Last day of class, first day of finals

Before I give you the "here and now" of lawschool, I just want to say that in describing the people her at school, I probably painted a pretty bleak picture. While everyone here, myself included, is arrogant in their own way, I failed to mention that there are some truly great people here. A lot of my friends are compassionate and caring people. As isolated as everyone is here, there is a sense that we're in this together, each fighting our own separate battle, but each battle somehow linked to the other. John for instance, married, two kids, 1 hour commute everyday from San Marcos, purely brilliant. I didn't like him when the semester started, but over the last 3 months, respect for his power of analysis has turnted into admiration. We talk regularly now and his dry wit hits makes me laugh at the most unexpected moments. My study group is a surprisingly refreshing. We studied till past 1 last night. We fought our way through the complicated terms of title 28 of the United States Code and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. We debated and learned, laughed, and yelled all while drinking our tall cups of coffee.

~About school.....
This is probably the last you'll hear from me till mid December. You see, today was our last day of classes. Most of our classes ended Monday and Tuesday. Fittingly, Teeter chose to teach right up until the last day of the semester. He's our most dedicated professor and as hard as he's been on us, it really feels like a parent child, "I just want the best for you," type relationship. He taught for an hour today and ended class with an excerpt of a law journal article he wrote about the dangers of fear, anger and greed in young lawyers. He spoke of resisting the urge to succumb to fear and anger, to resist greed. He described a place where lawyers resist these three mortal sins and live a happy life full of honor and joy. We were all near tears. He finished and said good luck. The class erupted into applause as he exited out a door by his podium.

We'll have him again next year, but it almost felt like we'd never see him again, like he was saying farewell. The reason is that most of us will disappear over the next two weeks. Each of us to a place cluttered with notes and books, laptops and outlines, red pens and legal pads, highlighters and hornbooks. A place without TV or the internet, no cell phones or magazines. We will study, and we will study some more. We'll sleep with our outlines in our hands, eat with future interests flashcards in one hand, a slice of pizza in the other. We'll drink coffee constantly, and focus. The entire semester has come down to one test. Nothing else matters at this point. On Monday we'll leave our nests where we study and test for 3 hours. We'll talk briefly after the exam, trying to pretend we feel ok about how we did, and then we will return to our place of solitude for the next exam. We will think in increments of only subjects property for 3 days straight, contracts for two days straight, torts for three days straight, Civil Procedure for 2 days straight. And then it will happen. The tests will be turned it, time will be called, there will be absolutely nothing we can do. We will sleep, and cry, and laugh with family and friends. We'll read books and magazines that have nothing to do with school. We'll watch movies and play video games, read the paper and talk on the phone. It'll be over, for four weeks at least.

Breaking down

I'm not sure how my friends are doing but I would imagine I'm not the only one hitting the wall right now. My last class ended at 11:00am. I went straight to the library and studied till 6:00 pm. I had to leave. I was tired, frustrated and overwhelmed. I needed a change of venue. Venue determines where a case in federal court will take place. Under U.S.C (United States Code)1391(a)(1) diversity jurisdiction, a claim may be filed in any district where all defendants reside. You may also lay venue in any district where a substantial part of the claim arose. Sorry, where was I? I needed a change of venue. I went to the Medical Center Library and started studying. I put my head down and 45 minutes later I woke up and realized my body was just shutting down.

There are a couple of really bad feelings here at law school. One of them is feeling like everyone else is studying when you're not. As I walked out of the library, I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. I wanted to study, I just couldn't. I felt so guilty. At this point in the semester, you feel like every minute you don't spend studying is a little more that you're falling behind your classmates. A sat in my truck for minute, made the long walk to the apartment and planned on going straight to sleep. Normally my mind starts to shut down at about 1:00am so getting home at 8:00pm and feeling liking I just couldn't go anymore was a terrible feeling.

