Exam time rambling

December 16, 2002

Since the tenative agreement between the MTA and TWU fortunately kept the subways running, exams continued to tick along today. It was mildly surreal leaving the law school after the torts exam to the scene of transit workers marching from MTA headquarters towards the Brooklyn Bridge with at least 5 news helicopters hovering overhead.

Now, only the final stretch looms (3 down and Con law to go.) At this point I am very anxious. I realized that I didn't get around to addressing some issues in today's torts fact pattern that I would have liked to and that I didn't address the ones I did in sufficient detail. I realized that some of my answers for Civ Pro were conclusory and lacked enough explanation. and that I wrote from Crim Law probably lacks cromulency. But I can't evaluate how much these errors might have affected me. In all these substantive classes (except for Civ Pro), there has been no feedback to date. Furthermore ,in these classes (except for Civ Pro), the entire grade rests on this one exam. These first year grades are then overemphasized when interviewing season rolls around next fall. I may have dug myself into a deep hole and not know it yet. Unlike undergrad, where I could generally tell how I did on a paper, or even the LSATs last year, where I walked out and knew I didn't do so well, I can't really evaluate how well I did on these exams. (Speaking of interviewing, I need to get started on finding something to do for this summer, since I have yet to get any non-negative response from my early inquires.)

While doubting whether I am on the way to suceeding in law school, I stopped by the old employer's holiday party last week and spent some time with people not completely absorbed by exam season. I've been wondering if I would have not only better quality of life now than I do if I wasn't in law school, but if my quality of life will not be noticeably better after law school. I also noticed that there's a different vibe between the co-workers and the 1L's, a manifestation of the collective, cooperative ethic rather than latent (and outright) competitiveness.

While it may be too late for other law students this semester, don't forget that one can use The Simpsons to illustrate principles of tort law. See Bart Gets Hit by a Car (part of Season 2.)