Three Years of Hell to Become the Devil: Too much

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Too much

The threat warning just went up.

There is just too much to do. I tried to be pro-active today, and I got a lot of things done. Still, I'm down to my last pair of slacks, my task list still glares at me with disapproval, and as night closes in I can't help but think that I'm never, ever getting done with this. Particularly Con Law. I can't figure out if I should just stop reading the impossible amount in the casebook and resort to Legallines, read Chemerinsky, or just plow through what I can of Sullivan's and deal with the fact that it's not making sense.

Tonight I can't face it, so I'm going to sleep. I'm going to bed before midnight, even though reading for tomorrow isn't finished. I'm sure there's a special level of hell reserved for Con Law students who've not done their preparation, but I guess it's just gonna get one more inmate.

Posted by Anthony on April 12, 2004 11:40 PM | Permalink

Comments

Chemrinsky is G-d when it comes to Con Law. I think that I learned more from him in my time studying con law here then from the textbook or the prof!

Posted by: Melissa | April 13, 2004 9:22 AM

Hey, me again (for some reason, the blogs of people I don't know are an addictive draw while I'm bored at work). I see that you're a 1L at Columbia. I'm going to be starting law school at Michigan this fall. I was wondering if you had any advice about law school in general, things that you wish you'd known when you started. I'm kind of nervous because I want to do well, but I hear that very few people are able to. Because I'm an engineer, I have very little experience with essay exams and the kind of research and reading that's required for law school.

Posted by: Sabir | April 13, 2004 2:12 PM

Sabir: I'll try and address this when I have more time. However, if you read through the section of the website entitled "Letters to Wormwood (look under "Entries" on the top-navigation), there are entries that I've thought would be particularly useful to those who are about to be 1Ls. There will be more once the semester is over and I have time to sum up the experience.

Posted by: Anthony | April 13, 2004 2:23 PM

I know it's easier said than done, but try not to stress too much. It always looks that bad, and then somehow the world still doesn't crash down on your head. I speak from experience, mein Freund.

Posted by: Len Cleavelin | April 13, 2004 3:05 PM

Hey, very interesting blawg...especially since I just sent CLS $300 for the privilege of being a 1L this fall. Do you have any suggestions on good places to live (my housing application is already in but I'm sure I can revise) or any reliable accounting of necessary daily study time?

Posted by: Steven | April 13, 2004 6:16 PM

As above, I recommend looking in the "Letters to Wormwood" section. For advice on housing: (a) look in the appropriate Category archive of this site, and (b) avoid the dorms if you can. :)

Posted by: Anthony | April 13, 2004 6:23 PM

Chemerinsky was actually our textbook (plus printed-out cases) for Con Law last year, and it was definitely helpful. Then last semester when First Amendment law was making abosolutely zero sense (because that textbook was terrible), Chemerinsky helped me salvage the subject. So, forget the impossible casebook, and read the summaries (you can pick up case names along the way). That's my advice, anyway : )

Posted by: Kimberly | April 13, 2004 8:48 PM

Letters to Wormwood is a fun book and quick read. I recommend it. Secondly, I learned long ago that somehow it all works out in the end. Does that make me procrastinate less? Of course not! I know that my procrastination won't kill me so I do more of it.

Posted by: ML | April 14, 2004 8:37 AM

per your comments on avoiding dorms: I hope you don't mean the "Law residences on West 115th Street." The promise of ethernet and campus phone service was appealing enough for me to list them as my first preference.

Posted by: Steven | April 15, 2004 4:23 PM

AFAIK, there's no dorm on 115th Street, although I could be wrong there. Mostly 115th is full of apartments, many of which are quite nice. I could be wrong, but I don't think I am here. It's a good first choice.

Posted by: Anthony | April 15, 2004 5:29 PM

If the readings are too much, then don't hesitate to blow them off. I never hesitated to do this and it didn't stop me from doing well in law school and passing the bar. You just have to worry about being caught with your pants down if the Prof. decides to call on you. Certain commercial outlines (and outlines from past students) can be very helpful. However, I found that the most reliable way to guarantee success in law school was to attend every class and take the most detailed notes as possible, taking down everything the prof. said. Imagine you are a courtroom stenographer; don't let your mind wander. If you hone this skill, you can practically give up preparing for class altogether. The more work you put into paying attention in class, the less you have to do outside of class. And those hours outside of class are precious. There were many classes where I never (and I mean never) cracked the book in preparation, but still got an A (usually it was an A-), using this method.

Posted by: Jon Rowe, Esq. | April 16, 2004 10:46 AM

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