Final Post

I think it is time to wrap up my thoughts about the One-L year and make the move in both my thinking and my blogging toward the next step in this legal journey. I think the One-L year is unique in the way that it takes on legendary proportions. You do not see books written about one's Two-L experience and how transformative it was. Whatever changes are in place for the next year(s), they will, I anticipate, be more internal and will not fit into the tradition of One-L recollections.

I do not feel that this year was especially transformative personally. This might be because I can to lawschool at a relatively older age than many who come either right after college or after working for a year or two. I did learn a lot and I think I know how to process information now better than ever before. I also just have a lot more basic knowledge about the law and government and a bit of society and I experienced all of the stress, confusion, and competitive striving that is a part of the archetypal One-L experience. What I do not feel, however, is that I know any more what it means to be a lawyer. This last year has been a wonderful academic exercise, and that has value to expanding my general knowledge of the world, but I do not really feel any more like a lawyer than I did a year ago. Maybe this is typical as well, and maybe the first year does not really teach what lawyers actually do. I think there is some truth to that, but I have always had a penchant for theory, so I don't really mind. I like learning about history and how the law developed.

Now it is time to get some hands on experience (i.e. a job). It has not proved that easy. I sent out five resumes today and I have already sent out about 10 more. Either there are just so many law students applying for these job that you send of a resume and never hear back or a bunch of gnomes are posting joke job listings just to torment law student with the illusion that we will find work. This hunt for work is going to be a theme of next year's blog law-two-view as well as similar types of thoughts and observations about law school.

One-L. What else to say. I weigh more than I have ever weighed before. You can see it in my belly. It seems to go along with the profession. Even though I worked out more last semester than first semester, I am not as young as I used to be. Sitting around and reading all day is a force, or lack there of, that is hard to fight. It would be interesting to see the collective number of pounds put on by our class. Do we need the extra space to store all that information we learned? There were a few exceptions to the weight gain trend of law school but the overall trend tips the scale of justices.

I must also say, I think I am one of the few poeple who went to law school to make money and ended up feeling a greater obligation to do work for social justice. Most people come to law school with big ideals and hopes to change the world and end up looking for work at a corporate firm because of the financial demands of school debt and the dangling carrot of success offered by the big firm experience. I came to law school with very practical goals and I don't think I have necessarily abandoned my goal of financial security, but a desire to do work that I am passionate about has been awakened. I have always been socially minded and never really motivated by needed a new car and all-inclusive vacations but I think being surrounded by so many career oriented, monotarily motivated individuals has reminded me how little imporance that has had for me in the past. I don't know how why I imagined I would work for some corporate law firm motivated by the bottom line of billable hours. Once I realized this, I have had to adjust how I think about the law and what kind of career oppotunities I will seek out: non-profit? government? non-legal?

Well, this thinking could all be the result of being currently unemployed. I did sent an application to Safco as well as a community housing organization. I do feel like the law has made me more aware of the legal needs of the poor, but I understand that pull toward gainful employment. Ah, this is the real dilemna of the law student.

I am not really sure how to wrap up the One-L year. The conversation is really an on-going one, so look to pick up the thread at the new blog. I will make sure that this blog links there properly.