In the midst of . . .

Finals.

Before I describe finals, first, about Thanksgiving: the break was great. Got to see my mom and dad and brother. Didn't see my sister, who stayed at school, but called her.

Seeing old friends was great. Especially at church, a place where I invested some time and energy into a community. Coming back, I was really warmly welcomed, and gladdened to see things progressing, changing, living without me. There's a whole digresssion I could go on about, but I'll leave it for another entry, some other time.

Driving took a long time. It seems that Thanksgiving weekend is the one weekend when everyone wants to be on the road. Well, maybe not everyone, but lots of people. Lots and lots of people. On the 5 between the Bay area and the LA area.

I left Davis at about 5:30 am Thursday morning (meant to leave at 4, but didn't). There were a good number of cars. Not congested, and not slowed, but a good number of cars. Then an hour or two south, lots of cars. Got home in the afternoon, having spent about 9 hours on the road (though about an hour and a half of that time was spend napping or resting). Normally, without traffic, the trip takes about 6 hours.

On the way back, I was a bit anxious, since I'd heard horror stories of last year's Sunday after Thanksgiving drive. Left around 4 pm, thought I'd drive around LA instead of through it. Unfortunately, a friend from Davis was in LA and needed a ride, so I ended up coming back for him. Lots and lots of cars. A number of accidents on the side of the road on the way. Got home at 3 am after dropping off my friend.

Ok, so. Finals.

My first final was last Friday, for Legal Research, a 1 unit class. In the memory of the oldest students (the 3L's), no one has ever had a final exam for legal research. Your grade had been based on the quality of the semi-weekly assignments turned in.

But our instructor decided to give us one. Which meant we all had to study much for it, since we're being graded on a curve (or at least, that's what we were once told. Later, we were told it's possible for all of us to get A's. I'm not sure how to reconcile these two statements).

Regardless, it was multiple choice, and lasted for 1 hr, so it wasn't really a law school final exam, in the sense that that word is normally used. As in "grips your heart with terror, writing essays furiously for several hours, and wincing afterwards when you realize what you should've included".

Ok, so the one "real" exam I (and all the other 1L's) have had is Property. 2 unit class, 2 hr final exam, worth 40% of our overall grade. It was an open notes exam, which was good in a sense and not so good in another sense. Good in the sense that you didn't have to memorize anything verbatim. Not so good in that everyone up to the last night was adding more and more things to their outlines. Not so good in that the professor had a very high standard of what she expected (judging from previous years' exams and the model answers she provided).

I winced much afterwards, when I realized what I should've included.

Actually, I was mentally hitting myself during the exam when I kept wanting to think about stuff, instead of writing. You're strongly encouraged to take the first 1/3 or so of the allotted time for an essay and outline your answer. Then the remaining 2/3 of the time you're supposed to write furiously. I spend way too much time thinking about the answer and not enough time writing it. So I ended up touching on a number of points that I wanted to describe in a little more detail.

All right, I've procrastinated long enough. Time to immerse myself in the intricacies of Criminal Law, a 1 semester class, which means that the 3 hour exam on Friday is our entire grade. Then, next week, a Civil Procedure exam on Monday (worth 20% of our grade if it helps us, 10% if not). Torts on Wednesday, and Contracts on Friday.

Pray for me, that I'd be disciplined in the next week and a half. That I'd give glory to God in this time. That Christ in me would help me be an example as I'm around fellow stressed law students.

I'm looking forward to Christmas break.