Starting College or Going Back

[Yardgnome]

Thanks everyone!

Congrats MRD on being almost done with your first semester of school. It's got to feel great and you have to be excited about what is ahead. The end of this semester for me also marks the end of my second year of Law School. I can't believe how fast it has gone by and I can't wait to be done. I'm ready to work again and be done with doing school work, making outlines, writing notecards, etc.

[Google]

 

[Marleybone]

Originally Posted by Mariner

Even better than filling out your final FAFSA form is making your last student loan payment.

Yeah, that's way better, because the last FAFSA form means the student loan payments will just be getting started.

[myrosiedog]

Originally Posted by Yardgnome

Thanks everyone!

Congrats MRD on being almost done with your first semester of school. It's got to feel great and you have to be excited about what is ahead. The end of this semester for me also marks the end of my second year of Law School. I can't believe how fast it has gone by and I can't wait to be done. I'm ready to work again and be done with doing school work, making outlines, writing notecards, etc.

Well you know what that means, you are 2/3 of the way done. Only one more year and the the bar exam. Just think, this time next year, you will be saying: "I graduate in one more week".

So what kind of law do you want to practice? I may need a good lawyer someday. I always thought constitutional law would be interesting.

And thanks. I never thought I would enjoy school as much as I have. Even the hated German class.
In fact, I've enjoyed my political science classes so much, that I might consider a minor in PS now.


ETA: I forgot to mention that I may pull a B out of that hated German class afterall. Color me surprised!!! I was going to be ecstatic with a C. But I'm going into finals with high A's in my other classes, so should have a good GPA after this semester and that is exactly what my goal was. It's good to meet a goal.

[Yardgnome]

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

So what kind of law do you want to practice? I may need a good lawyer someday. I always thought constitutional law would be interesting.

Litigation is my area of concentration that I'll be graduating with. I'm hoping to either do criminal prosecution or environmental law, but I'm pretty open to trying different types out. Con Law has been one of my favorite classes that I've taken so far, but I'm sure part of it is that I really liked the professor.

[myrosiedog]

Originally Posted by Yardgnome

Litigation is my area of concentration that I'll be graduating with. I'm hoping to either do criminal prosecution or environmental law, but I'm pretty open to trying different types out. Con Law has been one of my favorite classes that I've taken so far, but I'm sure part of it is that I really liked the professor.

I'm going to take a Poli Sci class on the Constitution. The two classes I've had this year have dabbled a bit with it and it's been fascinating to me. And I wrote one of my papers on how the office of the President has changed from what the Constitution originally laid out, which I enjoyed doing the research on. I can't say I enjoyed the paper because I hate using MLA format for writing.

Well if you are going to be a prosecutor, I don't think I need a lawyer after all.

I have 2 friends that are prosecutors. One in Nebraska and one in Florida. Both say business is booming (which is good/bad I guess depending on how you look at it)

But I think that being a prosecutor would be interesting.

Enviromental law is the wave of the future though. I read not long ago that Env. lawyers are going to be the future's "personal injury" lawyers in terms of earning potential and will be sought after by big firms. That soon every large firm will have at least one Env. lawyer and some whole teams.

So was year two as hard as year one?
I've always heard that first year law is the worst.

[Ellen]

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

. . . I may pull a B out of that hated German class afterall. Color me surprised!!! I was going to be ecstatic with a C. . . .

Hey, now that you understand separable-prefix verbs, maybe you'll pull an A!
Jawohl!

[coltnlasma]

Originally Posted by Ellen

...Jawohl!

Off-topic, but this the the second time I've seen this word used in a post on FORT today!

[myrosiedog]

Originally Posted by coltnlasma

Off-topic, but this the the second time I've seen this word used in a post on FORT today!

I didn't know there was a Hogan's Heroes thread.

[Yardgnome]

Originally Posted by myrosiedog

So was year two as hard as year one?
I've always heard that first year law is the worst.

Year 2 has been different. When I started school I was working full-time and going to school part-time. I quit my job after the second semester and became a full-time student. I love not having to juggle work and school, so that in general has made it easier for me. Yes, in general, school is easier for me now. I know the routine and what to expect in class and how to prepare and it doesn't take me nearly as long as it used to. I also like the variety of classes I get to take now compared to all the required ones from when I started.

Environmental law really makes the most sense for me with my background. My undergrad degree is a BS in Forestry with an environmental specialization. I taught environmental education for about 7 years before I started Law school, so it's really where a lot of my knowledge base is. I'm taking environmental law this summer semester, so we'll see if I like it or not...although I'm pretty sure I will.

[myrosiedog]

Your background is so cool. My husband wanted to go into forrestry when he got out of the army. He applied first to be a smoke jumper, but because of his army injury couldn't pass the jump physical required and looked into forrestry and realized he would need a degree and got discouraged and moved back home which is where I met him, so all in all, I think it worked out well.

I've had a hard time juggling school and work this semester. But after a session with the non-traditional student counselor at school, got some tips and I have learned to let a lot of stuff at home go. I realized that my house can have dust bunnies and that laundry can stay in the basket if it's clean. (have come to the conclusion that this is why most college students look like they just rolled out of bed. ). At work I also started doing more of our rental work and less of the classroom stuff so during rentals, I just have to be "available" and make sure no one is tearing anything up, so usually, I have a lot of time that I can study during these events and that helped a lot.

I'm almost sad to see the semester end. I've made some friends in classes that I know I will miss, but some I will see in other classes. I feel like I just got in the groove and now it's almost over. I've made a very unusual friend in one of my classes. He's about 20 years old and is a real Southern Good Old Boy. I kept getting paired up with him for classroom assignments (our last names happen to be consecutive on the role) and at first we were both kind of uncomfortable with each other. (I'm old enough to be his mom) But now, he and I have become great buddies and the teacher has threatened to separate us. We bonded over the stupid poster assignment and he sometimes waits for me outside my last class and walks me to my car which is so sweet. I told him the first time he didn't have to do that when he offered, but he told me his "mama raised him right".

I say it's an unusual friendship because when I first was paired with him in class, I did not think we had anything in common and would have never picked him out of the crowd to be friends with. But that's one of the great things about going back to school, I've met some really wonderful people that I might not otherwise have met or sought out.

The most important thing I've learned this semester that will stay with me until I graduate? Do NOT eat on campus. I don't think I've ever had worse food anywhere. I now take my lunch or sometimes go off campus with friends to eat. I don't know who is in charge of the food, but it's absolutely awful and if you can mess up a roast beef sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayo, then you know it's bad.