I couldn't bear it. I grabbed my stuff and headed for Pizza Hut. Change of venue, that's all I needed. You try and play these mind tricks to get your body to do what it doesn't want to do. It worked. I studied for a good hour and a half. I'm home now, still overwhelmed. It's 10:00pm. I'm about to leave to the library to see if I can get a little more done. I just need a change of venue.

Words that describe my time here at St. Mary's Law

Words that describe me....

Tired, worried, sleepy, confused, frustrated, TIRED, upset stomach, insomnia.

Words that describe school...

Competitive, constant pressure, reading, reading, reading, lonely,

Words that describe my friends...

Drunk, know-it-alls! Hard workers, arrogant, arrogant!

At The Library Again

I'm at the library. It feels like I'm always in a library. Either here or at the Medical Center (right by my house). I can stay at the medical center till 12am and be in bed by 12:20. Tests are right around the corner. Less than a month. Everyone here at school is starting to tense up. I think we all go through the same routine. Worry about exams. Go out and by some supplement to help with school. Work on our outlines like crazy. Feel a little better about exams. Then repeat. I can't remember the last time I didn't feel tired. I've gotten to the point where I think about school constantly. I hardly sleep and when I do, I'm dreaming about school and not resting.

Weekend away....

This weekend was my weekend away. Katie was here and she's great. Funny story...

On Friday night, Katie lost a pretty important check. I was really upset and she could tell. So I' brooding around the room looking for the check, knowing I'm not going to find it and Katie says, "Dad, I'll cook the eggs and if I do a good job, will you be happy?" It's amazing how she puts everything in perspective.

I'm celebrating a birthday this week. My parents came up this weekend and celebrated with me. I'm going to be 28 years old. It seems so much like 30. It sounds old but I feel pretty young. I'm happy and hopeful about the future. I've gotta go. I'll post again soon.

As school goes on, I notice myself changing. Not for the better, not for the worse, just changing. I am completely consumed by the law. Rarely does another another topic cross my mind. It's completely normal for law school students to speak to eachother about the law constantly. It doesn't end there. Friends who call inevitably get an ear full of legalese (legal jargon). The other day, I was talking to a friend and in response to whatever she was saying, I said, "A promise for a promise is valid consideration." The odd thing is, I realize that all I do is talk about the law, and I can't stop. I know that the people I'm talking to don't want to hear about it. I realize that I'm doing it. And still, every conversation some how or another ends at the same topic.

I want to further illustrate my point so you can completely understand just how consumed a law student (not just me) really is. I don't really sleep anymore, EVER. What I mean is that I don't rest. I sleep at night but I never feel like I fall asleep. Last night I felt like I had been tossing and turning and hadn't fallen asleep at all. I rolled over to see what time it was. I was pretty shocked when the clock read 4:37. The night before last, I was dreaming that I was in Teeter's class and he was lecturing on res ipsa loquitor (the thing speaks for itself). I woke up and here's the really funny part, I couldn't decide whether I should get up and write down what he was saying because maybe it was something I had missed from class or if I should just go back to sleep. I wrote it on a folder that was on the floor next to my bed. It turned out being something from class that was already in my notes.

The law also gets in the way. Yesterday I fought with one of my very good friends here at school. At the end of the day, I think we both realized that we weren't fighting over anything in particular. The stress of school just gets in the way of relationships. There's no time for keeping in touch with old friends or investing in important relationships. Katie is my one untouched relationship. We never talk about a bargained for promise or evaluating the BPL in negligence cases. She is my complete escape. I hardly think about school when she's here and I find that when she leaves I'm always behind but always refreshed.

