Whew, what a week... orientation is finally over and I am exhausted.
Tuesday was the first day of orientation and despite the fact that my nerves prevented me from getting any sleep the night before, I was in good spirits and excited to be there. I finally got to meet some of my classmates face to face, hear some great speeches from some of the school administrators, and find out some important information. By the end of the day I was extremely tired, but pleasantly surprised that 99% of my fears were eliminated. As soon as I got home and walked in the door I got the message that my brother and his wife had their first child! Nate & I immediately got in the car and headed to the hospital (an hour + away) to meet my first niece. Even though I know I'm biased, she really is a beautiful baby. I also need to brag on my sister-in-law who looked flawless after childbirth, I was truly amazed at how normal she looked. I'm not even sure she broke a sweat! It was also a great experience to watch my brother hold his first child. It was one of those moments in life that I'll never get a repeat of and I will always treasure the memory.
Wednesday was the longest day of my life. The excitement of both orientation and the baby's birth the day before had been both mentally and physically draining. The morning of orientation I had an incredibly hard time getting up and taking a shower. I threw on some make up and decided I'd just scrunch/air dry my hair instead of putting in the effort to dry and straighten it. What.a.mistake. -_- Did I mention this was also picture day? I mentally slapped myself the moment I pulled into the school parking lot and realized I looked like a hot mess. My "scrunched curls" had turned themselves into mini rats nests and let's just say I didn't put much effort into my make up either. To make matters worse, I find out this picture follows you all three years of law school and is used if you ever win an award. It was so bad that it's almost incentive enough for me to avoid trying to win anything... ever. Ugh, oh well- I am officially that girl... the Ramona of my law school.
The rest of Wednesday was a blur. The day seemed to drag on and on and on and on. We met some of our professors and one in particular seems incredibly scary. I've been warned over and over that his class is the hardest and I believe it. Aside from meeting our professors, I did get to know some more of my classmates and connected with several pretty quickly. It's exciting to be in such a large melting pot of people who all have the same ultimate goal- which of course is surviving three years of law school.
As many people as I found that I enjoyed talking to, I also found those who I've decided I should probably avoid. Most of the ones I've decided to avoid are either A. anxiety ridden B. lacking in the professionalism department (i.e- dress, demeanor, appearance) or C. not all that bright (really, how are they in law school?). The anxiety ridden people only flame the fire to my own nerves. Those who lack professionalism include people who decided to show up late to everything (they were already noticed by the professors & administrators, ouch) and those who completely disregarded the bold print on our orientation packet that said professional dress attire. More than one person showed up in jeans and a t-shirt. The not so bright people really do exist, even in law school. Some of the questions coming out of these people's mouths during Q & A's were ridiculous. I wondered how some of these people have a bachelor's degree. When we split up into small groups for a hypothetical ethics discussion, even more of the 'not so bright' people revealed themselves. It'll be my goal from now on to make sure I have a concrete thought before I open my mouth to avoid joining the 'not so bright' crowd.
Thursday was the last day of orientation and I found it to be pretty pointless. Almost everything that was scheduled for Thursday had been covered already in the previous two days. I was literally counting the minutes as the day dragged on and on. So thank goodness orientation is over. Not that I'm excited for the real work to begin, but in reality orientation is getting me nowhere fast. Speaking of work, I've got a ton to do before Monday. As the professor's liked to say, "in law school, you hit the ground running."
