Begin the Beguine

I still haven't figured out what a beguine is. I guess I should just google it, but I like a little mystery in my old jazz standards, don't you?

15 days until it's over. A whole year of law school behind me. I can't wait. However, I could probably do without the 2 weeks leading up to that amazing moment.

Last semester, our reading period was about 3 days, and each of our professors was trying to hold last minute review sessions. It made finals time feel even more stressful than it was. This semester we have a whole week to study. I'm finding that this is both good and bad. All this extra time means that I can schedule my studying better for optimal learning ability. However, all this extra time leads to a strong desire to slack off and take a couple hours away from work. That is not acceptable.

Studying for finals is a lesson in marathons. By the end of it, you're bleary-eyed and can't think straight anymore. Your head is filled with law, and your brain is just dying for a break. You can't sleep, however, because all of a sudden in your dreams you've forgotten what "cover" means in a contract for goods and you have to check it on your outline right that second. Nothing else will do. It is one of the most exhausting things I've ever had to do, and I've never done anything like it before.

In undergrad, even my hardest finals were only given 3 hours of study time. And that time was spent on the couch, relaxing with roommates while we watched tv. Not exactly the worst time of my life. Studying for finals in law school involves blocking yourself away from the rest of the world, headphones in to block noise, staring at notes and your computer screen for hours at a time. Sometimes you get company in the form of a study group. Today's involved absolutely ridiculous hypotheticals for criminal law.*

The point is, this is the worst part of the semester. I did a full twelve hours today, and I felt LAZY.

If it's the worst, at least it's also the shortest. 15 days.

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*Today we killed Baby B in a variety of ways trying to figure out what the appropriate mens rea was for different degrees of murder. I don't think he appreciated the humor.