Longest Week Yet

This week has been the longest week yet. Here a St. Mary's there is a competition between the four sections of first year students. This week is that week. It's called Battle of the Rattlers but I think it should be renamed to "This is why you shouldn't have run for SBA" or maybe, "Hell Week for 1L SBA Senators" or even, "Let's see how far behind you can get in a week." Well, it started off Monday with a competition after school. Didn't finish till 5:45 then an SBA meeting till 7. Tuesday we had Basketball and it took all night. Yesterday was Football and again we didn't finish till about 7:30. Tonight was something called Red Mass where the legal community comes together and asks for God's blessing over the new Judicial year. After that they celebrate by having a big reception where there will be free food and lots of drinking. Ironic huh. I can see how there's such a high rate of alcoholics in the legal profession. It starts in law school. My friends party pretty hard. They drink to unwind, to celebrate, to forget. I can imagine that finishing school and getting out into the real world where they have to deal with clients and student loans, billable hours and partnerships only makes it worse. I thank God all of the time for the discipline that my parents instilled in me as a child. I've got my hiccups just like everyone else, I'm grateful that a vice like smoking or drinking isn't one of them. I need to get back to work. I just wanted to give everyone something to read. I've noticed the the posts haven't been nearly as creative as in the beginning of school. I notice more and more that the pressures of Law School sap some of the life out of you. Constant pressure. Constant.

Sorry it's been so long...

Sorry it's been so long. I know that some of you check the blog often. It's been pretty busy over here. I wont try and get into everything that's happened since my last post. I haven't had much free time and when I do have free time, I try and do the important stuff like sleep, or eat, or use the bathroom or shave (those of you who have seen me know that shaving isn't something I've done in a while). So today is Monday and it's the beginning of Battle of the Rattlers. A contest between the four sections of 1L's. So to prepare for that I've had to make announcements in our section (65 people) every day for the last week and a half. I had to design a shirt (actually 4 shirts, they voted on one). We voted on the T-shirts and that was a wreck. We finally decided on a shirt and now we're trying to be the section with the most spirit. I've made so many announcements that I'm sure my sections hates hearing me talk. Actually it hasn't been that bad. In our legal writing class we're writing a client letter. I wrote to a client that was fired because he served on jury duty. He wants to bring suit on grounds of intentional infliction of emotional distress. Basically, my letter said, "Sorry buddy, your lawsuit wont fly in court." So I got that in and now I've got two practice tests this week. So much work, behind in some of my reading and I've got a meeting tonight with SBA and competitions all week long. I HATE LAW SCHOOL.

It's Wednesday Already

It's already Wednesday, I can't even believe it. I've studied about 8 hours every single day this week. Big exam today. Actually the test is in about 45 minutes. I've studied hard and test isn't for a grade. Funny thing, the test doesn't count but I've studied harder than i ever did for tests that were graded.

This weekend was great. It was good to be at home and spend time with my family. Sorry I didn't get to see you Becky, next time. I spent time with my family and with Katie. It was good to see Josh and Jordan and Emily. It was good talking to Steve and Jonathan, and great seing Dave and Toni. Thanks for letting me stay at your house, Debbie and Richard. K, I've got to go, talk to you soon.

The Sun Isn't Out

It's only 1p and the day all ready feels like one of the longes of the semester. It's been a busy week. The workload really started to pick up this week. More reading, tougher cases, longer assignments in Research & Writing (a pass/fail course that teaches you how to do legal research). This weekend I'll go home for the first time since coming to lawschool. It'll be an extended weekend, we have fall break. I wont come back till Monday. I'm looking forward to seeing Katie and spending time with her at home. We have birthday parties most of the weekend and while I'll be at all of them, my mind will be here at St. Mary's. This four day weekend is generally the weekend where 1L's start to really work on their outlines for school. That's also my plan. Outlining for a class is a very tedious task. You sit at a table with your school book, class notes, case briefs and supplements and form an outline of the legal rules, exceptions, defenses and applications you've learned. This document at the end of the semester might be up to 40 or 50 pages long and will be the only document you use to study at the end of the semester at finals time. So you can imagine that the outline is very important. Hopefully I'll be able to get some work done.

Grades at lawschool are very different than grades at undergrad which is much like highschool. In most of my classes I'll have one test at the end of the semester which will basically result in my overall grade for the class. You have one test, over everything you've covered from August to December. One shot, once chance.

