I’m taking six classes this semester.  In two classes, the professors like to assign 70-150 pages of reading per class.  I’m also working on two papers and doing research for a professor.  Needless to say, I’m pretty busy.  I feel like I’m constantly running between classes, work, and other commitments.   When I have “free time,” I’m struggling to get through my immense reading assignments and hoping that I’ll remember half the information.  I had to quickly accept that the majority of my weekends this semester would be taken up with reading.

By four o’clock this past Saturday afternoon, I was tired of reading cases.  There was no end in sight, and, if anything, I was becoming a little panicked by the amount of work I had left to do.  I decided if my Saturday night was going to be spent alone with my books, then I deserved to study with cake.

I don’t keep junk food in my house.  My rule is I can eat any junk food I want if I’m willing to leave the house and get it.  One of my guilty pleasures is the “single serving” of white sheet cake with frosting from Safeway.   I usually make myself walk or ride my bike to get my junk food, but the sky was turning dark with storm clouds and I didn’t want to get caught in the rain.  I also didn’t feel like I had the time to spare, so I opted to drive.

As I pulled out of my driveway, the reality of my life hit me like a ton of bricks.  I thought, “Wow, I can read.”  I spent  my drive to the store thinking about how many people in the world don’t know how to read, especially women.  I am surrounded by piles of books and more information than I know what to do with.  How many people don’t have the opportunity to go to school?  Who am I to bitch about all the opportunities I have, when the majority of people on the planet never have the chance to go to law school or even get close to it?  My life is awesome, even when it’s hard.

This experience doesn’t change the fact that I miss seeing my friends, getting a full night of sleep, or having enough time to shower every day.  It has, however, made the long lonely hours more bearable.

I started my final year of law school last week.   It made me reflect on what I’ve learned about being obnoxious in class.   Doing any of things listed below puts you at risk of being viewed as inconsiderate & called a “douche” by your fellow law students.

10.  Forget to Mute your Laptop Before Leaving the House.
No one wants to hear that your “file’s done” or that you have a new message or email.   It’s also generally annoying to hear the standard sounds your computer makes when you first turn it on.

9.  Print a Ton of Documents at the Library & Forget to Pick Them Up from the Printer.
It is one thing to occasionally forget to pick up a single-page print out from the printer, & another to print hundreds of pages & forget to pick them up.  Making your fellow classmates sort through the stack of papers on the printer to get to their print out is bad form.

8.  Type Loudly.
This behavior received the most complaints.  Don’t pound the keys of your laptop, or worse, type with long, acrylic, or press-on fingernails that make a loud “click” every time you touch a key.  Women are usually the culprits, & they are usually oblivious to how much they irritate everyone around them.

7.  Be Needlessly Competitive with your Classmates.  Take Advantage of Every Opportunity to Show Them that You are Smarter than They Are.
You’re in law school.  Congratulations – you’ve already proven that you’re smart.

6.  Come to Class Drunk.
If you decide to have a liquid lunch or to blow off steam by heading to the bar after a stressful morning midterm, don’t come back to class in the afternoon.  Just stay at the bar.

5.  Talk About Grades.  
Rule #1 at law school is, “Never discuss grades.”  This rule extends to discussions about class rank & how well you think you did on exams.   When the final is over, don’t talk about it.  Move on to preparing for the next test or better yet, talk about anything that’s not related to law school.

4.  Be Late to Class.
This is particularly bothersome at my school because every classroom is set up with the door at the front of the room.  Watching & listening to you walk through the room & set up your laptop is distracting.  It’s ok to be late if you have a good reason, but these instances should be few & far between.

3.  Make Argumentative & Irrelevant Statements during Class Discussions.
Every class has at least one of these guys.  Don’t be that guy.

2.  Monopolize the Professor’s Time the Week Before a Paper is Due.
When I was a 1L, my professor had very few office hours during the week before our first memo was due.  One day, the first person in line used up 45 of the 90 minutes he had for office hours that day.  By the time she was done, there were 11 of us waiting – not cool!  I don’t think she meant to be that inconsiderate, but she definitely earned the reputation that day.

