My First Week of Law School

I'm somehow already done with my first week of law school! It's unreal because it seems as if I've been thinking about this forever and now it's actually here.

I'm about halfway through my second week as you're reading this, and things are already feeling easier. Even though I enjoyed every moment of last week, it seemed like it was dragging on at some points.

I thought I'd spend today's blog telling you all about my first week of classes, and make sure to check out my goals for this semester, too!

Day 1: Monday, August 19

Classes: Lawyering Process I and Torts

Today's the day! Even though I only had two classes today and there was a fair amount of time in between the two of them, I still found myself in the law building all day socializing and getting my readings done for Tuesday.

Even though my first class doesn't start until 10:30 a.m., I got to campus a little before 9 a.m. because I signed up for a class to learn more about how to use LexisNexis for half an hour. It was great to learn some basics before classes started so I could do some research when I was stuck rereading the same paragraph trying to understand it.

Lawyering Process I is DU's legal research and writing class. After the typical introductions and quick look at the syllabus, we dove into our advanced readings and were assigned our first memo.

Everybody gets the noon hour off for lunch, so I munched on the salmon and rice I meal prepped with some friends from my classes. Torts didn't start until 2:45 p.m., so I looked over my notes from that advanced assignment until it was time to go to class.

I managed to find a great spot in Torts and got comfy to listen to the introduction lesson and the overview of the case we read in advance of class. Things were pretty simple for the first day, pretty much just a basic definition of what a tort is and other important vocabulary words and phrases to know.

After classes were done and I had been sitting in the library for a while, I took some time to go to a yoga class with my roommate and some friends to spend some time outside of the law building, which added to the time I spent reading, but it was definitely worth it.

I accidentally ended up staying in the law building until around 10:00 p.m. finishing all my readings so I wouldn't have to carry my casebooks back across campus to where my apartment is. I'm glad to say that I haven't been there that late at all since then--and I definitely don't recommend that to anyone!

Day 2: Tuesday, August 20

Classes: Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, and Torts

I got to my Criminal Law class bright and early around 8:30 a.m. today to grab a seat somewhere in the middle of the classroom. After saving some seats for myself and my friends, I filled up my mug with free coffee, topped off my water bottle, and talked with everyone around me since we didn't have an advanced assignment for Criminal Law.

Criminal Law and Civil Procedure are only twenty minutes apart and in the same classroom, so I got up to grab even more coffee and water, as well as ran to the bathroom and dealt with the line in there (I'll still never understand the point of putting three stalls into a bathroom outside of several large classrooms).

Once again, I sat with pretty much the same group of friends at lunch during our free hour, before we all put our headphones in to review and read our cases for Torts and Wednesday's classes.

Torts is moving fast already, but my professor makes sure to explain everything as clearly as possible so we can all follow along as best as we can. To be honest, I'm a little bit scared of being called on in this class; most of my other professors have specific ways that they cold call people (for example, note cards that she shuffles once and goes all the way through once before calling on anyone for a second time), but my torts professor goes about randomly shouting out names in the most stereotypical style possible. It feels like something you'd see in a movie.

Day 3: Wednesday, August 21

Classes: Criminal Law and Lawyering Process I

Wednesdays are a pretty simple day for me. I'm finished with all my classes before the lunch break, so I have plenty of time to get ahead and still relax at night once I'm finished prepping for Thursday.

Criminal Law is one of my favorite classes so far, especially because I absolutely adore my professor. She is hilarious and passionate about what she's teaching, which is a great combination for an early morning class. We haven't spent too much time on cases yet, but rather the more philosophical side of criminal law, such as why we punish people for committing crimes.

Lawyering Process was another class filled with the basics on citations and how to properly format our email memo that's due in two weeks. We're getting plenty of time to work on this 500-word memo, which I'm fine with because legal writing is SO much different than journalistic and creative writing!

I didn't have to bring lunch today because free pizza was provided during an informational panel about DU's Certificate in Legal Research, which I'm super interested in earning. It only takes 8 classes during the fall semester, plus some assignments, and voila! I have the CLR.

Day 4: Thursday, August 22

Classes: Criminal Law, Civil Procedure, and Torts

If you can't tell, Tuesdays and Thursdays are my busiest days, at least with how many classes I have; I suppose you could also say that Mondays and Wednesdays are my busiest days since I have class and also have readings for all my classes during the next day.

I chose to attend an early AAP office hours session (AAP is the Academic Achievement Program, which is where we get our TAs) for Civil Procedure because one of the cases for today was a doozy. The study room was packed and people constantly had their hands raised, but I'm happy to say that I walked out having a much better understanding of the case.

Now that we're almost done with the first week, my classes are picking up even more, especially with our brief lecture about basic criminal procedure in Criminal Law this morning.

Most of Civil Procedure was spent going over the super confusing case that we went over in AAP office hours earlier this morning. You could tell who went to the session and who didn't based on the answers people gave when they were called on, so I'm definitely planning on going to more AAP sessions in the future.

In Torts we've already moved through battery and into assault, so there have been plenty of hypos thrown out by my professor about anything and everything having to do with the two so he could try to stump us.

Day 5: Friday, August 23

Classes: Civil Procedure

TGIF!

I don't start class until 10:30 a.m. on Fridays, so I got to sleep in a little later than I did all week, which was nice. Sometimes all you need is an extra half hour of sleep to really make a difference in your day.

Civil Procedure passed by a lot smoother than it did yesterday, most likely due to how much simpler today's cases were. I'm starting to really like my Civ Pro professor; she always has great stories to tell and you can see how knowledgeable she is about the law.

Lunch was once again provided for me today at a barbecue held in a park near DU by the Law School Outdoor Club. I signed up to be involved with them, which was one of my plans for this first semester. It'll be nice to take a break from my hectic schedule and spend some time outdoors in such a beautiful area.

Before heading home for the weekend, I finished some case briefs and transferred my class notes from my notebooks into my laptop so I could have everything in one place.

Week one is all done, only 13 more to go!

xoxo,

Rachel