And just like that...

...it's nearly over. In fact, I am done with the actual classes for law school. I can't believe I just typed that. It's Friday evening and I just woke up from a well-earned nap. Earlier today, I turned in a paper which deprived me of a little sleep, but not too much, you know me. Honestly, that paper could have come right out of my undergrad days. My last class was actually yesterday and that made it incredibly hard to focus, I think the only reason I did focus was the deadline. This paper was different from other law school papers and what a relief that was! We didn't have to bluebook it or do fancy citations, it was a literary analysis/critique and that involves my opinions and thoughts. About an hour before it was due, I wasn't quite at the requisite length, and suddenly I remembered that old trick of changing the font to get the paper to the desired length. You don't change the font size, just the font, and you have to make sure it is a nice, readable font, so that it doesn't look like that is what you did. Seriously though, I could have turned in what I just fine.

So, the reason I'm writing now is because I was telling myself all week what a momentous occasion this was and that I should blog about what things are relevant at the moment and pass on some advice. First, the third year of law school really is that much better than the other two. It wasn't necessarily easier than 2L year, but it certainly had its perks. If you plan your classes right, you can end up like me. Finals start on Monday and I have my first and only final a week from Monday, followed by another 10 page paper due two weeks from today. That's it. Seriously. I once vowed never to take classes where you wrote a paper rather than take an exam, but this has certainly had its benefits. I get an entire week to try and learn the finer points of evidence before the exam. It's exciting.

Ooh, now I remember the advice I really wanted to pass on: back up your hard drive on a regular basis and buy the extended warranty for your laptop! The paper that was due this morning--I actually meant to take care of it last weekend, but on Saturday morning I woke up, turned it on, plugged in the cord and it went dead. Just like that. No amount of button pushing or taking out the battery or anything like that could get any sign of life. Fortunately, and apparently, I bought the extended warranty for my laptop. Even better, when I called the Dell support line, I got an American english speaker. They had me do a few things and arranged to send a new motherboard to a technician who would put it in for me. Well, the days went by slowly, but on Wednesday, the tech called me and came over to put in the new board. He made cracks about how he hadn't seen this model in a long time and was surprised that it was still under warranty. Finally, after taking the whole thing apart and putting it back together again, we pushed the power button and voila, the lights came on and it whirred back to life. What a great moment. So, there is that lesson.

An ancillary lesson is that you should buy a Nintendo Wii. Those few days would have been unbearable without it. Even though it didn't have a word processor for me to do my paper on, it did have an Internet browser which allowed me to check my email and ensure my sanity. Sure, it's not the best way to surf the net or send emails, but it got me through the hard times. As an added bonus, it is also fun for playing games like Tennis.

Alright, back to the topic of school. I had my first real interview this week. I know, that sounds kinda pathetic for a 3L, but it was a very rewarding experience. I got to wear my suit to school and this time when people asked if I had an interview, which they invariably do when you wear a suit, I could say with pride, YES! That was a good feeling. Even better was that this interview was the result of sending out one resume. I know, seriously? I only sent out one resume? Obviously, I am not the typical law student and have other kinds of ambitions, and this is what worked best for me. There has been no assistance from the OCS (office of career services) and if you have grades (and ambitions) like mine, you shouldn't expect much from them. A lot of smaller to mid-size firms don't even hire people until this time of year anyway. I've also heard from various sources that mass mailings don't do much and unsolicited resumes are often just thrown in the trash. Another important fact about the job search I have learned is that (and this number is probably totally made up, but it represents some truth) only 20% of all available jobs are listed on something like Monster, Careerbuilder, Craigslist, OCS, etc. While a large portion of jobs are never listed, some are listed only on their company website. So, if you know a business you would like to work for, check out the career opportunities tab on their site or send them a resume. At least, this targeted approach is my philosophy, don't take my word for it, but I'm 1 for 1 on interviews to resume sent ratio. Now that is something.