It's a stressful way

Lost

Once the fee became alienable, the feudal realities behind a conveyance to A "and his heirs" became meaningless. This transformation is vividly illustrated in connection with escheat. Suppose that L conveys land "to A and his heirs" and subsequently A conveys the land "to B and his heirs." Then A dies without heirs. Will the land escheat to L? Soon after Quia Emptores the judges answered no; the land will escheat only if the current tenant of the fee dies without heirs. Thus the fee, which started out a simply a holding, became an alienable fee simple, a freehold estate not terminable at the will of the lord. with an existence all its own.

- Future Interests, Property

Ending Another Week

This by far has been the longest week of the semester so far. It's hard to convey how tired I am. Most of my friends are going out tonight. I had thought about going but I was just to tired to go so what did I do? I came to the library.

On Thursday, I volunteered at a shelter here in San Antonio. 4:00AM to 8:00AM. I picked that shift because I figured I'd be able to do some studying while everyone slept. I was right, I studied till about 6:00 then worked around the shelter for the next two hours. I still haven't fully recovered. I was dragging all day yesterday and although I got a pretty good nights rest, I'm still really tired today.

I'm sure some of you have been wondering about the test. Well I think I did ok. We still haven't gotten our grades back so there's no way to really know. We should have them back this coming week so I'll post as soon as I know.

I'm going to get back to work. One thing, for those of you who still read this, a quick note on email would be great. I don't have much contact to the outside world. My life revolves around this school. So let me know what's happening where you are. Include what's happening in the news because I'm pretty lost when it comes to current events. No cutting and pasting, that takes away from the unique value of your spin on the news so if you have a minute I'd love to hear from you guys.

so tired...

The Big Day

I've got a test tomorrow in civ pro (civil procedure). This test will be the first time that we'll be able to measure our grasp of the law. Nervous, scared, emotional, worried, on edge, all words that describe pretty much everyone of us. It's been normal this week to hear people talking about not getting any sleep or waking up at their desk with their face in a book. I went to bed at 3:30 this morning at woke up at 6:00. With the exception of the 2 1/2 hours sleep, I've been going at it for about 40 hours straight. Up until about 5 hours ago, I really thought I should just drive to Galveston and let the hurricane just take me away. Then it started to come together and I feel pretty confident going in to the test tomorrow. This test will be on a tight curve so a B will be a good grade and a C+ is almost just as good. I'm hoping to be somewhere in that range. And for the fans, Teeter was amazing today, he's absolutely fantastic. Harvard graduate. He was in the top 5 percent of his class. He's a top rate thinker and he brings out the best in us. We've got a professor, Jeff Addicott who was an attorney with the Judge Advocate General (JAG) core. He served in the army and is a terrorism specialist. Pay attention and you might see him on MSNBC or FOX News. Well Teeter loves to make fun of him and create these crazy hypotheticals where Addicott is shooting some other professor or booby trapping the halls in the middle of the night. Well today, Teeter starts class by mentioning hurricane Rita. He says, "Here at St. Mary's, we don't have the most devout staff but we all have some type of spiritual belief. We got together to pray this morning and Mather (property professor) prayed for safety for those in direct harm from the hurricane, Kastely (contracts, kinda cooky) prayed for the poor, and Addicott prayed that he'd have an opportunity to shoot some ludders." The class broke up laughing, and then Teeter shouted about as loud as any bald white guy in a Hawaiian shirt can yell, "LET'S GET STARTED, MR GROSS (he's one of the guys in our class)." We all jumped and then let out a collective sigh, relieved that he didn't call on any of us.

I hate the 24 hour day....

