WonL
The random thoughts of an architect-turned- lawyer from the deep south living in Washington, DC...
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Pity party over...
...OCD setting in. (I guess 12 hours of drinking and watching football can do that.) So, now it's time to hit the books. And I mean really hard. Walking to the Metro after class on Thursday, a school friend was saying that he really didn't know how to study for this. I told him what seemed to work for me...put all of your notes into outline form. This is a common law school practice. Supposedly, it's the act of organizing the notes that is helping you study. Makes sense. I've been doing this all along, so one may think I am in pretty good shape. Here comes the problem: I have read every case, have taken comprehensive notes, have now organized them in outline format (contracts outline is already 26 pages)...and I still don't know what any of it means! Just because it's in a nice roman numeral format does not mean that it makes sense. Nor does it mean that I can regurgitate any of this information on my exams. Then, let's add in all of the extra materials that are supposed to be helping to sort through everything. Hmmm...seems like just more reading to me. Why can't someone draw pictures of this? I need visuals. I am not talking about CivPro Prof's "vin diagram" that he uses to describe every aspect of the class. There comes a time when circles just don't explain much anymore. I'm talking real pictures. Show me what "duces tecum" looks like. (I really don't know why, but those stupid words have been in my head for days.) They do have some sort of flash cards for law school exams, but I am not sure if I feel like forking up anymore money. I seemed to have acquired this bad habit. Someone tells me of a "gotta have" law school/exam prep/study aid book, so I go out and get it. I read the covers, skim the contents, etc. and then put it in the pile with the rest of them. I guess they don't do too much good if I don't use them, huh? So, I am now banning myself from turning to any new items until I have read the old ones. It's a plan! I guess I should start now.
