STRESS

  Ok for law school dreamers- I don't want to scare you.  Law school is really awesome and I don't regret my decision at all.  I'm learning so much and am really starting to feel empowered by the skills (well the limited skills) I've developed already.   If studying the law is something that makes you excited- go for it!  However, you should also understand that this is not an environment where everyone is spouting sunshine and rainbows all the time.  My classmates and I are all competing to do well and are learning pretty dense material.  The workload is ridiculous and the pressure to do well on exams is unbelievably intense.   People constantly feel the need to compare themselves with others ( myself included) and the fear of failure is not an entirely uncommon conversation topic.  Hence, the law school environment and eventually a law school career will involve a considerable amount of stress.

Unfortunately I have not handled this pressure well- at all.  When people ask me how I handle everything, I usually try and talk about keeping a good perspective and remembering what is really important in life, when in reality, I'm seriously panicking.  Instead of tackling my school work head on and not allowing myself to become consumed by the stress, I just avoid my work.  I read my favorite fashion blogs, window shop online, watch Grey's anatomy on hulu starting at season 1..... anything and everything to avoid facing the law school music.  And then because I've procrastinated I stress even more to the point where I physically don't feel well either.  I've never been like this in my life- I've always been a worrier but I feel like my life is being controlled by these feelings.

This is a pretty personal topic for me and I'm a little hesitant about talking about it, but I'm realizing that this is something most people (yes life beyond the 1L bubble can also be stressful) can relate to.  I always pray for my friends who are under a lot of stress because I know it can just feel like this unbearably heavy burden on your shoulders that you don't know how to get rid of.   

So I'm opening up a forum of sorts- how do you handle your stress?  Is there an activity that you like to do that just makes all your worries go away?  Are their habits that you have that ensure that stressful situations stay at bay?   Chocolate?  Mani/Pedis?  I'd love to hear your stories!

After just admitting to being an epic fail at stress management I know I've lost a little credibility, but I thought I'd start the discussion by sharing a few things that have started to help me a little bit.

1) Making sure to have a little victory each day that I can be proud of- every day I try to do something productive so that at the end of the day, even when I feel like I failed, I can look to that one little victory and not feel as bad.

2) Cooking- a fun, relaxing, and yummy hobby.  Rather than sitting on the internet to procrastinate this activity at least feels a little more productive and usually I can share my goodies with others which always makes me feel good.

3) Removing myself from my classmates- I go to school with incredibly nice and driven people but I have a real problem with comparing myself to others so I have started studying off campus so I can't do that as much.  This has probably been the most helpful

4) Talking to others and admitting I have a problem.  My poor boyfriend.... everyday we talk on the phone and he gets an earful from me about how stressed I've been.  But having someone to vent to everyday has been a God-send this semester.  He is so incredibly supportive and just lets me say what I need to say without judgment.  My friends and family have also been so supportive- knowing that at the end of the day they are going to love me no matter what happens is what keeps me going everyday.

Cute and Relaxed.... Life doesn't get much better than that!

To those of you who are feeling bogged down by stress and anxiety I will be praying for you!  Stress can really control your life to the point where you feel like it will never leave, but finding support and being open is, I think, one of the best ways to start turning around.

Finding the Bigger Meaning

This is a post I wrote for a blog that Georgetown will be providing for admitted students.   I know it is a little skewed towards Georgetown school spirit but I think the message is important to consider regardless of where you currently go to law school or where you want to go.  Enjoy!

Long before I received my acceptance letter, I knew that Georgetown was where I wanted to be.  I was in love with the location, was amazed by the extensive resources available and was thrilled to get the opportunity to study with such distinguished faculty.  However, I did have one hesitation that made me a little nervous coming into my first weeks here.  For some reason, I assumed that a law school with as great a reputation and ranking as Georgetown‘s would attract a lot of future lawyers motivated primarily by the glamour of a high-power, high-paying legal career.  

Who wants to grow a fin on their back??? NOT ME!