I wish there were more time to study, I woke up today at 7 and started studying at 8. I went to school at 12:30, stopped at a taco place to eat lunch. I had a highlighter in my right hand and a fork with rice on it in the other. I had class from 1:30 to about 4:00. I studied from 4:00 to about 4:45, then a meeting (SBA is planning a community thing for Halloween, Steve I need flyers, color preferably, I can only spend $20). Drove home at about 5:45, finished cooking at 6:30. Ate dinner while I watched TV. Started studying at about 7:15. It's midnight now and I just started to read Teeter which means I'll be up for at least another 2 hours and that's because we only have about 5 pages to read. So I'll go to sleep at 2am and I didn't even get to the legal research homework, the civ pro stuff (I have a test in civ pro on friday) or my law clerck stuff for the lawyer I work for. I don't really know where I could have fit some extra studying in. Alright, back to work.

Insight to our everyday habitat

Room 101 is cold, very cold. A few of us think that the school does this to add to our already nervous condition. You see, sitting in Teeter's class waiting for the clock to hit 9:30, is an extremely anxious time. We're all talking till about 9:29, because we know Teeter's going to start right at 9:30 on the dot! See here we are, already nervous and now sitting in a room that feels like it's about forty degrees. So you can imagine that each and every one of us are shaking in our seats.

People do different things to pass the time in class. Everyone has a little things they do to help cope with the anxiety of being called on. First, there are the Red Bull drinkers. These people drink a Red Bull in every class, or so it seems. Red Bull is an energy drink, consisting of caffeine and sugar. I've never had one but I hear it's a real pick me up. Then there are the "head nodders." These people seem to nodd their heads constantly in class. I would imagine they do this hoping that their head nod of agreement will keep them from getting called on. It's worked so far. A funny thing happened to a head nodder just today. Teeter was ranting about some court opinion and the head nodder was nodding in agreement. All of the sudden, Teeter says, "And then court made the right decision!" She nodded in enthusiastic agreement. Teeter then shouted as he likes to do just to make us all jump (I hear some people with weak bladders have actually peed in their pants a little), "WRONG, the court was wrong." She immediately correct her head nod of agreement to a head nod of disagreement. Sometimes I really think Teeter is just playing a game in class. There are also the screen stairers. These people never look up from their computer screens. I have to admit that I've been in this group on occasions. The theory behind the screen stair is that Teeter can't make eye contact as he prowls around the room looking for his next victim. The last person is the nail biter. This person chews off the nails of their left hand as they take notes with their right. You can tell that they're really nervous. I feel the worst for these people but to tell you the truth, we're all feeling the exact same thing, FEAR.

Busy Busy Busy (Katrina...)

Yeah, it's pretty busy here. Coming off of a weekend with Katie is always busy. Homework to do this morning, class during the day, SBA meeting tonight and studying after that...

I've got Katrina up there in parenthesis because I just wanted to encourage all of you to get involved in the relief effort. We had a big drive here at school that I was able to help out with through SBA and it was really rewarding. I've given blood, donated money and I signed up yesterday at church to help at a shelter. I'm telling you this because it's important that we get involved. Look for ways that you can help. Maybe it's donating blood or volunteering at a shelter. Donate a dollar to Red Cross at HEB or blockbuster. Just wanted to stick that in there!

I'm on my way back to school. I've got a meeting, there's gonna be food there, YAY! Don't have to spend money on dinner. Tomorrow I'll be telling you all about legal research. I think you'll enjoy hearing about this class. So stay tuned in . . .

Coming up for air.....

Hi, I know some of you have been keeping track of the blog pretty regularly. Thanks! I'm sorry I haven't posted but describing my schedule as having a "full plate," would be a drastic understatement. Let me give you a brief run down....

