The Last Real Day of Summer Break

ON THE AGENDA: Today is my last actual day of summer break, which is my last actual summer break ever. Wild. Tomorrow I have all-day law review orientation, followed by a pizza & bowling get-together for law review that evening. Friday entails an all-day TA orientation, but I only plan on attending the morning portion of that festival of uselessness. (Seriously, if I cannot use commas at this point in my life, after two years of law school, one year as a TA, and a summer with a big firm, why on earth did you hire me as a TA in the first place? ‘Tis nonsense.)

THE RECAP: My week has been full of purging. And no, not the kind involving any sort of disgusting bodily fluids. Purging my apartment of all sorts of “stuff” that I just don’t need, or use, anymore. I’m a hoarder (admitting it is the first step, people!), so to do a solid clean-sweep of the apartment is damn near traumatic for me. But once I got going, it started to feel awesome. Actually felt kind of liberating in a strange way. Like all the books and videos and magazines and papers and clothes and shoes that I was stashing away somehow became a physical embodiment of the previous two years’ worth of stress and fear and concern and worry and hopelessness, and just finally saying, “Get outta my apartment!” to all of that feels so good.

So, even though in simplest terms, the past couple days have been spent just cleaning, in reality, it has felt like so much more of an accomplishment than that.

JOB OFFER WAITING GAME: DAY 12. I have no updates. I haven’t heard anything from anyone at the office, nor have I spoken with L. or any of the Summer Associates from other The Firm offices. By and large, I put it out of my head throughout the days, because I simply have to in order to keep from going crazy with hope and anxiousness for the next day’s mail delivery, but I’d be absolutely full of baloney if I said that the thought didn’t still make a cameo appearance many, many times throughout my day.

3L YEAR AND ITS FRIVOLOUSNESS: My books for my first semester are sitting on my bookshelf. So yes, ladies and gents, the bi-annual trip to the VU Bookstore (“Bend Over Headquarters, please try and relax so as to minimize the pain!”) is completed for this semester. The cashier commented on how she’s already sick of law school, and she doesn’t even go to law school, but she’s so tired of ringing up and bagging the huge books. I stared at her rather incredulously and said, “Um, yeah, try reading those bad boys.” Sheesh.

There has been academic debate over the usefulness (or, more appropriately, the utter lack thereof) of the third year of law school. Most attorneys will tell you that their 3L year was one of the best years of their life, because by and large, the stress of law school is a thing of the past, and 3L year is used to just relax, party, slack, and be the person that you’ll not be allowed to be once you’re out in the Real World. (Yes, John Mayer, I know there’s “no such thing as the real world” but you’re a musician, so I think that’s a relative statement.)

Yes, 3L year is frivolous. Yes, the schools lobby for its continuance in a blatant attempt to hang onto as much dolla-dolla bill$ as possible. But, it’s here, in all its expensive-as-hell-required-book-purchase glory! And I still intend to make the most of it.

CONGRATULATIONS AND WISTFULNESS: My friend Josh recently proposed to his girlfriend, Becca, in an incredibly romantic and sweet way. (She said yes, of course, and purportedly even made him ask her twice, just because she was so caught off guard and excited about the whole thing.) One of my previous TA students, Jeremy, recently got engaged to his girlfriend, Tiffany, again in a creative and romantic way. One of my acquaintances, a fellow TA from last year, is a month away from her Big Day. My 1L TA and friend is in the midst of planning her walk down the aisle. And every day (literally, every day) I get news from N8 or Katie of more engagements and weddings that happened this summer. And, honestly, I think it’s awesome for all those folks.

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AND JUST FOR THE RECORD: No, I did not expect you to find my diary-ish scrawlings enthralling. But it’s been a week of purging and continued self-discovery and sometimes those are floodgates that shouldn’t be slammed shut.

MOVING ON: Huh. This was not at all the direction I figured this entry would take when I sat down at the keyboard 30 minutes ago. Interesting, the way the Train of Thought makes its own detours sometimes.

Anyhoot, I have some more cleaning and organizing to do, and there are veggies waiting to be cleaned so that N8 & I can enjoy a fine dinner of steamed veggies and rice tonight. And even though I’ve tried my darndest to wait, in hopes that the veggies will just clean themselves, the damn things are stalwart in their refusal to do so, so I think I’m gonna have to do it myself.

Take care, and check 6.

Labels: all about me, law school, life update