I understand that when a lot of people think of a stereotypical lawyer, they think of someone who fits this profile: greedy, competitive, self-focused.  However, in my limited experience with the law, I’ve come to see how there are so many lawyers who are motivated by something much bigger than monetary gain or prestige.  There are lawyers who give up a high paying salary in order to help the homeless, displaced, children, immigrants, and many other marginalized groups in our society.  There are others who work in private practice and make a decent living, but if you ask them why they practice the law, they immediately light up and tell you that the law has given them a sense of purpose and passion in life.  These are the lawyers who inspired me to come to law school.  My concern coming into law school was that my incredibly smart fellow classmates, who have the ability to get the high-powered job, would be very focused on the attainment of a high salary rather than assessing whether this type of job fit their interests or utilized their unique skills to help better the lives of others.  About 2 days into law school, I realized that this fear had been so wrong. 

Georgetown students are incredibly committed to public service.  I couldn’t even begin to try and list the number of people I have met who already know they want to dedicate their lives to working in the public sector.  My lovely roommate for example wants to work as a child guardian to help represent children in abuse and neglect cases.  Appropriately so, not every student wants to practice in the public sector, but almost everyone seems to value the general importance of giving back to the community.  There are numerous community service opportunities available for any interest you may have, a program for 1Ls to do pro bono work where you get real legal experience, and events run by student organizations to raise money for charity.  

I know we look a little scary but I promise we want to help people

The administration also seems committed to helping us find careers where we feel excited about the practice areas we are in and feel fulfilled by the work we produce.  The Dean of Students runs a program called the search before the search where students are shown the importance of finding a job that incorporates their personal interests and values, over and above any interests about salary or prestige. If you are someone that is excited about finding a more high-powered job, that is totally ok!  But what I love about Georgetown is that they will encourage you, no matter what area of the law you want to practice in, to always self-reflect about why you are passionate about that area of the law.  If you can’t answer that question, you’re going to have a hard time feeling fulfilled and satisfied in your career.

Moral of the story, I am so thrilled to say that Georgetown students are caring and passionate people who are committed to helping others and dedicated to living their lives with purpose and meaning.  I know that being surrounded by people like this will help me to stay motivated to pursue my interests and keep the bigger picture in mind.  In an economy where job security and availability is inconsistent and just plain scary, I know keeping a good perspective will be more important than ever.         

Georgetown Law Alum (well fictional one anyway)!

Day in the Life

I stand like this all day- carefree and model-esque

So for the last several weeks I've been trying to plan out this post where I sort of give a day in the life of a law student snapshot.  The plan was one day I would just write down everything I did so that prospective law school people can see just what goes into our day to day life as law students.  But every day that I tried to do this something would always happen that just threw me way off track and wasn't the usual.  Like last weekend I had 2 different people on the same day say they were in town only for the evening and wanted to get together.  Or other days I will have a bigillion meetings that force me to stay up until 2:30 in the morning finishing my work but who wants to hear about that scariness (:  So moral of the story: Life is never normal in law school.  With meetings, friends, reading up to your eyeballs each day brings a new adventure.  It's fun but definitely stressful and keeps me on my toes.  Here is mock schedule of a "normal" day but like I said I haven't had one in quite some time now.

Typical Tuesday

7:45 Wake up after having hit the snooze button about 5 times

7:45-8 Check email, Read CNN, Read a blog or 2

8-8:20 Shower

8:20-8:55 Breakfast, Get Dressed, Hair/Makeup, Franctically grab all my books/finish up any last minute reading I didn't do

8:55-9 Walk to class (amazing benefit of living on campus)

9-11 Contracts (always accompaniged with some caffinated beverage)

Amen Sister...

11-12 Lunch, Email, Blog reading, Facebook

12-3:30 Read/Take Notes on my Torts Assignment (some people do this days in advance but I find that because my teacher is a scary cold-caller I prefer to have the readings fresh in my mind)

3:30-5:30 Torts

What I've learned from torts- just walk a step and expect to be sued...