1.  Talk Excessively & Loudly in the Library.
The library becomes a second home to a lot of law kids, but that doesn’t give you permission to treat it as such.  It’s still a library & people are trying to work.  Talking at what would otherwise be a normal volume is too loud.  Take your conversations outside – & I mean outside the entire building.  If you’re talking in the lobby, we can still hear you.  Don’t think that getting a study room is an acceptable alternative because the walls aren’t soundproof.

Every time I think about how much I’m paying to go to law school, my head starts to hurt, my stomach gets queasy,and I’m not sure if I’m going to throw up or pass out.  Last semester, I paid over $9,800 in tuition and fees and I expected the full value for my money.  This fall, the cost just for tuition alone is $10,630 ($4,255 for graduate school tuition + $6,375 for law school tuition).  With the cost of law school tuition on the rise nationwide, every time the institutional powers that be raise my tuition, I in turn raise my expectations.  I had to do the math to see how much I’m paying for this semester’s experience.

This semester I am taking 16 credits of class – 5 regular classes and a 2-credit externship.  I am paying $664.375 per credit.  Here’s the break down for each of my classes.

Criminal Procedure, Copyright Law, and Cyberspace Law are 3 credits each.  They all meet twice a week for 85 minutes.  Each course is valued at $1993.125, $76.66 per class, or $0.90187 per minute.  The cost to attend one of these classes is more than the price to see Kathy Griffin live.

Trademark Law is a 3-credit class, but we only meet once a week for 175 minutes.  This class is valued at $1993.125 for the course, $142.37 per class, or $0.81352 per minute.  Going to this class once is more expensive than buying a lower level ticket on the 50-yard line at an Arizona Cardinals game.

Privacy is a 2-credit seminar class that meets once a week for 115 minutes.  Its value is $1328.75 for the course, $110.73 per class, or $0.9629 per minute.  Going to class is about what I pay for a pair of running shoes.  I have a friend who recently paid about this much to see Lady GaGa in concert and sit in the nosebleed section.

My externship is basically a class where I pay to work for a judge or agency.  To earn 2 credits, I have to work for 120 hours.  I’m paying $1328.75 for this experience or $11.06 per hour.  Working for them for an hour is more expensive than going to a movie.  This is my least expensive class from an hourly perspective, and it’s still a lot of ramen.

If I am paying this much to sit in a classroom, I expect the value of the experience to be equal to what I could be spending my money on instead of tuition.  Last semester, I wanted the academic equivalent of glitter, fanfare, and dancing girls.  This semester with the increase in tuition, I expect an even higher value.  I still want glitter, fanfare, and dancing girls, but this semester I want the academic equivalent of skydiving too.  I want to be so entertained and engaged by my professor’s stories and explanations that I forget that I’m in school, overworked, exhausted, and stressed.

Last semester I didn’t get the value of my tuition and I unsuccessfully demanded my money back.  As students, it’s frustrating that we don’t have much power over the classroom experience besides dropping a course when the professor or the class doesn’t meet our needs.  For the most part, I have been happy with my law school experience, but I will ask for my money back if I feel like I’m being ripped off.  When I demanded my money back from the law school, I was told that I had to seek compensation from the university.  I wonder how the president of the university would react if he received a demand letter.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Unemployed J.D. Goes on a Hunger Strike (abovethelaw.com)
• Unraveling College Credits Per Semester Hour (brighthub.com)
• Want to whine about college tuition increases? (mytotalmoneymakeover.com)
• New Tuition Trend: Will 1Ls be Willing to Subsidize 3Ls? (abovethelaw.com)

My friend, Kade Dworkin, started a new podcast this month called Meet My Followers.

Kade Dworkin

Each show is a 20-minute interview with one of his followers from Twitter.  I was impressed when I saw that he’s challenging himself to release a new show every weekday morning.  So far he’s had some awesome and interesting guests – including me.

I met Kade in November 2009 when we were both presenters at Ignite Phoenix #5.  He spoke about “The Art of Misusing Stuff,” and my presentation was “Frosting the Law.”  Since then I’ve stayed connected to him and his adventures on Twitter and Facebook.  When he announced that he was starting this podcast and was soliciting guests for it, I immediately said I was in.

