Law Camp Survival and then Some

Well, I have officially done it. And it is: moved to Law School Town, USA, survived Law School orientation (including the first brief and the first memo and watching two other kids in our "law firm" conduct the first client interview -- that third task was really a hardship).

I'm not going to pretend that orientation was exactly pleasant, at least not the first few days. Being the oh-so-perky people person that I am, you can only imagine how please I was to have to make small talk with strangers for several days.

Another thing to make Wednesday even more enjoyable is when the woman instructing us on doing case briefs decided to showcase the "Socratic" method on us by calling on me. I suppose I stumbled through an answer well enough, but it took at least a month off my life to her "Ms. me" called.

Luckily, Wednesday evening was kind of the turning point. Our law firm senior partner (aka, our professor) knew the key to loosening us up: garbage can frisbee and beer pong in the law school lobby. Well, technically, our law firm was supposed to be meeting in one of the classrooms, but it was locked, so we moved our par-tay to the lobby. By the end of the night, we'd all kind of bonded, which made it significantly easier to find someone to sit next to during orientation on Thursday and Friday.

I spent a large portion of the weekend reading for my first classes in Torts, Criminal Law, and Civil Procedure, probably from about 9am to 4 on Saturday and 11 to 3 on Sunday. I'm told we'll get quicker as the semester goes on, so I'll hold my breath for that day to come. I've had all three classes so far, and all the professors are pretty engaging. I really enjoyed Torts and Criminal Law today, but I am currently procrastinating reading Pennoyer v. Neff for Civ Pro. I've been working on it for over an hour and only gotten through like 6 pages. The professor said it was probably the most difficult 1L case, but I can't help wondering if it'll be like this every night for Civ Pro. It doesn't help that I keep finding things to distract me; the Torts and Crim Law readings hold my attention much better.

Well, I suppose I better returned to Civil Procedure: A Contemporary Approach. If you're suffering from insomnia, you might want to check it out, too.

(Speaking of books, but this time one that won't put you asleep, I just started reading the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, at the suggestion of a pal. Fair warning: they are children's books, but I'll be damned if they don't capture the imagination, especially if you're an Ancient Greek nerd like me.)

The Doomsday Key by James Rollins

James Rollins' Sigma Series is some of my guilty favorite pleasure reading and the newest installment, The Doomsday Key, reminded me why I love hanging out with the Sigma Force characters. I love that the book brings us back to Gray, Seichan, Rachel, Monsignor Verona, Kowolski, Painter, Monk, Kat, and Lisa each time. I love these little glimpses we get into their lives, as they strive to keep the Guild from getting their hands on important and deadly historical and scientfic artifacts.

Rollins is a master at weaving science and history together, and puts in just enough romance to satisfy the girly side of me and enough action to fulfill the rough-and-tumble side. I also love that there's always true history and science forming the background of his stories, so the reader is always learning.

Definitely give these books a try if you want to lose yourself in a race between good and bad as they move towards historical and scientific truths.