Law school is a little like the guy in your office who needs everything ASAP. Right away. Emergency. There's the people who take him at face value and get burned out acceding to his demands. Then there's the others who don't get caught up in the perceived emergency, filter it out, and go about their business.

Law school wants to move you smoothly from one state of hysteria to another. First the hysteria about the LSAT; then applying & getting in; then first semester; then first exams; and now that first exams are over, the 1L summer job; and coming this fall, on-campus interviewing for the 2nd summer job; which leads to your 3L job offer; which leads to the rest of your life as a lawyer.

Whew. Don't forget clerking for a judge for a year after law schoool. So you need to arrange that & the job offer simultaneously.

There's a part of me that wants to respect the process. It may not make sense that things are done as they are, but that is the methodology, and you can't redraft the rules by personal fiat. You have to do your best to color inside the lines.

There's another part that finds it absurd. Because as you pass through each allegedly hysteria-quality milestone, it wasn't really as bad as you thought. So that's when you get to thinking -- maybe the next one isn't as bad either. Maybe I should just relax.

It's easy to get into a mentality of telling yourself "I'm sunk if ____ doesn't happen" over and over again. Invariably _______ won't happen at some point, and you'll deal with it, and everything will go back to being fine. Why not just start with that attitude & enjoy it longer?

17 Jan 05