I'm taking a short break from studying to bring you this update. The first semester of 2L is under a week away from being finished! I'll be halfway finished law school! I'll have endured a necessary but less fun semester and be ready to begin a much more engaging term in the New Year! I've also started doing summer job and articling applications (not as fun as it sounds) and went to the PPS office Christmas party (more fun than it sounds), happy to hear how many people remember me favourably (and wrote some glowing reference letters). So there's that to build on going forward. But first...
Finals.
*Gag*
The exam structure this semester is a bit odd. I've been taking 2 full-year courses, Civil Procedure (CivPro), and Constitutional (Con or "Khan!!!"), and 2 half-year courses, Family (The Rollie Show) and Business Associations (Biz Ass). CivPro was kind enough to have a short mid-term exam on Monday the 6th, and it went pretty well. Con though had its midterm back in late October, and now I don't have to do anything for marks in it until April. There's something about our year that feels Con attendance is optional, and it's driving the teachers to distraction. Serves them right for handing out such dull course material! Now that said, my Con prof is the nicest, most caring and maternal prof possible - she's always reminding us to eat well and get lots of rest and not to mess with each other's heads too much. And the last day of class she fed us pizza for lunch! I don't skip classes, but her I kinda feel sorry for what with all the absentees. Even though there's no pressing need to go to class at least for another few months beyond the pleasure of her company..
Family has a final exam on Monday the 13th. I'd say Rollie's got us well-prepared, and I get to type it out rather than hand-write it, so that's a win-win all around. Still, much as I love Rollie, I'll be glad to get Family behind me - it's not very cheery subject matter, and not exactly my cup of tea. That said, it's an area where lots of people have questions, and now at least I know enough to say "ask a real lawyer, and consider these options."
Biz Ass can kiss mine. It's been a long slog of agony and tedium, and it's anyone's guess how well the class will do. There's a couple really bright kids deeply into the subject (good for them I guess) but loads more people struggling mightily with some concepts. I swear half of my new grey hairs are due to that course alone! If I ever crack open that textbook again after this term it'll be too soon. That exam is a 7hr take-home on Friday the 17th, and after that it's 2 sweet weeks of freedom, hockey, recreational reading, and catching up on TV shows.
Then it's winter semester. And it's about time! I've been waiting all year for this!
CivPro continues. Not much more to say there, other than Rollie animating a dry topic. And Con drags on, but only once a week instead of twice. Things are looking up!
The fun starts with Criminal Procedure (CrimPro) - I finally get into what I'm aiming for, and will already be somewhat familiar with (at least how things are done in the real world) thanks to my summer with the PPS. Then it's Evidence with Rollie, which I'm also keen on - mainly because I've already read an Evidence textbook (over the summer) and seen it in action, and because it'll be The Rollie Show part 3! Lastly is my major paper course, Restorative Justice (now accepting nicknames), with my Con prof able to shine better in a more relevant course. This will be interesting and engaging and somewhat up my alley. Again, it's about time.
The end of January will take another load or two off my mind. First, job and articling interviews for Nova Scotia happen on the last Saturday of January (hence the need to get applications off), and also my compulsory moot gets argued at month-end. My factum was due right around the time of the Con midterm, and now my partner and I get to argue in front of and be grilled by a lawyer, a prof, and a 3L student (it sounds like the setup of some joke, but some of them are preparing very challenging questions). Our opponents will also be arguing their side under the same conditions that evening. We'll likely get together in mid-January to hash it out - it's in everyone's interests to minimize surprises, and just another example of the collaborative rather than cut-throat atmosphere here at Dal. Anyway, after January the rest of 2L settles down somewhat.
And now you know what's happened and what's coming up. Time to get back to the books!
Cheers,
A.