5:30-6:30 mandatory 1 hour break after a class- email, facebook, sometimes a run if I'm adventurous

6:30-7 Dinner

7-8 Reading/Looking at Old notes from the week

8-9 Glee while doing work

9-1 Reading, Taking Notes, Preparing for the next day, Somewhere in there I'll usually talk on the phone with Kevin for a half hour to hour as well

<<<<<<SLEEP>>>>>>>

So that's a typical non-meeting, non-surprise visit, non-slacking Tuesday!  Everybody handles their time differently but as you can see from my schedule I'm work-intensive in the evening and like to give myself "me" time after classes.  I know lots of people who get up super early to work out, others who prefer to do their work all during "business hours", and a few who literally work 24/7... bottom line do what's right for you.  Don't try and change the wheel.  Hope this is helpful and as always please let me know if you would like to see any particular posts on here!  I've heard from a few of you that a law school app. advice post might be helpful so later this weekend I might do that. Thank you for all of the support as I make my way through this first semester!  Have a lovely weekend and remember- GO IRISH BEAT TROJANS!!!

                                               Miss this everyday







 

22 Ramblings Cont.

Hope everyone is having a great week!  

As promised, here is the second half of my "lessons, thoughts, changes, obsessions from over the past year" list!  

 12) Americans can really hold a grudge: Everyday I spend hours reading cases about the crazy things that happen to people- slipping on banana peels, getting hit with a golf club, getting scammed out of $....the list is endless.  While some of these cases are truly injustices that deserve a legal remedy, a lot of the time I just shake my head thinking that the world would be a much better place if people could just forgive and forget.  Granted I wouldn't have a job if this were to happen, but who likes lawyers anyway (;  For example, when your 5 year old nephew plays a prank and pulls the chair out from under you, can't we just give him a little slap on the wrist and call it day rather than take him to court for negligence?  Is that really necessary??

13) Thank you Iphone!  In January I got my very first smart phone (iphone) and literally cannot imagine my life without it ever again.  I know I know.... this is really sad, but having access to maps and the internet has literally saved me more times that I can count. 

So this is what I actually do on my iphone all day...

14) Youtube=Obsession .   What did people do in their free time before youtube because I honestly can't remember (:  I mean I clearly love it for accessing the viral funny videos but youtube has become so much more for me.  I regularly use it for catching up on the news/listening to music/watching documentaries/getting fashion and makeup suggestions... For the band dance last February I even hemmed a whole dress by watching a stitching tutorial!   It has absolutely changed the way I obtain and learn new information.  Here is a new silly favorite I have seen being passed around on facebook this week.  Should a little girl be singing this? NO  Do I still watch it? YES

15) I <3 D.C.- While I have always thought that I preferred smaller cities and suburbs to major cities like New York or LA but I have absolutely fallen in love with living in D.C.  There is so much to do here that you could probably live here for years  without doing half of them.  I definitely miss how at home and college I would walk down the street and recognize at least 1 friendly face, but I think living in a city has made me appreciate how I am just one tiny part of an extremely large and complex world.  There are billions of people each with a different story to tell and in city you have access to explore a bigger and more diverse cross section of that.

I  see this beauty every time  I step outside my apartment building- so cool!

16) Parents are cool people too.  I've always had a pretty good relationship with my parents but I think college and especially this past year have shown me that my parents can be great friends too.  While kids don't like to admit it, our parents went through a lot of the same things and felt a lot of the same feelings when they were our age, and having lived through that, they definitely have advice to give.  I am so grateful to my parents for their openness with me and am glad that I've gotten over the immature teenage phase of thinking my parents have no idea what their talking about (:  

With Mom & Dad on graduation day

17) People my age are getting married and having babies- and I'm kind of freaked out.  To those who fall into either of these 2 categories, I am so incredibly happy for you and partially jealous.  I especially admire you because it think it takes a lot of courage and maturity to take that step- I freak out simply because I don't think it is something I could handle just yet.

18) 2011 Shopping Obsession- Loft.  I do not want to even try and guess how much $ I have spent here this year.  

Love simple and elegant pieces like this!

19) I have connections!-  In my first adult years I've been so pleasantly surprised to realize that I KNOW people!  As I start thinking about my future career aspirations I'm realizing more and more that I have contacts and people that I can call to get referred to other places.  This is such an empowering realization- I'm not alone and there are people out there who would be willing to help me (I hope).  Yay!



