Socratic Method-Legally Blonde is fairly accurate

Let me first begin by apologizing for my several-month-long hiatus. Between my internship this past summer and preparing for law school blogging just didn't make the top priorities list although it probably should have.

All of this is behind us now, I have survived my first month of law school and can now get back to my pre law school rituals such as sharing my life with all of you. Law school is both exactly how I pictured it and not at all how I imagined it to be. The first couple of weeks were a breeze, all my professors seemed incredibly nice and understanding and we moved at a glacial pace through the material. Sadly, this trend ended after the third week. Suddenly I was assigned five or six cases a night per a class and had at least two writing assignments per week. I, who had been thinking I could handle law school no problem, had one of those "oh sh!t" moments where it suddenly hit me: Law school is hard. I took several law classes in undergrad and got through them with relative ease. Sure they had been more work than my other classes but nothing I couldn't manage while still finishing my work in time to watch Gossip Girl at 8. I imagined I was well prepared for law school and would get through my classes just fine.

While I still believe I will make it through, I now realize it will require a whole lot more effort. It is not enough to have simply read the cases for class. I must know the cases, know the facts, the reasoning behind the court's decisions, and how a court would apply that law to subsequent cases. Not only must all this info somehow make it to my brain but I need to be able to apply it and analyze it quickly when called upon in class. This is where the real accuracy of Legally Blonde comes into play. I first learned of the Socratic Method when Elle was called on at random during her first class at Harvard Law School. Just as in the movie my professor's all have seating charts and since my school is nifty those seating charts are equipped with each student's picture. Professors take a look at the seating chart and call out a name. This poor student is then asked a series of questions which can take as little as five minutes or the entire hour class period. Unfortunately, I have a simple name "Jill" so my contracts professor has learned it by heart. I am often the student called on to give a brief of at least one of the cases we had to prepare for that class. While it is terrifying to be called on it has really made me be prepared for class. I now know what my professors are looking for and what they expect me to get from each of the cases we have read. So I might be crazy but I kinda like the socratic method.

So while I spend most of my hours reading away in the library, I have managed to maintain a mildly active social life. Weekends take on a whole new meaning and importance when you really are busting your butt five days a week. Luckily, Vermont is gorgeous and offers a plethora of distractions if you choose to accept them. From farmer's markets, to wine tastings, to hiking trails, and rugby games I never have trouble finding something to take my mind off my studies. Now that the leaves are changing it is absolutely breathtaking here and so I take every opportunity I get to go outside. Sadly the leaves changing coincides with the temperature dropping so I need to always be sporting a hoodie. I suppose that is the price I pay for choosing a school in New England.

Alas, I must be going. It is 1:20 and I still have two more classes, a meeting, a study group, and about a bajillion pages to read for tomorrow. Until next week, stay lazy friends, I wish I could.