Kade asks all of his guests who they follow on Twitter.  I had to gush about some of my favorite people:

• Lawyerist: @lawyerist, one of my favorite legal blogs
• Eric Mayer: @ericlmayer, one of the best attorneys and courtroom advocates I’ve ever seen.  He’s new to Twitter, and his blogs are very thought-provoking.
• Evo Terra: @evo_terra, my friend that I love for his intelligence, humor, and the fact that he just tells it like it is.  I’m also a fan of the occasional guest tweet from @jmoriarty.  Evo’s podcast is one of the highlights of my week.

We also talked about why I decided to go to law school and my aspiration to practice intellectual property and internet law, and to keep the crew at Improv AZ out of jail.  I’m glad that there are people like Kade who work in this area who remind me that there will be plenty of work for a neophyte lawyer in this area after I graduate.  You can listen to my episode of Meet My Followers on iTunes or on the show’s website.

Thank you, Kade for having me on your show.  I had a lot of fun and I look forward to hearing who is going to be on your show next.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Can’t resist Twitter humor (fresnobeehive.com)
• 4 Ways to Utilize Twitter for Public Relations (ereleases.com)
• Twitter Chats: Another Social Media PR Opportunity (prinyourpajamas.com)

I am a classic Libra.  The symbol for my zodiac is the scales.  In my life, it’s all about balance.  When I have to make decisions, I like to mull over my options.  Once I make a decision, it’s hard to get me to budge, but getting to that point can be almost painful.  I have literally burst into tears while shopping for sneakers because it was so hard to make a decision.

Most non-Libras don’t understand how hard making decisions is for Libras.  I get overwhelmed if I have too many choices.  I had a friend declare that he would never go shopping with me again because it took me over an hour to pick out a ceiling fan.  The funny thing is that it’s usually the most arbitrary decisions that are the hardest for me like, “What do I want for lunch?”

In the last few years, the quarter has become a lifesaver for me.  I carry a designated quarter in my purse, separate from my wallet, that is used solely for decision-making purposes.  I can usually get my options down to two choices, but then I make myself crazy trying to make a final decision.  My quarter is the final word in these cases.  I’m sure it looks silly when people see me flipping my quarter in restaurants and shopping malls, but it’s saved me a lot of mental anguish.   Whatever decision the quarter makes is what I go with.  My quarter has helped me order food, select which brand of contact lenses I’m going to use, and pick out my clothes in the morning.

And I know that I’m not the only one who uses such an arbitrary system for making decisions.  According to Lowering the Bar, at least one company uses Rock-Paper-Scissors to make decisions when the voting members are deadlocked.  I was delightfully surprised when Judge Greg Presnell ordered the parties in Avista Management v. Wausau Underwriters to use Rock-Paper-Scissors to determine where to hold a deposition when the lawyers involved worked in the same building.  Whoever won the game got to decide where the deposition would be held.   Based on Lowering the Bar’s blog, it appears that the parties in this case had run to the courts for every minor issue and the court had had enough.  I was impressed by the decision.  It sounded like something I would do if I were a judge who was exasperated with opposing counsel.

Photo from Flickr by ThenAndAgain.  (CC)

Related articles by Zemanta

• How to win Rock-paper-scissors every time (flowingdata.com)
• T-Shirts & Apparel : Rock Paper Scissors Lizard Spock – Kids (thinkgeek.com)
• Feed local families with rock, paper, scissors (ballardnewstribune.com)

My friend, Eric Mayer, wrote a powerful blog about why he became a military criminal defense attorney.  It made me reflect on why I was inspired to go to law school.

