ah... this OLH is still living up to the H part of it.  i've made some friends so we comiserate together about the H part of law school, of which has lessened the H as well.  misery loves company! and uniting in pain makes a great start to a lovely friendship.

orientation came. it conquered. and then it went.  oh but it did conquer.... based on all of the "survival tips" from all professors and law students, i think the theme of the entire week was "Let's scare the bee jesus out of these 1Ls." Possibly part of their filtering ways. i'm sure they wanted to rid the school of any kids who got into law school just because they have no clue what to do with their lives. (i, of course, am part of that... but i refuse to be filtered out!) but whatever happened to the "welcome" to school theme?  all i got was a bloody bumper sticker... harumph.

week 1 was heaven. i wish i could do a week one every week.  despite all of the readings assigned during the summer and orientation, hardly any of them were discussed during class!  that doesn't bother me so much, but more of the anticipation of what to expect on the first day of school killed me.  i have one professor, seems quite young, went to harvard law, probably right after undergrad., and has more than once represented in front of the supreme court.  he teaches torts (latin or something for torturous), but at the moment... the class isn't that torturous.  he's entertaining, seems very approachable and must be incredibly smart (i.e. harvard), plus he's closer to my age group than some other professors... any young woman wouldn't mind crushing over this young lad.  of course i'll decline because i'm selective, plus he's a little too high strung and talks too much (like a lawyer) for me to be attracted to. however, in comparison to my contracts prof., torts prof is lovely. contracts prof. is the typical law prof. you read in all the books. he's intimidating and blunt and will impose the socratic method upon you without mercy.  i have yet to experience being called upon unwillingly, but when i did raise my hand, he immediately shot down my wrong answer.  scary.... but a good reminder that law school isn't for the weary.

i'm now in the midst of week 2 and am getting the swing of things... not successfully, but i've gotten some established routines down.  you won't be surprise to know that i do read like crazy, and i read every supplement in addition to assigned readings.  my work area has evolved from just a laptop and a single book, but now it has expanded its family to include my law case book, a supplement book of statutes and laws, and a dictionary.  oh that dictionary... law school really f*'s with your presumption of your level of intelligence.  i've gotten to this sad point where i look up almost every SAT word i read, not because i don't know its definition, but because paranoia has pushed me to define it for fear that the legal definition will differ from webster.  and btw, the law dictionary's name is black.  black and webster don't usually match.  thus, i find myself looking up words as simple as anew, promise, bargain... not even SAT words! they're just words i taught my first graders. harumph.

so yes. what intelligence? as i've titled this post.  a friend of mine told me that entering grad. school you will of course encounter a population of students who are smarter than you. so on a daily basis, you will be constantly reminded of how someone else is a lot quicker to the gun than you, or more articulated, more experienced, more critical, more worldly... and you're left to wonder: what can i offer to the table?  humility, is all i can say.  an easy way out of this without losing your dignity, but i repeat because it holds some truth: humility, is all i can say.  and i recognize that those constant reminders could in fact be inflicted upon other classmates by one's own experiences and whatever intelligence exhibited... however, being that arrogant prick who's showing off his legal skills doesn't always make you feel you're the best law student. i'm holding onto the fact that the person who combats the arrogant prick with confidence is the one who will make the best lawyer. of course, you might end up with a couple of dueling pricks... anyways, lesson to learn/learned: grad/law school is a microcosm of the competitive world, i'm assuming.  you might as well start bull shitting now to give off the impression you're not one to be overlooked... because though others may be smarter, quicker, more critical, they shouldn't ever discount your character and essentially who you are. just be humble enough to recognize their position, and be proactive to look for help and work twice as hard to surpass them.  you know the tortoise and the hare? yeah the hare actually won, but the tortoise still finished and had all the friends and networks... i'm also guessing he was making twice the cash and making some sort of a difference too. they should really rewrite that story...

and that's my moral of the story. (insert some twinkling music to signify a lesson learned here)

p.s. i appreciate the comments and eprops. you're good people in my book.

... for all yesterdays and everything.