Monday, August 16, 2010

Start of 2L year brings mixed emotions, new shoes

Today is the first day of the school year for upper-division law students. As I scurried around organizing my office and books last night, I realized that the mix of excitement and hope that I felt at this time a year ago was, well, a bit faded. I am sure that other 2Ls and 3Ls feel the same way. Back to the stress, back to the crushing work load, back to not earning a paycheck, etc, etc. At the same time, it could be a lot worse. This morning, as I cruised through the Highlands and Old Louisville on my motor scooter, my attitude perked up. The sky was a crisp blue, the temperature was something less than 140 degrees, and it truly felt like the first day of school. There are certainly drawbacks about being in law school (see above sentence about crushing work load), but in general I am still very happy to be here. My knowledge of the law after one full year of school is embarrassingly small, and I look forward to adding new layers of legal armor to my resume. Here is my schedule (with last name of instructor):


  • Constitutional Law (Trucios-Haynes)
  • Evidence (Powell)
  • Professional Responsibility (Ewald)
  • Business Organizations (Blackburn)
This is going to sound corny, but I look forward to engaging with each of these professors in the months to come, both inside and outside the classroom. Each of my professors has impressive credentials, which you can read about by clicking here. And while the reading assignments can be unrelenting, life could be far worse without the case study method. Each legal rule is embedded in the narrative of a lawsuit, complete with characters, plot, and moral. Sure, we have to read about 115 pages of them each day,  but as an English major I am grateful for a little story time. Finally, my wife bought me new shoes (see photo, above right) last week, completely unsolicited, and it's hard to have a rough first day of school with new shoes, no matter what happens.