Before law school, I worked in the mental health industry for nine years.  I started out as an intern at a residential psychiatric facility for children.  On a good day, I got paid to drink chocolate milk and play soccer.  On a bad day, I spent my shift holding patients down so that they could not harm themselves or anyone else.  All the staff was trained on these protective techniques and could perform them without risk to the patient.  These were not inherently bad kids.  Most of them had been dealt a bad hand.  When I read the patients’ files,  I saw that these kids had been through some horrific experiences – severe neglect, sexual abuse, and abuse from their biological and foster parents.  Many of them had not been nurtured or properly socialized, so they coped with life the best they could with substance abuse, unhealthy relationships, depression, and physical violence against themselves and others.  I remember one patient who was constantly verbally belittled by her family.  She had no other abuse in her history.  It was words alone that caused her to have severe enough depression that she needed residential care.  It was our job to show her that it was ok to have her own thoughts and opinions.  It was amazing to see these kids get better and be able to leave the unit with some of the tools they would need to effectively function in the world.

This experience, along with others, inspired me to become a therapist.  It was very humbling to have people come into my office, unload their problems, and hope that I could help them.  Sometimes I had clients whose problems seemed minute to me, and I had to remember that it didn’t matter how I viewed their problems, but how they viewed their problems.  Sometimes it was scary when I had clients who I feared might be suicidal.  On a handful of occasions I had to call the police and ask them to perform welfare checks on my clients to make sure they were still alive.  One time I even called the morgue to see if one of my clients was there.  Thankfully he wasn’t.

One of the challenges of being a therapist is that you have to let the clients do the work.  I could help them process their feelings and explore their options, but ultimately they had to take the actions that will improve their lives.  This process can literally take years.  It’s frustrating when you have the answer and you can’t make the person do what you want.  Trying to force things actually leads to setbacks.  I felt like I was on the sidelines of the problem-solving process.  I decided to go to law school because I wanted to keep working with interesting people and complicated problems, but I wanted to have a more active role in the process.

One thing I’ve learned in law school is that people hire an attorney in two situations: 1) when something bad has happened or 2) when they are trying to prevent something bad from happening.  Regardless of what area of law I practice, I hope that I can always remain humble and remember that my clients are putting their livelihoods, families, and sometimes their very lives in my hands and asking me for help.  Even when their problems are easy for me to handle, I hope I remember how stressed and frightened they might be feeling.  I hope I always respect the power my clients give me and their expectations that I can help them.

When I first moved to Phoenix in 2004, I didn’t have a job. Catherine Marsh, a woman who was a leader in the financial industry back when women leaders were a rare occurrence, told me that 85% of getting a job is who you know, not what you. This has been true in every profession I’ve encountered, especially when you’re the new guy.

Despite my adventurous attitude, I’m a fairly introverted person. I don’t like big crowds of people, especially when I hardly know anyone. The idea of going to networking events makes me groan. I much prefer to meet one-on-one with people or in small groups where our gathering has a purpose. I have, however, found a few ways to network that seem to work for me.

I prefer to avoid big dog-and-pony-show networking events. I prefer panel discussions and guest speaker events instead. I usually bring my laptop with me, and if there is someone I want to meet afterwards, I look them up on the internet. Most older lawyers don’t have a Facebook or a Twitter account, but many of them have LinkedIn profiles. I’ll request to connect with them, while the event is going on and say how much I’m enjoying their talk. If they have a Twitter account, I’ll follow them. I tend to stay away from people I don’t know on Facebook until I have established a dialogue them unless they say, “Find me on Facebook.”

Last semester my school had an awesome panel of lawyers who are on the ABA’s Legal Rebels list. Since I am not a traditional law student, I was excited to see my fellow non-conformists. Sam Glover from The Lawyerist was particularly interesting to me. I remembering sitting in the audience thinking, “I need to meet this guy.” I hopped on Google and searched for him. By the time he was done describing what he does in his professional life, I was following him and his blog on Twitter and I had tweeted out how much I was enjoying his talk. I was so grateful to hear from someone who was making their law degree work for them in a way that complimented their personality.

While the other presenters were sharing their stories, I watched Sam tinker with his cell phone. I giddily hoped that he was checking his Twitter and saw that I was following him. After the event was over, a handful of people gathered around Sam. As I approached the group Sam looked at me and said, “You must be Ruth.” I was elated. Since then we’ve connected through this blog and Twitter. He’s been a great resource for me.