SBA had a meeting Tuesday at 4:30p, discussing a disaster relief effort here at school. Had a soccer game on Tuesday night, I signed up because I need a way to unwind and this seemed to be it. I ran around like crazy and felt like I was in perpetual heart attack mode. Thanks to Steve and Mario, the Perez family now has a "history" of heart attack so I figured I need to start exercising. Wednesday, I was at school by 8:00a or so, Had to sit at the BARBRI table. I'll tell you about BARBRI later on next week. I sat at the BARBRI (pronounced bar-bur-ree) from 10a to 11a, studied from 11:15 to about 1:15, class till 4:00, studied from 5 till about 1. Today was busy too, CLS (Christian Legal Society) meeting at 11:30 (free pizza), PILA (Public Interest Law Association) meeting at 3:15, they do free stuff for the poor, and they had free tacos. I went out tonight and it was my first chance to go out with my section (the 70 other people in my class). We had a little get together at a restaurant called Cha-Cho's. The food was good, there were about 15 or so of us there and we all had a great time. I'm home now and getting ready to work. I also have a job with a great lawyer (he might be reading this) here in town. He was actually a professor of mine at LABI. He's only given me two "projects" but it's new stuff so it takes me a while to get it done. So believe it or not, I've got a busy schedule, no time for anything. I've been working hard to get ahead, Katie will be here this weekend. I can't wait.

I found a church here in San Antonio. It's awesome. I really like it and I think it's perfect for me. K, I've gotta go. I'll post again tomorrow!!!

SBA

For those of you who didn't know, I was running for SBA. I don't even remember if I mentioned this in prior posts but I'll tell you about it now. SBA stands for the Student Bar Association. It's pretty much student counsel for law school. I ran mostly because it looks good on a resume but also because in undergrad, if you can call LABI that I didn't get involved as much as I would have liked to. That's because I was always on some kind of disciplina for getting in trouble but we wont get into that now. Well, I ran for SBA and my campaign slogan was "VOTE FOR PEDRO, OR RALPH PEREZ" The first part of that is from the movie Napoleon Dynomite. I recommend it to anyone who has an hour and a half to waste. It's very dumb and very funny. Well I didn't campaign too much. I just wore a shirt that said "VOTE FOR PEDRO OR RALPH PEREZ" Because it's too early in the semester to know anything about anyone one. I just figured if people knew my name, I'd have a chance. Well I made it, on a funny slogan and name recognition. So there you have it folks, you now know a real live senator, an SBA senator, that's what they call us. I think we even get business cards. I'll have my own designed, did you get that Steve, I NEED BUSINESS CARDS. It's Wednesday and I didn't get to explain that on Monday I realized that the honeymoon period in law school is similar to the honeymoon period in marriage, one week. Reading the cases isn't exciting, it's just work. Oh and I've lost 7 lbs. since school started. That's right, 7 lbs. in 2 weeks. If you've got the $35,000 handy and you want to loose some weight, I suggest you come up. Teeter's class is tomorrow, so that's what I'll be doing for the rest of the evening (my evening ends at 1:00am), studying for Teeter. I hope he calls on me tomorrow, I just want to get it out of the way. I look at it as being sent to the electric chair, let's just get my death over with.

Bad Day

Katie was here this past weekend and I'm going to have to figure out how to juggle being a good dad and being a good law school student. Good dad is more important so I'll figure it out but I was a little behind on monday and that translated to me being very behind today. Fortunately I wasn't the only one. Today in class Teeter (that's the tough guy) asked question after question, most of us were giving the wrong answers and finally he yelled at us, "This is unacceptable. You cannot become lawyers if you wont do the work. Don't come back unless you prepared." I felt really bad. I wasn't prepared and I knew it. That's the last real class of the day. I'm glad.