20) We Can't Connect the Dots Forward- I should be honest that I just learned about this mantra yesterday as I was reading about the passing of Steve Jobs but I think it is epic enough for a blog mention.  In his commencement address to Stanford grads in 2005, Jobs pointed out that people frequently want to try and reason through the difficult and complex things that happen in their lives.   However, Jobs stresses, there is no way for us to understand the significance or meaning of things that are happening to us in the present.   We just have to realize that we can only connect the dots backwards- that we are not going to understand now how something will benefit or hurt us in the future.  Its not even funny how much his message is applicable to my life right now.

21) (Cue the Titanic Music) Your Heart Will Go On...  Over the last few years I've had some pretty big heart breaks.   I broke up with my first serious boyfriend who I had dated for several years and then a year later had to leave behind my home and friends back at Notre Dame.  In both cases I really felt like the best years of my life had ended and I was never going to find anything as special ever again.  But of course, as everyone told me, my life did not get worse and in fact has in so many ways only gotten better.  I love law school and living in D.C. and I have met a wonderful guy who makes me very happy.     

22) I feel very loved.  On my birthday this year I received so many kind messages, calls and cards.  I can't not express how much those gestures meant to me and feel so lucky to be connected with so many amazing and loving people.  Birthdays are definitely a special reminder of how God has blessed us with a network of loving and beautiful people.

I love waking up and seeing these cards- thank you to everyone for your kind messages!!!

And that's it!  If there is anything you would like to see me do a blog post about PLEASE let me know!!!   Cooking, apartment pictures, law school advice for those applying, favorite beauty/fashion products, politics... I love getting constructive feedback about the blog (:  Hope you all enjoy the holiday weekend!!!

22 Ramblings

 Yesterday the era of fun and exciting birthdays officially came to an end because... I turned 22.  Don't get me wrong- I had an absolutely wonderful day and feel incredibly grateful for the numerous blessings in my life.   However, after 21, birthdays just don't seem as exciting anymore!  So maybe I can't rent a car yet but at this point I am fully supporting myself financially, am able to legally vote, can drive whatever car my parents are brave enough to lend me and can drink whatever my little heart desires.  But as has become the theme of my previous blog posts, I thought maybe a post about things I have learned/discovered/experienced this year will teach me that with each year comes important changes and milestones.... Cheesy?  Yes... but it's my birthday and I'll write if I want to (:  WARNING- the order is so random and I go from one topic to another with no semblance of reasoning.   But I am going to divide this into 2 parts so its not so overwhelming....

1) Missing Notre Dame comes in waves- I love being a grown up but I would give anything to march on that field, sit on the quads, and be in a community with my best friends one more time.

One of my few freshmen year band pics- I miss this so much ):

2) Going to Church post-Notre Dame is not as easy as I thought it would be.  I consider myself to be a strong Catholic but when Church is not accessible to me on Sunday nights and does not appreciate pajama attire it takes a whole lot more willpower to go.  

3) After being a cat person my whole life, I'm falling in love with dogs and want a puppy so bad- specifically a chocolate lab.

Santa- Please???  Well maybe not this year but sometime soon...

 4) I have become obsessed with the blog College Prepster. This may produce an eyeroll from some of my friends but I love her style and taste and think she is such an incredible business woman and entrepreneur-and she's only a senior in college!  I just wish I had access to the funds she does to buy all those pretty things.  

Example of a College Prepster look- I think this is so polished and pretty!

5) I love reading blogs generally now too- particularly those written by my friends.  My favorite would definitely have to be my friend Katie's blog.  She is so talented and so insightful- a great read for young professionals.

6) Politically (in a whispered tone) I'm finding myself to be more and more conservatively-leaning.  I know this is a shocker- law student, Catholic, living in D.C..... I don't know why but this is just where my head has been recently.

7) I love to cook!!! I have actually been making more complicated things the past couple weeks- I find it to be so relaxing and love seeing the happy look on my friend's faces as they enjoy something a tad better than our typical lean cuisines.

