11.29.2001
As autumn fades into still winter, the leaves outside my fourth floor window here at the law school are curling in on themselves, browned. Like this semester's days, they have almost all fallen to the ground.
Exams loom so far in the future, they barely seem real. Such is the weirdness of January exams. I plan on doing the least studying I can manage over the holiday that begins in a mere two weeks. Until then, though, it's time to grind through the rest of the semester's reading - I'm sending a pile of cover letters and r´sumés out at the end of this week, so that task is done for now. I would love to secure something before Christmas, but I wouldn't be heartbroken if I do not. Many months remain in this school year, before the spring fades into summer.
On another note, I am exceedingly pleased that evidence of the Christmas holiday is appearing around me, everywhere I look. Nothing cheers me more than this season of lights juxtaposed by darkness, of snow falling outside warm windows, of the simple ease of family conversation. This semester has been the most rigorous of my academic career, in that it has made me humble, curious, and exhausted; all challenges, though, subside for a few moments during the holidays. I look forward to it, as I always have.
I also look forward to many vacation days spent at Sarah's side after this long semester apart. One more after this to go, and it will be summer, we will be planning our wedding, we will be back under the same roof. I look forward to that day most of all.
posted 9:14 AM
11.16.2001
It's been nearly a month since I last opined within this space; I figured it was about time to post an update.
Thanksgiving looms, and with a mere three-four weeks left of classes before we are given a month to prepare for our oh-so-consequential final exams, I think few in my section feel as if the semester is gelling in any particular way. We have much ground to cover in all our classes before December 14, so after the break next week, it's a heads-down charge through the complicated doctrinal morasses of Civil Procedure, Torts, and most frighteningly, about a half-a-semester's worth of Contracts. Then, a month-long purgatory before exams. On the upside, the doctrinal explications that are proceeding in all three classes are holding my interest and raising absolutely fascinating debates about the role of the judiciary and the costs and benefits of formal interpretation of everything from legal, from statutes to rules to contractual terms.
The vagueries of job searching have begun, and my resumé has recently undergone some spit and polish. I have decided, in light of my experiences last summer and a newly strengthened set of convictions, that I will NOT go the big firm route, as an estimated 85% of my class will after the whole game has played out. I suspect that my public interest search will lead me to a government position, whether as a prosecutor or an agency lawyer I have not yet determined. I am open-minded, though, about any opportunities that present themselves as things unfold over the coming years. Right now, I am considering the possibility of going into a judicial clerkship after I graduate from law school. You may think my advance thinking absurd, but the application process for those clerkships concludes less than a year from now. Absurd, yes. Necessary, yes. As for the summer, I hope to have that sorted out, after some resumé-cover letter mailings and interviews, by mid-winter.
I hope this next week's cold snap (if you're here in New England, I suppose) will get you in the winter solstice / holiday spirit. It's building already in me, despite the pressures and time limitations here at Harvard. Cherishing life continues to be important to me; I haven't lost my humanity here yet!
posted 4:20 PM