The Summary

It's only been a week but everything I've been told by upperclassmen is true. After only a week, all I think about is the law. I can't go to sleep because I can't stop thinking about the case I just read. When I do fall asleep, I'm dreaming about class or a case that I've just read. A few very important thing happened this week. First, I disagreed with a judge. Now I know that sounds pretty arrogant but this was a ground breaking experience for me and I think that every law school student notices a difference in the way they go about school after they've done it. Let me explain a little. Law school teaches the law by something called the case method. What that means is that we learn the law by reading the law, or in other words, we're learning by seeing the law applied in cases. It's not the easiest way to learn but it's definitely the most effective way to train someone to think like a lawyer. So in the case books that we read, we read judges written by opinions, wait, see how burned out I am in only a week?! We read opinions written by judges about a case that is being appealed. Well I read a case yesterday and totally disagreed with the what the judge wrote. I saw myself going from reading and learning to reading and making a legal argument. We didn't get to the case today but I had to get what I was thinking out of my head so I approached my teacher after class. I explained what I felt were the crucial issues of the case and why I thought that at trial, p. (plaintiff) could have won on the merits of the case (the facts being argued). She applauded my argument and told me I was on the right track. Then she said it, "I'm impressed that you're dissenting (fancy word for disagreeing with majority opinion of the court) from the ct. (court) so soon in your legal education." I walked away feeling really proud of myself. When we discuss cases in small groups before and after class, almost everyone argues the same points made by the ct. we've been encouraged a number of times in class to always question the ct. opinion and not to assume that the ct. is correct but it's not so easy. When you disagree with the ct., you are basically arguing the losing side of the case. So that was a big step so far in my legal education. Another thing that happened that is important only because of it's significance to me and more funny than anything else, happened today at dinner with my parents. Dad ordered ribs and asked the waitress quietly as he likes to do when he's trying to get something free,
"Do yall (how southern) still have the..."
"Seconds?" the waitress answered, as if she could read his mind, "yes, we do."
When Dad was ready for seconds, he waved her over.
"What would you like? Ribs, potato salad and beans?"
Dad wanted all three of course! She took our ticket like the do at Jalisco when you order another lemonade, thinking that it's going to be free and then they charge you, I HATE THAT...
Ok so she's scribbling on the ticket and she walks away. Mom asks if seconds are free and Dad mentioned that he thought so, and what was I doing you might ask, I was reviewing what had just happened and trying to decide if a contract was formed when Dad implied that he wanted free "seconds" and she answered before he could finish as if she knew what he was asking. Would a reasonable man (that's the test for contracts) have interpreted what waitress (now she's the defendant) said as "yes, we still have free seconds." Was that implied? If it was, would she breach that contract by charging us. If she did breach, could we (the plaintiff) recover damages? Could Dad claim intentional infliction of emotion distress for not getting his free seconds? Dad might actually be emotionally distressed. What ct. would I file in, state or federal? Where would we file, Corpus? Oakville? That's the way my mind is starting to work and it's cool, and frightening all at once. Katie's here, we went swimming and she's going to bed. If I can stay up longer than her, I'm going to....
that's right, study. Thanks to those of you who have emailed. And if any of you already have lawyers, you've got 3 years to get rid of them! I'm going to expect you all to help me get my firm off the ground. And work at the firm too! Mom's doing the books, Dad's going to build the building. Steve's going to design my letterhead and business cards. Mario's going to play live music in the office for the people waiting to see me. Ruth is going to sing. Josh is going to be my personal assitant , Richards going to provide my mats, table cloths ect. Celia's going to make personalized refrigerator magnets for my faithful clients. Debbie's going to sell me malpractice insurance, Selena is going to be my legal secretary and Jordan is going to be in charge of refreshments for the clients. Wait, no Jordan will answer the phones. Anyway, I needed a little time to get some thoughts out and do something other than law school. And now, back to law school.

Day 4

I haven't slept more than 5 hours all week. I'm tired, I've got a headache that never seems to completely go away. I constantly feel like I've forgotten something at home, in my truck, in my locker or at the library. I feel like I'm playing a game with law school. I'm losing.

Enough Said...

Torts (a first year law course) starts at 9:30a. The following is the conversation that took place between professor and student at 9:30:01 (that's one second after 9:30). Note the absence of, "Good morning class," from the professor.

