I’ve been thinking a lot about the start of undergrad, as it is my only analogous experience to starting law school. Did the first six weeks fly by this quickly during my first semester at Cal? How soon did this new form of education start to feel routine—that is, how soon did I grow accustomed to lecture styles, to the reading materials? When did the novelty of dorm life wear off? When did I know that certain student groups would be my passion for the duration of my time there? When did I meet the people that had the deepest impact upon my understanding of education, of God, of life, of myself?
And yet, this isn’t Berkeley; in so many ways, the analogy falls short. After this, I’ll be entering the “real world,” not more school. My peers are older, more mature (for the most part). I’m surrounded by people who are all studying the same field—as diverse as our interests might be, everything is ultimately within the legal realm. I’m 2,849 miles away from home instead of 47. The setting is the epitome of urban, rather than a casual college town. Can I really compare the two experiences?
It is challenging, because I grew accustomed to life being a certain way in Berkeley. Within the first week of school each semester, I could always fill in my plans for the next 4 months in my agenda. Life was habitual. I have yet to establish habits here. I have aspirations as to how I’d like to live, certainly, but very few things that I’ve tried have emerged as habits yet. A very basic example: I don’t have a “spot” at the library. At Cal, I had a couple of places that were my favorite spots to study in the library. I lack defaults here; I must consider each choice anew. Consequently, I’ve been trying different places, to figure out what I like best. I’ve studied on every floor in each of our libraries. I think the 5th floor of Williams is emerging as my favorite, but it depends on whether I want a comfortable chair, or an interesting window view, or a big table, or simply to people watch. And, that cuts to the essence of my inquiries here: what do I want? What do I need?
And so, the discovery process continues.
On the lighter side, my Civil Procedure professor continues to amaze me with his incredible “words of wisdom” (thanks, Molly):
Professor: “His arm was torn off. I just…”Seriously, we all responded in chorus. You know you’re going to have an interesting semester when there’s a running joke about plaintiffs who’ve had their arms ripped off.
Class: “…hate it when that happens!”
By the way, I posted a D.C. to-do list; check it out beneath the Prayer to St. Thomas More in the side bar. Suggestions are welcome!
