So, it has been awhile since I posted last so I just wanted to write real quick and fill you in on what I've been up to this last week or so...
I finally have my first taste of what law school is going to be like. I am participating in the Peer Mentoring Program (PMP) Summer Session at Suffolk which started this past Monday. The program runs Monday through Thursday this week and next from 6-9pm. Basically each night is divided into 3 sections.
In the first hour, the professor who is running the program, Jim Janda, lectures to us about a particular topic that has practical significance as we head into our first year of law school. On Monday night he taught us how to properly brief a case after we have read it so as to be as prepared as possible for class, and last night he starting talking to us about how to create outlines for our courses, which are the vital study tool in law school.
The second hour is devoted to going over the cases that we were assigned to read for class. Usually we have about 3-5 cases to read and brief for each class and Professor Janda really gives us a feel for what law school is like by "cold calling" on people, meaning he will state a question and then call on a student at random. This was definitely the aspect of law school that I was looking forward to the least (anyone who had class with me at Colby knows that I'm not real big on talking in front of the rest of class). Of course, I was called on the first night within the first 10 minutes of the second hour. Thankfully, I was prepared so I was able to answer the 3 questions that he asked me about the case we were reviewing. It really surprised me though how easy it really is. Having a simulated class like this has really showed me that as long as you come prepared there is really nothing to worry about. Everyone else in my classes will be just as nervous as I am so there is really nothing to be worried about.
The final 30-45 minutes (after we get a break) of each night is when we break up into our class sections. I am in section 1D this year, so that means that I will be taking all of my first year classes with the same 80 students (there are about 80 students per section). Since not everybody does the PMP Summer Session, the 1D group has about 10 kids in it and we meet with different "mentors" each night. Every mentor has completed their first year and is heading into their second year of law school, so we can ask them any kind of question that we may have and so far they have all been great about answering our questions and giving us advice and tips that I'm sure will help us through our first year.
Most of my time has been spent reading the cases for this class, and even though it may be a little bit of a bummer to be doing work while the weather is so nice, I know that taking this program is going to put me a step ahead of my other classmates who chose not to participate. I am going to be able to "hit the ground running" when classes officially start on August 24th and a large element of stress will be removed.
This past weekend I went down to my friend, LQ's house down on the Cape with a bunch of my friends from high school, and we had a great time. Sam, LQ, Eric, and Aaron were there (4 out of the 5 kids running the NYC Half-Marathon in a few weeks) and they wanted me to again say thank you for the donations that have been coming in to them that will go toward the American Cancer Society.
We spent the afternoon on a great beach, and for those of you who are wondering, yes I did go into the ocean. I don't know what came over me, but I was out in the ocean getting smashed by waves, and playing catch with a football and was able to keep my fear of the water in check. I think it was the fact that there were 6 of us out there in close proximity to each other so I figured that I had some form of protection! I went out to about waist deep and for anyone that knows me that is about twice as deep as I usually go...I immediately got out of the water though when my friends Sam and Eric, who had swam further out than the rest of us, came back to us and told us they had seen a seal pop its head out of the water about 15 feet from them. Now, I'm no nature expert, and they told me I was ridiculous for thinking this, but in my book: when there are seals around, there are sharks around. Simple math. No way around it. When they told us of that encounter, I promptly dropped the football and swiftly returned to the safe, sandy beach!
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their summers, I'll leave you with this video I saw last week that I thought was really funny. It's about 5 mins long but you don't have to watch the whole thing, it's pretty much the same thing for the whole video but I must admit, I wish I had dance moves like this kid...enjoy!
I finally have my first taste of what law school is going to be like. I am participating in the Peer Mentoring Program (PMP) Summer Session at Suffolk which started this past Monday. The program runs Monday through Thursday this week and next from 6-9pm. Basically each night is divided into 3 sections.
In the first hour, the professor who is running the program, Jim Janda, lectures to us about a particular topic that has practical significance as we head into our first year of law school. On Monday night he taught us how to properly brief a case after we have read it so as to be as prepared as possible for class, and last night he starting talking to us about how to create outlines for our courses, which are the vital study tool in law school.
The second hour is devoted to going over the cases that we were assigned to read for class. Usually we have about 3-5 cases to read and brief for each class and Professor Janda really gives us a feel for what law school is like by "cold calling" on people, meaning he will state a question and then call on a student at random. This was definitely the aspect of law school that I was looking forward to the least (anyone who had class with me at Colby knows that I'm not real big on talking in front of the rest of class). Of course, I was called on the first night within the first 10 minutes of the second hour. Thankfully, I was prepared so I was able to answer the 3 questions that he asked me about the case we were reviewing. It really surprised me though how easy it really is. Having a simulated class like this has really showed me that as long as you come prepared there is really nothing to worry about. Everyone else in my classes will be just as nervous as I am so there is really nothing to be worried about.
The final 30-45 minutes (after we get a break) of each night is when we break up into our class sections. I am in section 1D this year, so that means that I will be taking all of my first year classes with the same 80 students (there are about 80 students per section). Since not everybody does the PMP Summer Session, the 1D group has about 10 kids in it and we meet with different "mentors" each night. Every mentor has completed their first year and is heading into their second year of law school, so we can ask them any kind of question that we may have and so far they have all been great about answering our questions and giving us advice and tips that I'm sure will help us through our first year.
Most of my time has been spent reading the cases for this class, and even though it may be a little bit of a bummer to be doing work while the weather is so nice, I know that taking this program is going to put me a step ahead of my other classmates who chose not to participate. I am going to be able to "hit the ground running" when classes officially start on August 24th and a large element of stress will be removed.
This past weekend I went down to my friend, LQ's house down on the Cape with a bunch of my friends from high school, and we had a great time. Sam, LQ, Eric, and Aaron were there (4 out of the 5 kids running the NYC Half-Marathon in a few weeks) and they wanted me to again say thank you for the donations that have been coming in to them that will go toward the American Cancer Society.
We spent the afternoon on a great beach, and for those of you who are wondering, yes I did go into the ocean. I don't know what came over me, but I was out in the ocean getting smashed by waves, and playing catch with a football and was able to keep my fear of the water in check. I think it was the fact that there were 6 of us out there in close proximity to each other so I figured that I had some form of protection! I went out to about waist deep and for anyone that knows me that is about twice as deep as I usually go...I immediately got out of the water though when my friends Sam and Eric, who had swam further out than the rest of us, came back to us and told us they had seen a seal pop its head out of the water about 15 feet from them. Now, I'm no nature expert, and they told me I was ridiculous for thinking this, but in my book: when there are seals around, there are sharks around. Simple math. No way around it. When they told us of that encounter, I promptly dropped the football and swiftly returned to the safe, sandy beach!
I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their summers, I'll leave you with this video I saw last week that I thought was really funny. It's about 5 mins long but you don't have to watch the whole thing, it's pretty much the same thing for the whole video but I must admit, I wish I had dance moves like this kid...enjoy!
Until next time...
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