn't make getting through today or tomorrow any easier when you're actually going through it, but I personally remember having several of those days. You'll make it though. Days like this will be a distant memory."
When the panic really surges, I remember his words from orientation:
"Sometimes it's going to seem like law school is just three or four long years of hazing, and those who make it through are the ones who get the J.D.s."
* * *
Tomorrow is Law Day, by the way. The City Club of Cleveland is putting on a great event, and if you are in the area and interested at all in Death Penalty issues, give it a look. I'd be there, but I'll be purging my brain of Civil Procedure.
3 comments:
Less Latin and more references to bodily functions, like purging and using the sandbox.
Where is today's post? Did you finish your paper? How was the test? Law Day is over by now. Those of us who roam the blogosphere demand details!
I apologize for the delay! I will definitely be more prompt :) I do try to use the word 'purge' as much as possible.
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