My first Pecan Pie with no corn syrup- YUM!!!!

8) Paying for groceries is a gift and a curse- it has made me eat so much healthier and I love picking out new and interesting foods (Indian food=yum) but $100 dollars every 2 weeks kind of sucks..

9) I have a confession- I'M A PROCRASTINATOR.  While I have denied it my whole life, my law school habits have shown that I can't deny this identity any longer.  I work best under pressure.

10) As much as I thought I would give up my dream of helping schools and students after undergoing the pressure to be a corporate rich lawyer, I'm still finding myself to be very excited about this type of job.  I hope I can sustain this as long as my heart feels called to it!

11) Law is school is so HARD.  I know this is probably not a surprise to anyone but  I don't think you can ever really know this until you are in it.  The work load is manageable but the level of thinking we are expected to do or asked to do can either make so much sense or feel so over my head.  Prayers are appreciated (:

I seriously wish I could be as carefree and put together as her!!  Legally Blonde is actually not that far off from how law school actually works in my opinion...

Part 2 will come in the next couple of days... Have a wonderful weekend and GO IRISH BEAT BOILERS!!!

Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Washington, D.C.- Labor Day 2011

So I really should be writing my first memo (telling my fictional supervising partner about which jurisdiction he should sue Estee Lauder in) which is due on Sunday, but at the moment I'm feeling more inspired to write a long overdue blog post.  I think what is particularly inspiring me at the moment is that  my boyfriend Kevin left today for California where he will be living for the next 5 to 6 years getting his Ph.D. at Stanford.  While we already had our big goodbye, I think this day has been a little hard for me because it feels like the official start of a new and very difficult phase in our relationship.  I think his leaving is also really hard on me because it just compounds on the stress and anxiety I've been going through over these first 3 weeks of law school.  But as he keeps telling me, the only thing I can do right now is focus on the positives and not let the sad and negative feelings bring me down, so I thought briefly recapping our last visit together might be a nice way to do that.

Over the long labor day weekend, Kevin came to D.C. to visit me.  I think in total it took him about 12 hours to get here which in my book wins him the boyfriend of the year award (12 hours on greyhound=yuck).     

On Saturday we had a pretty exciting day because we got to watch our first Notre Dame football game as alumni!  The whole experience actually wasn't as weird as I thought it was going to be.  I thought I was going to get super depressed and emotional about watching my first Notre Dame game as a bystander but it actually felt more like watching an away game.  We went to a bar called The Exchange where the ND Alumni Club of D.C. hosts an official gamewatch.  The bar was absolutely swarmed with ND fans which was a lot of fun and made for a really fun game-viewing experience.  Anytime things went good or bad, the whole bar erupted in almost unbearably loud cheers or shouting.  A really fun part was also drinking the specialty green beer which I'll include a picture of here:

Notre Dame v. Southern Florida

While the game didn't go quite as expected (2 rain delays and no marching band half time show) I'm glad to say that the game watch was a lot of fun and really helped my transition from band member to spectator a lot easier!

So this post isn't too long, I'll say briefly that Sunday and Monday Kevin and I pretty much did every monument and tourist attraction in D.C (I will post the picture highlights below).   We went to several of the Smithsonians and then did a huge walking loop of all the monuments.  The whole week after I felt my legs were going to fall off- I think we had to have walked at least 4 or 5 miles in one day). 

Kevin eating the "Mickey Roll" at a sushi place near my apartment

I mean you have to ....

Smithsonian Air & Space Museum

Overall, the weekend was truly a beautiful experience.  Kevin and I shared a lot about how we were feeling about the changes that were coming our way but ultimately recognized that there are so many things that we're both looking forward to doing together in the future.  The mantra I keep telling myself (which I give full credit to Kevin for) is that at the end of the day, I am so lucky to be in a relationship with someone who truly loves and cares about the real me- and for that I wouldn't want my life, or long-distance relationship, to be any other way.

