37 days left...

It's 11:15 on a Sunday. I plan on posting this, then returning to my reading. I had a fantastic 'day off' in which I have only worked for about 3 hours so far. Another hour and I'll go to bed and start all over again. The moot court is over now, which means I have only 5 classes remaining this semester. My main goal is to finish the Clinic hours (I'm just over 100 hours for the semester, and need 145 in all). Once I'm finished with those, I'll only have 4 classes left for the semester. I like the classes that can be finished before the last day of the term, because it gives me some motivation to hustle and finish them early.

Done:
5.5 semesters coursework;
Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam;
Perspectives on the Legal Profession graduation requirements (roughly equivalent to Liberal Ed. requirements);
Long Paper (50 page paper - 25 text/25 footnotes);
Patent Bar;
Get a job.

In progress:
0.5 semesters coursework.

To do:
5 more credits;
Bar exam.

Valentine's day has passed by again. I remember when Valentine's day involved sugar-induced dry mouth, sickness, and candy in shades of pink that are not possible to create with natural ingredients. This year, Jessica and I celebrated Valentine's day in a bit more adult fashion, with a pottery class, dinner at Como conservatory, and a bouquet of flowers. I had a taste of beginning-of-semester blues, where taking off enough time results in all the more pain when I return to the books. Tonight was spent, for the most part, surrounded by files and books and notes. The maximum credit load for two consecutive semesters in a row is horrible, especially when some of those credits (moot court, law journal editor) involve more work than the credits granted. I'm tired and dangerously close to being burned out. I just hope I can make it through finals, and on to real work, and weekends, and evenings. I miss time with Jessica, and being able to schedule things with friends without checking my class schedule. I miss weekends - I've had Saturday classes for three semesters now. I miss earning money. I miss going to bed at a reasonable hour. I miss flying, and playing guitar badly, and cooking badly, and running. I miss reading for fun, and going on vacation without checking the academic calendar first. As of tomorrow, there are exactly eight weeks left in the semester; I just need to keep holding on and hope for early final exams.

This has been such an interesting experience. I have learned so much more than I ever expected going in. I can do the things you would expect, like get a fairly good batting average while watching Judge Judy or write a patent application. Beyond that, I think I have learned the most about how to interact with others. That involves formal writing and citation, informal emails, and even face-to-face communication. I've learned about myself, too, that I'm always willing to take on any challenge I am offered and that I will work my fingers to the bone to succeed at that challenge, but that the success isn't always worth the pain associated. Hopefully law school will have been worth the pain. It looks promising; I learned all the stuff I just mentioned, I like the work, it pays well, and I have a good job (probably) waiting. It's pointless to wonder what else I could have done with all this energy and time, and while I could never have developed my career this fast by working at 3M these past three years, I certainly lost a lot of time doing the things I love.

Done:
4.5 semesters coursework;
Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam;
Perspectives on the Legal Profession graduation requirements (roughly equivalent to Liberal Ed. requirements);
Long Paper (50 page paper - 25 text/25 footnotes);
Get a job.

In progress:
0.5 semesters coursework;
Patent Bar.

To do:
~1 semester coursework (17 credits remaining; max. course load = 15 credits);
Bar exam.

It may not look a lot different than last time, but let me tell you, it's a BIG weight off my shoulders.  I often see articles about how no law school graduates can find a job.  Before I found one, these articles were the written equivalent of a beckoning Grim Reaper, softly cackling at my decision to stray from the path of lab work.  I can now read them as more intellectual curiosities, relevant to my classmates and the underclassmen, but not to me. 

For those who haven't seen on Facebook, I accepted a summer associate position at a local law firm.  The summer associate position is great for pay ($1500/week is better than I've ever gotten as a student before!) and experience, but the biggest benefit is the promise of a job after I graduate.  Since 2008 - a year in which every firm I'm aware of had to rescind offers of employment due to a horrible economy - this firm has offered every summer associate a full-time position.  This history gives me confidence that if I try my hardest and live up to the resume they hired me based upon, I will have a job when I get done. 

The firm is small (a little under 20 attorneys).  One of the founding partners also founded what became 3M's Office of Intellectual Property Counsel by endocytosis.  The firm has a very low billing target, and focuses on work-life balance.  They have a great 3-prong code of  conduct, including (1)  respect and dignity for all employees, not just attorneys, (2) teamwork, and (3) stewardship.  It's in downtown Minneapolis, so I can take the bus from St. Paul and don't need to buy another car (though I did get a new bicycle). 

Yesterday Jessica and I both fell victim to some tainted peanut butter, and spent the better part of a day having a horrible time.  I think our total intake was less than 1000 calories, simply because we didn't want it coming back up.  So as we sat on the couch wondering if we were going to die, Biggest Loser came on.  Here's my theory for making the show better.  Each week, you assign each contestant a number.  That number is 1 divided by the number of pounds the contestant lost.  So if I lost 5 pounds my number would be 0.2, or if I lost 10 pounds my number would be 0.1.  That's the percent chance that your food will be poisoned before the next weigh-in.  Not only would it do wonders for decreasing food consumption for those who are poisoned, but it would provide great motivation to everyone to lose a lot of weight every week, and eat small quantities of food.

I'm pretty sure even thinking that makes me a horrible person.