Targeted networking is a strategy that seems to work best for me. When I hear someone or hear about someone I want to meet, I look for ways to connect with them either online or in person. It’s much less stressful and often more successful than going to general networking events where I may not meet anyone who shares any of my interests in the legal profession. Most lawyers I’ve met are happy to help the neophytes coming down the pike, but usually I have to initiate the conversation.

Related articles by Zemanta

• The Ups and Downs of Social Networks (penn-olson.com)
• Revealing Your Personality Through Social Networking Platforms [Bernadette Doyle] (ecademy.com)

The purpose of this week’s blog is to tell you that there’s going to be a real blog next week.

I’m sorry kids, but I’ve had no inspiration this week, and what few ideas I have are being brutally bashed by my overtaxed mind.  My friend gave me a slew of great law-related ideas to write about.  I tucked them away for future use.  Today it feels like everything I do is law related – working at my internship, applying for judicial clerkships, and contemplating my future in the legal profession.  I know that not everything I do is law related, but it feels that way today.  I need a mental break from writing about the law.

Captain Kirk said, “The more complex the mind, the greater the need for the simplicity of play.”  He is absolutely right.  I am, therefore, giving myself the week off from blogging.   I’ll be back next week.  Instead I’m going to go sit in my backyard, with my feet dangling in my pool, and relax while watching the stars.

So I don’t feel like I’m not completely neglecting my readers, I’m sharing the lyrics of my law school theme song:  The Beauty of Your Dreams.  The music was written by Joan Szymko and the lyrics were adapted from the writings of Eleanor Roosevelt.  My choir performed this song years ago.  It helps calm me down when the world gets stressful.

I will make a prayer to ask what I can do,

I will make a prayer to ask for courage to follow the light

as it is given to me.

You gain courage and strength and confidence

every time you look fear in the face.

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

Life must be lived!

Cast out fear and face the unknown.

Face the unknown with courage

and integrity and a high heart.

Believe in your dreams,

believe in the beauty of your dreams.

The future belongs to those who do believe

in the beauty of their dreams.

See you next week.

- Ruthie

]]> http://www.undeniableruth.com/2010/07/20/this-weeks-non-post-post/feed/ 2 http://www.undeniableruth.com/2010/07/13/summer-school-2010-improv-acting-class/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=summer-school-2010-improv-acting-class http://www.undeniableruth.com/2010/07/13/summer-school-2010-improv-acting-class/#comments Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:30:59 +0000 Ruth Carter http://www.undeniableruth.com/?p=492

I spent a significant amount of time this past semester applying for summer positions.  With the economy still on the rebound, they were hard to come by.  I made a promise to myself that no matter what I did during the summer before my last year of law school, I got to take improv acting classes.  I had a few experiences in the last year that inspired me to take a formal class:

1. Captain Eric Mayer, U.S. Army JAG:  I had the pleasure of spending last summer with the Army JAG in Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.  Captain Mayer was the defense attorney in the office, and he was phenomenal in the courtroom.  Whenever there was a court martial, I sat in the audience and watched him in complete awe.  He never seemed uncomfortable or at a loss for words.  I don’t think he ever wrote a script for anything he did, not even his opening statement.  When he questioned a witness, he didn’t have a list of questions.  He put a list of the information he needed to get out of the witness to build his case and would check off each one once he got the answer he needed.  I was intimidated by his skills just from sitting in the audience.
2. Professor Dallyn’s Applied Evidence Class:  This course taught us how to apply the rules of evidence to a courtroom situation.  Every day we did role plays where we took turns playing the parts of the questioning attorney, the opposing counsel, and the witness who on the stand.   The final for the class was a fake trial.  I tried to use Captain Mayer’s approach to questioning a witness, but found myself needing a script of questions and feeling flustered while the opposing counsel and I were making objections.
3. Improv AZ’s Coroner Prank #2:  I’m a founding member of Improv AZ, a local performance troupe in the Phoenix area.  After our success with the Coroner Prank on the light rail in October 2009, we decided to repeat it at a local mall.  Things did not go according to plan, and we were confronted by the mall cops who called the real cops.  My fellow coroners were former professional improv actors.  When things turned sour, they slipped back into improv mode.  I turned seven shades of white and tried not to pass out while reserving my right to remain silent.  Thankfully the cops let us go after questioning us and the mall cops banned us from the mall for three months.  Check out my legal analysis of the event and the video.