Lincoln Memorial

1st Day Jitters

So I don't typically do this, in fact I really try to avoid at all costs taking pictures of myself, but I figured it might be kind of fun to have a memory of the first day of my legal career (:

So today was officially the first day of law school and I have to say that it was surprisingly pretty painless.  Now granted I only had 1 class- but I was genuinely scared that my first day was going to involve being the first one to get called on, then subsequently being the person who blanked when asked anything and finally getting the reputation as the girl "not to worry about" for the rest of my law school career. 

For those of you unfamiliar with how a law school classroom is typically run, this nightmare that I just described is what is known as "cold-calling" or "the socratic method".  Essentially teachers will randomly choose a student in the class and ask them to recite the relevant information about the case which had been assigned for class that day.

Fortunately for my sanity and reputation, no one was called on in class today and the teacher simply asked for volunteers.  I did work up the courage to make a comment though!  The class I had was Constitutional Law and it actually is going to be a class with only about 30 other students.   Most of my classes are with about 120 other students so it is nice to have an opportunity to know the other students and teacher a little more personally.

I think the one thing that did leave me a little nervous after today was that it is becoming clear that some people are going way above and beyond in how they are preparing for class.  I'm still not sure how to think about their approach.  For example, I was talking with one girl who had looked up all of these laws that had developed out of a case we had read and knew several more modern cases that were related to the precedent developed by the case we are studying.  On one hand that kind of effort makes people like me extremely intimidated and feeling like I am way behind everyone else.  But on the other hand, is all that extra work really worth it?  It is certainly interesting to look more closley at an issue, but with all the work we already have, is it really smart to try and cram your brain with even more information?  I guess time will tell but for right now I'm just trying to stick to, for the most part, only the things our teachers have assigned.



Tomorrow I will have my very first class with all of my fellow section-mates.  Hoping for another great day!  I will check in with everyone soon!

I have such a hard life right now... Getting fed food that is too amazing and yummy.  I almost died when I saw the chocolate scales!

The Show Goes On...

Over the summer, I spent a lot of time thinking/worrying about the many changes that were coming my way at Georgetown law.  I can imagine I went through a similar phase before leaving for Notre Dame, but for some reason law school seemed to consume my thoughts much more- to the point of exhaustion.  I constantly scrutinized how I would measure up against my fellow classmates, worried about how in the world I would ever pay off my astronomically high loans, considered whether I was socially normal enough to make friends, struggled with how I could make my long distance relationship strong and thriving, analyzed how I could maximize my chances at finding a good and paying summer internship for the following year.... the list could seriously go on for pages.  Exhausting right? 

Well I arrived at Georgetown almost a week ago, and while I had some strange notion that the worrying and analyzing would put me one step ahead of the competition, I'm realizing now that it's not going to.   All of my classmates and I are in the same boat.  It seems like everyone is scared about this first year, everyone feels unprepared, and everyone is worried about the future.  This realization has certainly been comforting- it's nice knowing that I'm not the only one feeling nervous and a little intimidated.  But of course being the natural worrier that I am, I am still feeling a little weighed down by the same fears I had all summer...

Well, something that has always helped me feel better either when I'm worrying a lot or going through a difficult time is to talk about those feelings either with myself or a friend.   So I thought to have the best of both worlds I could start a blog- so VOILA!  I'm intending this blog to be a record of my experiences as a 1L at Georgetown so that I can have an outlet to sort through my feelings and experiences, share my adventures with family and friends, and ideally, give advice/information to people interested in law school perhaps in the future.  As many of my friends know, I am also obsessed with reading other people's blogs about cooking/food/traveling/fashion/makeup so there may or may not be a few entries in here regarding those things as well.

I will try to put up lots of pictures (the one included being a view of my new home/school) and write as often as I can but am well aware that I may not be consistent due to our crazy schedules.  Please feel free to pass this blog around to anyone who you think may be interested- actually I encourage people to pass this around, I love getting to share and collaborate with others through this medium!!  If you ever have any questions or comments about this blog please feel free to email me or if you have a blog of your own I would love to read it!  My blog email address is 1LBelle2014@gmail.com.  If you want my personal email address just let me know!  Looking forward to sharing with you all in the future!!!

P.S.- What do you think is the significance of experiencing an earthquake and hurricane all in the first week of law school????