Blog Entry 82

August 7th, 2010
It was so nice getting to welcome so many of you to the school at our Welcome Day on Friday! 

The end of my summer “vacation”  is quickly approaching. This upcoming week is the last week at my externship, which I know I’m really going to miss. Remember how I wrote that response to a motion a couple weeks ago? On Thursday, the attorney that I have been working with argued my response in court, and the judge ruled in our favor. As he’s giving us his reasoning, I’m sitting there thinking “I completely agree,” and “my thoughts exactly!” Later, I find out that he was reading much of his reasoning directly from my brief. I felt so accomplished; my summer at the prosecutor’s office has given me so much confidence in myself and my ability to take what I have learned in class and use it to do great things. 

I definitely recommend taking an externship during your first summer. Our externship director, Prof. Krisciunas, is amazing, and is untiring in his efforts to help students find the right positions, and then offering support and advice during the semester. (Just another example of what I’ve been saying since my undergrad years: the UDM faculty and staff is what sets us apart.) 

This weekend is my weekend to be productive. (I know, I say that in practically every blog post…but I mean it today!) I have pretty much nothing scheduled, so it needs to be a time to get my life together before school starts. For those of you starting law school in the fall, I recommend you do the same. I’m a clean freak, but during the school year, my bedroom and office seem to end up in a state of disarray. My advice? Start off the year in as good a state as you can, so that if you fall a bit behind, it’s no big deal. This applies to all areas of your life. If you like to work out, make an effort to start off strong on your exercise regimen. Take a look at your eating habits and start off the year eating as healthy as you can tolerate. Get your house/apartment clean. Give yourself the chance to have less to worry about once school starts. 

I would say “don’t worry,”  but I won’t for two reasons. First, I know it will do no good: the worrying is natural. Second, I think worrying a bit ultimately makes you handle a situation that much better. When you worry about doing well in your classes, it will just inspire you to prepare and work that much harder. 

What I will say, is to just remember that you can do this. UDM obviously sees potential in you as a future lawyer, or you wouldn’t be here. Decide that you’re going to commit to making this into a great year, give it your all, and that’s all you can expect of yourself. My mantra this past year was “commit to now.” Commit to doing the best you can in each particular moment, and then how can you go wrong?