'California Western 1L, you have been called to greatness. Arise!'

I was called on today by professor Lynch. He is a great professor and for whatever reason I ended up losing my confidence a little bit in class. The results were embarrassing but I was so bewildered by what I said that the humor of it didn't sink in until after I was out of the classroom.

We were discussing defamation. He asked me to give a hypothetical situation in which a person could find themselves in criminal and civil court. I read my hypothetical. It satisfied all the elements of defamation and all the elements of a statute that was given. Professor Lynch then started asking me questions. This is where things went wrong.

He asked about when a DA would choose to prosecute a criminal defamation case. I gave an answer and he explained how public interest relates to prosecutorial discretion and times where it would be inappropriate to prosecute. This is where my brain and the words coming out of my mouth started to disconnect.

My brain: Ok, so the small things shouldn't be pursued in court because they're expensive and really tear apart human relations but the bigger things should be prosecuted if there is public interest or its harmed someone... I think thats right.

Professor: Say you have a situation where Bill and Bob are at a bowling ally and Bill turns to another member of the bowling team and says 'Bob is a terrible person and a serial rapist.' Would you prosecute?

My brain: Thats a big deal. Thats serial rape. Thats a lot of raping. No one is going to talk to poor Bob again after this. Prosecute.

Me: I wouldn't prosecute.

My brain: Wait. What? NOOO! YOU FOOL!

Professor: You're meaning to tell me that serial rape isn't that bad? Can you think of anything worse than serial rape?

My brain: OK. He is letting you bail yourself out here. Agree with him and say that you would prosecute.

Me: Uhhh... Serial murder?

My brain: Whats wrong with you?

Anyway, tomorrow is a new day and I'm laughing about for whatever reason I boxed myself into a corner where serial rape wasn't all that bad. Despite having a handle on the reading and the concepts I have never managed to escape an exchange where I've been called on without having my foot served up for me on a silver platter so that I could place it firmly in my mouth.

Orientation is tomorrow

Orientation is tomorrow at 8am. I still have to buy my books. They cost a little over a thousand dollars and after having my car towed (cost 500 dollars) I couldn't afford it last week. As a result, there is a 67 page long assignment that I have to crank through on Monday after orientation and whatever else the school wants from me. I wish they would disburse my loan to me before I had to purchase books. How odd.

The other first day assignment was available online and it was a cakewalk. It was basically just 'why do you want to be a lawyer and what do you want to accomplish in law school?' type stuff with an intro to using defamation definitions. It was all stuff that was covered over the summer. I'm hoping the 67 page assignment that I have to crank through is about the same. I doubt it is though. :/ C'est la vie.

After I finished the final I went backpacking through Yosemite. It was really nice. I love the High Sierra.

These are books I found useful for the Enrichment course and I think will be useful for the fall:

http://www.amazon.com/Law-School-Confidential-Complete-Experience/dp/031224309X

http://www.amazon.com/Insiders-Guide-School-Student-Student/dp/1598690841

http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Maybe-Excel-School-Exams/dp/0890897603/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251067644&sr=1-1

The Final is Tomorrow

I am as cool as a cucumber. I know all the rules and I took all the practice exams that are available online through the library. At this point its not a matter of remembering the material or concepts but being able to apply them correctly and remembering to address all sides of an issue. I fooled around a bit with the IRAC method of exam taking and just kind of outlining. IRAC is much quicker for me so I'm going to stick to using it. I'm good with issue spotting so I'm not worried about that. The hardest parts will be applying the rules and addressing issues from every angle.

I feel really comfortable going into the exam. Part of this is probably because I have the knowledge that its not going to damage my GPA if I screw up (and I won't screw up). I've run into a few people who are really stressing out about it but it seems like they're doing themselves a disservice at this point getting wound up.

So far I've lost 9 pounds since I moved here. I think this is due to three reasons: 1) I bike everywhere including up and down a monster hill each day. I get my groceries, go to the post office, the store, bank, you name it and I bike there (unless its to go surfing in which case I strap my board to the roof of my car). 2) I surf each weekend. Thats a hell of a work out and its really addictive. I'm a total kook but who cares? Its fun. 3) I drink less. I just kind of stopped having a beer with dinner. Because I grocery shop with my messenger bag I have to shop smart unless I want to make two trips. When it comes down to a 6 pack for the week or milk and cereal the food always wins out. I wasn't fat to begin with or anything but I definitely feel better and even though I can't give a causality between being fitter and doing better on exams I certainly feel like I retain more information more easily.

After the exam is over I'm going on a backpacking trip through Yosemite. See you when Fall starts.

:)