Prof. Teeter: Miss Mazer what was the defenses strongest 3 arguments in Vosburg v. Putney

Mazer: Um, the um defense (she was speaking pretty softly but she was also in the front row)

Teeter: Speak up Miss Mazer...

Mazer: The defense....

Teeter: Are you speaking English? Because I can't understand a word you're saying!

Mazer: Their strongest argument was...

Teeter: Who's strongest argument?

Mazer: The defenses strongest argument was the preexisting condition of the plainti . . .

Teeter: (Interrupts her mid sentence) No, No, you obviously need co-counsel.

Class went on like this for 70 minutes. It was great.

The First Day......

Couldn't sleep last night, not at all. I got up this morning about 6:00 and made it to a small little Mexican restaurant down the street from the school at about 7:30. I thought I might be able to look over a case before class. I walked into the restaurant and I couldn't believe how loud the music was. I still read, and could concentrate fairly well. I think this will be my morning spot on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

I was pretty disappointed with my first class, I honestly thought it would be intense. It wasn't. After that class I went to the library to finish up some work for my afternoon classes. I studied in a small room with two other guys from my section. We talked about class, school, the law (we don't know enough to talk intelligently about the law but we tried). I ate calabasa con pollo for lunch, leftovers from yesterday (I'm trying to save money). Class in the afternoon was great, Civil Procedure was really good, most students don't like it but I think I will. My last class, contracts, was great. Our teacher called on students, asked tough questions, it was great! I got home at almost 8 pm and I still have work to do. I'm hoping to be in bed by 11, wish me luck.

I'm Finally Here

Well, I'm finally here. The last two days have been very busy getting a feel of what law school will be like. Orientation started yesterday and was very exciting. During the Dean's address to the students, he commented on a case he had tried in New Mexico and as he spoke I felt an excitement I haven't felt in a long time. I'm very excited at the idea that in three years I could be studying to take the Texas State Bar Exam. It's Friday night now and I'm studying. I've got about 120 pages to read before Monday 50 of those are for one class alone. I'd be lying if I said that I'm as confident as I was before I got here. Part of me is screaming, "Oh my God, what did I get myself into." It's pretty comforting to know I'm not the only person feeling this way. Today, my friend Jennifer asked me if I ever think of calling it off and moving to Mexico. I laughed and then she stared at me without smiling and said, "I'm serious." I think she was. So school officially starts on Monday. We had an opportunity to meet all of our profs (professors) and the hardest one, Teeter, walked in, went to the front of the room and said, "I'm professor Teeter, your assignment is posted, be prepared to hit the ground running on Monday, I wont take up any more of your time," and walked out to all of us laughing. I think we were all really just trying to mask our uneasiness about that class. I started reading one of my assignments in bed last night. It took me about 2 hours to read 12 pages. The baseball game on ESPN was definitely a distraction but I the reading was really difficult. I had my book in one hand, Blacks Pocket Law Dictionary in the other. I had a really hard time following what the other was trying to say. I gave up at about 11:00 and went to bed. My apartment still isn't ready for visitors (sorry mom) but it will be before Monday. I still don't have a desk or a table to eat on so if any of you are feeling generous, send me an email. For those of you which are reading this for the very first time, which is all of you. I thought this would be the easiest way to let my family and friends know what was happening here at school. Check back when you have time. I'll try to post as often as I can. If my phone is off, it's because I'm at school or studying. I'll try to return voicemails and emails as soon as possible. Love you guys!!!!

It's almost time for school

I'm only about 2 weeks away from the beginning of school. I'm about to be a St. Mary's 1L and I still don't think it's hit me yet. I don't think it'll really hit me till I actually sit in a class room and feel what it is really is to be a law student. I can't wait to get to San Antonio and get settled in. I've already moved all (most) of my stuff to my new apartment in the medical center area of San Antonio. My apartments cool, hopefully it will be a nice comfy refuge from school.

So you know what's going on . . .

I'm going to try and post as often as I can. I want all my family and firends to know what's going on here at school