1. I own a rolling backpack. It actually looks more like really thick rolling briefcase, but you get the idea. There's a story behind it. My 1L year, my mom got all excited about the fact that I could get a laptop with financial aid. As she's a Very Important Computer Person at a major military base and has worked with computers since they took up whole rooms and even did computer stuff for the White House for a decade or so, I knew I could trust her to pick out a kick-ass laptop. Kick my ass it did, not to mention my shoulders and lower back. When the Dell Inspiron 9100 arrived at my house the day before I was scheduled to move to Austin, my feelings were mixed. On the one hand, I was all, "ZOMG! My very own laptop!!!11ONE" and on the other hand I was all, "Erm, Mom? WTF." The laptop weighed about 10lbs, not counting the power cord. It broke the strap of the bag I had planned to use with it. I was in need of a new bag, and one that could handle the weight. Not knowing the stigma associated with rolling backpacks, I bought one. After the first few days of school, I hated it and just stopped bringing my laptop at all. It now takes up space in my apartment because I'm horrible at ever getting rid of things. But I do own a rolling backpack.
2. I read all of my assignments twice before the first day of school. Every semester I tell myself that this time I'm going to do things right. This time I'm going to go to class every day, keep up with my reading, take reading notes, and start outlining right away so that it doesn't stack up at the end. This delusion begins with me reading my first-day assignments twice and writing detailed notes. This gunner-like behavior lasts approximately two days--the two days before class starts.
3. I have a five-color highlighting system. It used to be six colors, but my yellow ran out really quickly and I had to go down to five. Pink= Case name, judge, court, conclusion, holding, and procedural stuff that may be worth noting. Green= facts. Orange= reasoning. Purple= concurring and/or dissenting opinions. I'm pretty good about keeping this consistent, but every now and again I forget to switch and so some of the reasoning is in green. Oops.
4. I am a closet gunner. If I like the professor and the subject enough to keep up with my reading, I will raise my hand in class every day. I never have weird hypos, though. I'm just not that creative, I suppose. I think my need to speak in class stems less from my need to show everyone how ZOMG!SMRT I am, and more from my inner attention whore. (I just pretend that my classmates are paying attention when I'm called on instead of buying things on eBay.)
5. I have watched The Paper Chase and read parts of One L. Neither really appealed to me, and I didn't finish them, but I did give in just to see what they were about. Both seem pointless.
6. I had Harry Potter stickers all over my locker. I'm actually not at all embarrassed about this.
- Location:kitchen table
Profile
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
amicus__curiae- Ruth
Comments
The movie concludes with the student on summer break at the beach tossing his grades into the ocean without so much as opening the envelope.
The movie was made in the '70s, and it really doesn't have anything to do with law school as it exists now. There are only two reasons to watch this movie. First, the video store is out of every other movie. Second, you really want to see Timothy Bottoms in his early work. Timothy Bottoms, who plays the lead in The Paper Chase, is probably now best known for his role as W. on That's My Bush!--a role in which he apparently was so successful that he was later hired to play Bush in a cable TV drama about 9/11. (Bonus for Ruth: Bottoms has also taken many small and single episode roles in several other tv shows, including one last season in Grey's Anatomy)
So, if you are looking for that sort of depth of knowledge regarding a minor actor, have a look at The Paper Chase. Otherwise, it's not really worth 2 hours out of your life, especially if you're watching it to get some insight on law school.
Much the same can be said about Scott Turow's ONE L. Originally published in 1977--probably in response to The Paper Chase which was released in 1973--ONE L doesn't have much to say about the current state of law school. Beyond that, it is a rather flatly written account of the first year from someone who was never too bothered or stressed by the whole experience. Turow didn't leave me with the impression that, as is actually common with many 1L's, his personal identity was wrapped up in his success in law school.
As I have mentioned, one should remember when looking to these supposedly classic examinations of law school that they both were made in '70s. That is important because it has only been in more recent years that it has actually become difficult to get into top tier law schools. In the past much fewer people actually tried to attend law school and it was consequently easier to get into the school of your choice. (On top of that, the LSAT was a half day test in '70s and didn't include the much condemned logic games. It did include, laughably in my opinion, a Reading Recall section and a section that was formerly entitled "Editing.") Nonetheless, since the admissions process is competitive now, it is much less important for the actual classes and class experience to be competitive or otherwise stressful. And those who have been through it know that the class experience isn't really all that bad.
So, here's my suggestion for those looking for insight into law school: Go to your house, take off your pants, and it on a wooden chair. Then squarely punch yourself in the nuts.
Welcome to UT, 1Ls!
--RCD
5:15 to SOAP!