Surveying the Damage
Finals ended last week. I have to say that the week of finals was quite literally the worst week of my life. Seriously, I can't remember a time that I was more stressed, more freaked out, more upset, and more frustrated than the most recent week of finals. Who knows how those exams went. All I have to say is that I'm glad they're over with.
I decided to stay in Atlanta for the summer. The day after finals ended, I had an interview with a small practice in Midtown, more or less a solo practice. The guy who interviewed me is the managing partner. He really grilled me at the interview. Unexpectedly, he used the Socratic method to quiz me during the interview itself. For those of you not familiar with the Socratic method, it involves grilling the student with questions and guiding him to analyze the situation from every possible angle, and essentially figure out the problem on his own. It's common practice in almost every law school, and is one of the main reasons law students are stressed out all the time. And this guy decided to break out this method during the interview, asking me complex questions regarding bankruptcy. Somehow, I made it through, and this guy gave me an offer on the spot. The guy seems like a no-nonsense business type who's going to work me hard, but also someone from whom I will undoubtedly learn a great deal.
But there's a problem. The writing competition for law review is currently going on. As if finals weren't bad and stressful enough, now the law review is conducting it's own version of a final - but really an entrance exam. It's time consuming, somewhat stressful, and pretty competitive. Law school's pains continue even when the year is over. I told the guy who hired me that this competition is going on, but he insisted that I start as soon as possible. So my first day of work is tomorrow. This week I'm working part time, next week I make the shift to full time. Fun stuff.
On a brighter note, I got to see my parents this weekend. I was really missing them, and I'm especially glad my dad got to get away from his stressful life in NY for a short bit and come down to Atlanta to unwind. He and my mom both needed that. I think I needed it more than they did. After finishing what was quite honestly a traumatizing experience, I needed some comfort from the parents. So luckily, I got to see my parents, spend mother's day with my mom, and just get some sleep and relax with the folks.
Part of the reason my parents were in town was to close on my new apartment. I got a new 1 bedroom that's in the highrise across from where I live now. The apartment is awesome. It has a fairly large balcony with an absolutely breathtaking view. If I look to the left while on the balcony, I can see the Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead skylines. If I look right, I can see endless miles of tree tops and houses scattered in between. This view is going to be amazing come this autumn and the foliage starts to change color. Now that will be an amazing site. And best of all, I can't wait to not have a roommate anymore. After all the crap I've been through with roommates, I think I'm finally done. The current roommate isn't bad, but I still would rather have a single. I don't want to have to be the one who goes to the living room to ask if the volume can be turned down so as to not disturb me, or rather to have to silently suffer from the horrendous stench from whatever it is this guy cooks and the like. Luckily, after I move my stuff, I'll have the luxury to do whatever I feel like at my liberty in my own apartment.
Reflecting back on this past year, although I'm still recovering from the hellish nature of the first year, I'm still glad I did it. My life is definitely more focused. Although I'm still not sure what I want to do with my life, more specifically whether I want to be a lawyer, I still feel like I'm stronger now than I was a year ago. I feel like I can process information better, I can analyze things better, I can hold my argumentative ground better, and all in all, I feel smarter than I did a year ago. It's ironic, after graduating from stern, I graduated Cum Laude and was a Founder's day scholar (which means I was in some top percentage of the class, who knows what). But upon graduation from Stern, I felt like an idiot. I felt like I wasn't smart and that I was below most folks. It was horrible, and I'm not sure if it was a cause or effect, but it definitely affected my job searching. I was unemployed / doing catering and restaurant work for more than 8 months before finally getting my act together and finding a job as a Paralegal. The paralegal job definitely helped the self esteem, but I was still in the post college rut. Then came Al Ummah, which definitely helped the esteem and whatever. But then came the irony of law school.
Law school did a lot to me. I enjoyed a lot of the stuff I studied. But after first semester, with a not so stellar performance, I fell into somewhat of a rut again. But despite my confidence being shaken, I realized that I wasn't the smartest person in the school, and hell, not even in the smarter half category, I still didn't feel like an idiot. I don't think I did all that well on the second semester finals, but I'm not feeling stupid. It's ironic, in this setting, with lower grades, I feel smarter than I ever did with high grades at NYU.
So all in all, I'm reminded of the after-battle scene in Braveheart, when William Wallace and his rag tag army of Scotsmen were bloodied and exhausted, but victorious. They knew they had harder battles to fight ahead, but they had their heads up. Hopefully my next semester battle, regardless of how bloody it will be, will be an improvement from the one before.
