Lots of things to think about but I think of this

So it is 8:27 A.M. on the day I am supposed to graduate. I decide to open up itunes and randomize the song. First song it landed on was "You're Beautiful," by James Blunt. Damn.

My life is brilliant.

My love is pure.

I saw an angel. 

Of that I'm sure.

She smiled at me on the subway.

She was with another man. 

But I won't lose no sleep on that, 

'Cause I've got a plan.

You're beautiful, you're beautiful.

You're beautiful, it's true. 

I saw your face in a crowded place.

And I know what to do,

'Cause I'll never be with you.

Yeah, she caught my eye,

As we walked on by.

She could see from my face that I was, 

Fucking high,

And I don't think that I'll see her again,

But we shared a moment that will last till the end.

You're beautiful, you're beautiful.

You're beautiful, it's true.

I saw your face in a crowded place,

And I don't know what to do,

'Cause I'll never be with you. 

You're beautiful, you're beautiful.

You're beautiful, it's true. 

There must be an angel with a smile on her face. 

When she thought up that I should be with you. 

But it's time to face the truth,

I will never be with you. 

Okay, it's not that I'm going to be all suicidal but the song does hit a chord with me: it's time to face the truth, I will never be with her. Today marks the day that our path together will split, probably destined to never intersect again. 

And when I say that I will never be with her, I don't mean in a romantic way either. Love songs have a way with that. I just mean in a close-friend sort of way. 

The candle that burns twice as bright burns twice as fast.

We shared some very good memories together. We also shared some really bad memories that snowballed towards the end. She's probably moved on and I think I've moved on as well. It doesn't mean, however, that it doesn't hurt when I think back to everything that has happened. 

Am I ready?

I am apprehensive.

I am wishful.

I am nostalgic.

I am regretful.

I am me. So what's new?

Its a strange feeling to have. I have one final tomorrow, I don't graduate until Friday, and yet I still have a 40 page paper to do by next Monday.

I passed the MPRE!

Ok ok, so the MPRE isn't supposed to be this hard exam yada yada yada. I don't care. I studied hard and I passed. I passed in a jurisdiction that requires one of the highest scaled scores to pass. I passed with a 127 scaled score. 

What did I do to pass? I spent a good week or so reading through the entire BarBri MPRE long outline, I did all of the review questions and I finished one practice exam. I correctly answered about 90% of the review questions in the BarBri book and correctly answered about 75-80% of the questions on the one practice exam I worked on. I didn't go through the entire practice exam and then go over the answers. Rather, I answered in chunks. I would answer about four to five questions on the practice exam, flip to the back and check my answers. If I incorrectly answered a problem, I would have gone over the possible answers throughly to see where I messed up. 

I am so glad that the MPRE is finally over. Now, I should concentrate on (1) finals and (2) the Bar. Great...

Should I go with bi-monthly updates?

Ok, so I haven't been updating regularly. My third year in law school has been uneventful. I spent the first half of my third year engaged in an externship. There I learned a lot about how the law is applied in a real world setting, how to more efficiently do legal research, and how to write a legal memo that is useful to both judges and lawyers. I also learned that being the youngest person in an office full of people who are either married or in long term relationships is not the kind of office you should aspire to work in. Inevitably, your interests will be different than everyone else in the office. Having said that, I thought that overall, my externship experience was well worth it in terms of professional development. 

And on a professional development theme, I enrolled in a trial advocacy course for my second semester in the hopes that it would give me some of the tools necessary to convince a factfinder. I am glad to say that this is one of the most engaging courses I have taken at law school. Everything that is taught in that class is useful and there is really no down time. As an added benefit, all the students are allowed multiple chances to conduct direct and cross-examination techniques to hone our newfound skills. I don't think that as a junior associate, I would get as much structured focus on any trial advocacy skills - its either sink or swim for junior associates.

I also found a job. It's like Biglaw but with Mediumlaw (or maybe Smalllaw) compensation. I am glad beyond relief that I do not have to worry about finding a job now. I am grateful that I have an offer, especially in a time when so many attorneys are already laid off, so many more will be laid off, and so many law students are struggling to find jobs. I wish you all godspeed. 

Hotness increase

So my judicial externship ended last Friday and I am now spending my time at the law school, writing my final paper. I can't help but notice, however, that the 1L girls are so much hotter than when I was a 1L. In fact, the 1L girls this year are by far hotter than the girls in my class or the 2Ls right now. 

And for those of you who think its an age thing, that by virtue of me being older, I assign more "points" to these younger 1Ls, you're wrong. I am probably younger than half of the 1L class, considering that I am about as old as the average entering 1L class. Also, I am not grading on a handicapped scale. These 1Ls are hot, regardless of whether they are law students or not. 

With the bad economy and souring job market for legal professionals, this is truly a horrible time to graduate. It is just an extra kick in the nuts when you realize that all the hot girls entered law school two years too late. 

Bluebook revisited

Mother F&*%$#! I haven't spent this much time looking over the bluebook since my dreaded decision to participate in my school's law review write-on competition. Damn my procrastination! I had to wait until today to start researching for my seminar paper - the rough draft being due this Thursday.

Damn you bluebook, the bane of so many law students.