I Lied

I know I promised pictures - but I haven't had a chance to add the camera software onto the new laptops. I will get to it eventually.

Well - I finally turned in my paper on Friday. It was a great feeling, although, unlike the relief and satisfaction I felt after turning a paper in while in college, I was feeling rather unhappy. While although the first draft is done, it's a style of writing unlike anything previously done, and is uncomfortable. We were told to expect that our first drafts will be torn apart. But, I don't think it really prepared me for the type of comments I received.

I got it back today, and my gosh, it really did get torn apart. So while we went out and celebrated being finished with our first draft on Friday night, the celebration was short-lived. I now am going into anal editing and correction mode. Here are some examples of the types of comments:
What does this add? (when referring to an entire paragraph)
Not sure what you're saying
You'll have to explain this to me - I can't figure it out
I'd rethink this paragraph

Harsh? Yes - but a few of us shared the comments we'd all received and mine aren't dissimilar to what other people experienced. So - I think we're all in the same boat.

A common question people keep asking me is, "how are you doing in law school"? It's not really a question I can answer. We have no way of evaluating how we're doing, as we only have one assignment for the entire semester - the final exam. Otherwise, I go day by day, do my assigned reading thoroughly and on time and take notes in class and pay attention. I talk things through with classmates. I am doing what I should be. But there's ALWAYS more that I could be doing. Our teaching fellows (2nd or 3rd years) broke down what our schedule SHOULD look like each week. According to their recommendation, the day starts at 8am and ends at 10pm. They allow for an hour break each day and do not include commuting times, workout time, grocery shopping time, errand time, etc. This means that they recommend we spend 13 hours per day attending class, reading, reviewing, and revising class notes. WHAATTT?!

This all leads me to say - I'm exhausted and stressed and unfortunately, this is just what it's all about for the first year. Going into week 6 - the semester is 13 weeks in total - 7 more weeks to go. Can't wait!

I'll continue more of a weekend recap tomorrow...