My class started a little over two weeks ago with Jester’Z Improv and it has been amazing.  It’s a 12-week course that ends with a showcase for our friends and family.  I hope that taking this class will help improve my ability to think on my feet.

Having been a gymnast and a singer for most of my life, you might think that taking improv acting would be easy. However, in both of these activities, the performance is completely scripted.  With improv, you don’t know what’s going to happen until you’re up on the stage.  It’s a bit unsettling when you don’t know what your partner is going to say or what scenario you might be playing out.

I went to the Jester’Z Improv show featuring the regular cast and nearly peed my pants from laughing.  Part of me simply enjoyed the show and part of me was a student trying to absorb ideas from the actors and thinking, “Oh geez, these are the games I might be in during my showcase!  How am I going to pull this off?”  It’s going to be awesome.

Photo courtesy of Jester’Z Improv Comedy Troupe.

I remember feeling very excited and scared during the weeks before I started law school.  I remember having a lot of questions and not always having a clear answer for many of them.  I want to share some of the wisdom that I’m glad people told me and some that I wished I had been told before I started law school.

Enjoy Your Pre-law School Summer
You will have offers to take special pre-law school prep courses to help prepare you to take law classes.  You probably don’t need this.  Enjoy spending your time relaxing with family and friends instead.

Law School is Overwhelming – at first
You might feel like a deer-in-the-headlights for the first month of school while you’re getting used to classes and studying.  This is normal and temporary.

Your Reading Speed will Decrease
Reading legal cases is a lot different than reading other textbooks.  Don’t freak out if you are only able to read 6-10 pages per hour your first semester.

You Can Still Have a Life
Going to law school does not mean you have to give up having a personal life, but you will have to prioritize your activities.  I strongly encourage every law student to have a life away from school.  I was the most miserable the semester I spent the least amount of time participating in non-law school activities.

Studying will take up a lot of time.  However, a disciplined person can regularly be done with studying for the day by 5pm or 6pm.  One of my classmates was known for getting all of his studying done between Monday and Friday and was able to spend his weekends relaxing with his wife.

Don’t Even Think of Trying to Work During Your First Semester
The ABA prohibits 1Ls from working their first semester, and this is one time where the ABA and I agree.  Having worked 2 jobs (13 hours/day) in the past, I thought I could try working a few hours a week when classes started.  My first week of classes proved to me that this wasn’t an option.  Law school is mentally draining your first semester.  Let your free time be devoted to rest and enjoyment.

Form Relationships with your Professors
Professors are great people when you need advice or someone to listen to your frustrations.  They are also awesome resources for networking in your local community and glowing letters of recommendation that make you stand out from your peers when you’re applying for jobs and scholarships.  Professors are a highly beneficial and often under-utilized resource for students.

You Don’t Have to Change Who You Are to be Successful
The legal profession is generally conservative and traditional, and I am neither of those things.  When I was accepted to law school, people suggested that I change my wardrobe, my hair, my sunglasses, and cover my tattoos when I started school.  This was loving advice from people who didn’t want me to be judged by my appearance and bold personality.  I can understand why people might want to “tone it down” during the first few days of school to see how people who don’t fit the norms are treated, but in general, you don’t have to change who you are to be successful in law school.  For me, the best experiences and opportunities have come when I have stayed genuine to myself and not followed the traditional path.

Attitude is Everything
In law school, as in life, you will be as happy or as miserable as you choose to be.  If you simply accept that sometimes life will be challenging and stressful, but don’t let it get you down, you’ll be a happier person.  I have a classmate who embodies this.  No matter what is going on in his life, whenever I ask him, “How are you?,” he answers, “I’m living the dream.”  A positive attitude will always carry you through.

Good luck!  If you have any questions about law school or if you have been a law student and have your own tips or experiences to add to this list, please leave them as comments to this post.