Saturday, April 26, 2008

Where Oh Where Have I Been?

I've done a little dropping off the map ... to celebrate being done school and all. I made a trip out to Calgary, and after being back in Saskatoon I had so many "housekeeping" type things to take care of that it took me awhile.

Now ... I'm back on track baby. I'm re-establishing my routines, and I look forward to hammering out a few great posts for everyone that actually reads this blog.

Things to look for in soon-to-be-published posts:

  • My summary of 2L (OMG - Can't believe I'm done 2L - assuming I pass everything)
  • Outlining the process I've been going through with applying for articling positions
  • Other things I've been up to
  • My dismay at the recently crappy weather, and my utter joy at seeing the sun again today

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

One Class Left, I Can't Believe It

Wrote my Professional Responsibility exam yesterday morning. Ah ProRes, how vague you are for me. This class is definitely a little different from other law school classes, which is refreshing in a sense, but a little hard to figure out which gear it is that you have to operate in.

There is certainly a framework to operate within, but it's a framework that is not so much based on rules, but on values. Sigh. A little tough to articulate at times, so hopefully I did a decent enough job on the exam.

The exam was only a 2 hour one, which was nice. There were no surprises on it either, Dean Cotter told us exactly what type of questions to expect, and we weren't disappointed.

So ... one test left. Oil and Gas. I can't believe it. Almost done.

Sigh. Sigh. Sigh.

Friday, April 04, 2008

3 Courses Down, 2 to Go

What a whirlwind.

So ... I finished my tax class on March 22nd (accelerated due to prof going on leave), finished Gender class on Tuesday (with the last class, and the handing in of my paper), and finished Natural Resources yesterday (with the last class, my presentation, and the handing in of my paper).

That means that I have a remarkably shrunken "to do" list before I'm officially a 3L and my focus changes to finding myself an articling position (of course, assuming that I pass everything):

  • Write Professional Responsibility Exam
  • Write Oil and Gas Exam

So, so, so much better than a couple of weeks ago!

Presentation went OK yesterday, but not great. As the last person giving the presentation for the day, when I began, it was already 9:00 PM (official end of class time), so I tried to motor through my material in a bit of a hurry, which of course was a bad idea. I really should know better than to try and pull moves like that. I knew the stuff, but my delivery was a bit of a gong show. Hopefully that came across, but if not ... it is over, which really is a huge load off of my shoulders.

Also, before this year I really had no idea what to expect from seminar classes, even though I registered for two this semester. For anyone that has yet to take one, here's the Lisa take on seminars, so you know what to expect:

  • Seminar classes seem to be a great deal smaller than regular classes.
  • They are more theory focused; as opposed to going through a systematic rendition of what the law is, the law is questioned and conceptualized on a theoretical level.
  • Seminars require that a major paper is written rather than a final exam. This results in seminar classes being one 2 hour class a week as opposed to the regular classes at 3 hours a week - really frees up your schedule (although Gender and the Law was two smaller papers).
  • You have to talk a lot more in seminars than in regular classes, which wasn't a bad thing for me, since classes are really so much smaller.
  • Both of my seminar profs treated us right at the end of the semester; in Gender we were treated to snacks on the last day which was an informal and casual wrap-up, in Natural Resources we were treated to beers after class.

So ... I'd be inclined to take a few more seminars next year, but it really will depend upon the marks that I get on my papers. As I've mentioned, writing papers isn't my strength just yet. I'd like to work on that, but we'll see. I think I've wrapped my head around legal writing, it's just the academic writing that I'm still working on. I've definitely made progress this semester, so I think it would really be good for me to keep trying it out.

Sigh. And now, to prepare for the season premiere of Battlestar Gallactica tonight ... ahem ... I mean my Professional Responsibility exam. Sigh.

Thursday, April 03, 2008

Almost Done ...

... my major paper, which is good seeing as it's due tonight at 7 PM, as is the delivery of my presentation of it.

So ... tomorrow I'll be a happy camper. I'll officially be done 3 out of my 5 classes; Tax, Gender and the Law (sniff - sad this class is done) and Natural Resources.

Then ... 2 exams, and I'm free for the summer.

So ... I'd love to chat a bit more, but I'm diving back into the paper writing. I have to finish up a couple of thoughts, write my conclusion, do some light editing, and then make sure that all of my citations are correct and line-up the right way.

Also - for anyone that is like me and didn't have to do a lot of paper writing in undergrad, take Gender and the Law! Not only is it super interesting, but you write two smaller papers which means that halfway through the semester, you get feedback on the first mini-paper that you write before you have to write a minor paper. This has really helped me ... I hope, I guess we'll see when the marks come in.

It's a pretty big Thursday for me!

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

While Word Takes a Break ...

... my version of Word likes to tune out for a while, every once in a while. Even more of an incentive to go ahead and download the Ultimate Steal ... but that is not on my TO DO list until school is done, so it will have to wait. SO ... while I'm waiting for Word to come back to me, I thought I'd check in here.

Since re-reading my last post, it really has hit me. I'm 2 weeks away from officially being a 3L (assuming that I pass all of my courses sufficiently ... eeee!). I CAN NOT BELIEVE how fast time has gone. You'd think the opposite maybe, considering the time away from the hubby, the gong-show of a house purchase, and all the other things in between ... but ... I'm honestly floored by the fact that I'm motoring along this law school path so quickly.

I'm actually looking forward to next year ... being able to wrap up a few classes that I really want to take (Intellectual Property, Administrative Law, Employment and Labour Law, Civil Procedure ... etc.), taking on the LSA Publicity Director position with a vengeance, and having a full year of (hopefully) administrative peace and calm in our glossy and bright new building. Hopefully, no more strikes plague us, and we'll have the time and freedom to really do it up next year.

Did I mention that I got a new coffee maker? It's been a real joy, let me tell you. I think I'm ALMOST in love with it. It's an Oster one that we bought at Costco for about $40. Makes me so happy to be able to program it to have coffee ready for me when I wake up ... kinda like having a butler ... a svelte, stainless steel butler. My previous coffee maker was one of those tiny single serving kind of ones, but I'd lost a few pieces, and it was really battle weary. My favourite feature is that there's a water filter in there, working it's water filter magic to make sure that coffee tastes good. Mmmmmm.

Aurgh. Just got sick of waiting for Word. Just ordered the Ultimate Steal ... so waiting for my new version of Word to download. Sigh. And just when I actually want to work on my paper ... wouldn't you know it.