Starting the second semester of law school is much harder than the first. The first semester is wrought with anxiety and an enhanced sense of self. You go into it ready to conquer the world, having heard stories of struggle and hard-work. The second semester is not easy to enter by any means.
Winter break is like inviting starving children in Africa to a Thanksgiving feast and then sending them right back from where they came (without a take-home goodie-bag). It is cruel. After having worked my tail off for 16 weeks of classes and two weeks of finals (starving myself of life and the will to continue), the law school bids us students adieu - a fond farewell to enjoy freedom and relaxation for nearly one month (the proverbial Thanksgiving feast). After said month of hungrily snatching up every scrap of enjoyment, we return to the bowels of suppression (hunger and starvation). We now understand more what we are missing and what we will be subjected to. It is an assault to our senses and a battery on our souls. It is no fun.
Prayers for a snow day were excreted throughout Sunday from law students of all demographics. Hopes for just one more day of freedom and one more day of suspended anxiety was all people needed. I was going to experience New England weather at its best, but alas, it did not arrive. No snow for me this time. No frightful trip on icy roads for this California boy. Clear roads and cold weather were all that greeted me. The "Nor'easter", to which it is referred, decided to tip-toe around New York.
With luck that only I can muster, I awoke today to a lack of warm shower water. There is nothing like the fresh scent of coffee brewing in the kitchen (no more than a few feet from my room) and an icy shower to rejuvenate one's senses; not that I am a sensible person.
I studied and read all week for the first class I had. Property law, not to be confused with real estate law, is one to which I am thoroughly anticipating. I was greeted with a fifth-grade lesson on discovery and conquest which aimed to lay the foundation to property rights. The textbook makes me unhappy, as it seems to be a conglomerate of edited-copy-paste information. Without amusement, I made my way through the material knowing that I was bound to be called on during this very first class. Even with more than 100 peers sitting beside me, the traditional "calling-on-me" (like the running of the bulls, but in law school)took place.
I guess I have a "I have a thoughtful, intelligent answer that I am currently pondering" look, because that is usually how I get selected (when not at random). The professor posed a question standing not five-feet away from me, and I felt it wrong to ignore her presence when so nearby. I quickly gave her a glance - I do believe I made a cardinal sin: I made eye contact. Let me be the first to say that if you ignore the elephant in the room, the elephant is not there, and you cannot make me think otherwise. Same applies with in-class eye-contact; the professor will not usually call on you if you are not acknowledging their presence (and, no: I am not labeling professors as elephants).
She decided to keep questioning me for a considerable amount of time in comparison to many of my peers, but I was on the ball. History, be it United States, world or legal, is a subject with which I am not afraid to discuss, argue and lament.
The professor teaches in a style I tend to favor when tutoring, speaking and training. She gets very excited about the subject and is not overbearing. This is a very inviting method of teaching that makes even the most dull subject interesting. Enthusiasm is contagious and highly appreciated.
I cannot believe I am doing this (read: subjecting myself to another semester of law school) to myself again. Well, belief is not necessary. I shall continue to inflict distress on my tattered body. My second tour of duty has begun, and so has my will to quit. I have completed one semester - how bad can the second be?
Stay tuned.
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