I decided to stay in Atlanta for the summer. The day after finals ended, I had an interview with a small practice in Midtown, more or less a solo practice. The guy who interviewed me is the managing partner. He really grilled me at the interview. Unexpectedly, he used the Socratic method to quiz me during the interview itself. For those of you not familiar with the Socratic method, it involves grilling the student with questions and guiding him to analyze the situation from every possible angle, and essentially figure out the problem on his own. It's common practice in almost every law school, and is one of the main reasons law students are stressed out all the time. And this guy decided to break out this method during the interview, asking me complex questions regarding bankruptcy. Somehow, I made it through, and this guy gave me an offer on the spot. The guy seems like a no-nonsense business type who's going to work me hard, but also someone from whom I will undoubtedly learn a great deal.
But there's a problem. The writing competition for law review is currently going on. As if finals weren't bad and stressful enough, now the law review is conducting it's own version of a final - but really an entrance exam. It's time consuming, somewhat stressful, and pretty competitive. Law school's pains continue even when the year is over. I told the guy who hired me that this competition is going on, but he insisted that I start as soon as possible. So my first day of work is tomorrow. This week I'm working part time, next week I make the shift to full time. Fun stuff.
On a brighter note, I got to see my parents this weekend. I was really missing them, and I'm especially glad my dad got to get away from his stressful life in NY for a short bit and come down to Atlanta to unwind. He and my mom both needed that. I think I needed it more than they did. After finishing what was quite honestly a traumatizing experience, I needed some comfort from the parents. So luckily, I got to see my parents, spend mother's day with my mom, and just get some sleep and relax with the folks.
Part of the reason my parents were in town was to close on my new apartment. I got a new 1 bedroom that's in the highrise across from where I live now. The apartment is awesome. It has a fairly large balcony with an absolutely breathtaking view. If I look to the left while on the balcony, I can see the Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead skylines. If I look right, I can see endless miles of tree tops and houses scattered in between. This view is going to be amazing come this autumn and the foliage starts to change color. Now that will be an amazing site. And best of all, I can't wait to not have a roommate anymore. After all the crap I've been through with roommates, I think I'm finally done. The current roommate isn't bad, but I still would rather have a single. I don't want to have to be the one who goes to the living room to ask if the volume can be turned down so as to not disturb me, or rather to have to silently suffer from the horrendous stench from whatever it is this guy cooks and the like. Luckily, after I move my stuff, I'll have the luxury to do whatever I feel like at my liberty in my own apartment.
Reflecting back on this past year, although I'm still recovering from the hellish nature of the first year, I'm still glad I did it. My life is definitely more focused. Although I'm still not sure what I want to do with my life, more specifically whether I want to be a lawyer, I still feel like I'm stronger now than I was a year ago. I feel like I can process information better, I can analyze things better, I can hold my argumentative ground better, and all in all, I feel smarter than I did a year ago. It's ironic, after graduating from stern, I graduated Cum Laude and was a Founder's day scholar (which means I was in some top percentage of the class, who knows what). But upon graduation from Stern, I felt like an idiot. I felt like I wasn't smart and that I was below most folks. It was horrible, and I'm not sure if it was a cause or effect, but it definitely affected my job searching. I was unemployed / doing catering and restaurant work for more than 8 months before finally getting my act together and finding a job as a Paralegal. The paralegal job definitely helped the self esteem, but I was still in the post college rut. Then came Al Ummah, which definitely helped the esteem and whatever. But then came the irony of law school.
Law school did a lot to me. I enjoyed a lot of the stuff I studied. But after first semester, with a not so stellar performance, I fell into somewhat of a rut again. But despite my confidence being shaken, I realized that I wasn't the smartest person in the school, and hell, not even in the smarter half category, I still didn't feel like an idiot. I don't think I did all that well on the second semester finals, but I'm not feeling stupid. It's ironic, in this setting, with lower grades, I feel smarter than I ever did with high grades at NYU.
So all in all, I'm reminded of the after-battle scene in Braveheart, when William Wallace and his rag tag army of Scotsmen were bloodied and exhausted, but victorious. They knew they had harder battles to fight ahead, but they had their heads up. Hopefully my next semester battle, regardless of how bloody it will be, will be an improvement from the one before.
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