Burn Out

1L year they scare you to death. 2L year they work you to death. 3L year they bore you to death.

True to the adage above, 2L year has been squeezing the life out of me. I have never felt more overwhelmed in my entire life. It is amazing how many demands all kinds of people put on your time when you are a 2L. I think the experience is particularly acute for students of color because we have so much pressure both to do well academically as well as give back to our respective communities. There is always this sense of guilt when there is an important event or issue that comes up, and there is just no room in my schedule to help out. Although Boalt does have a fair amount of students of color, unfortunately there just aren't enough of us to do everything that needs to be done. Sometimes I wish I could just be a student who only cares about doing well in my classes. While I obviously could make that choice, I know I would feel to guilty not to be as involved as I am. I just wish I could clone myself right now. At this point I think I would need to make at least three of me to get all of my work done.

Halfway Through

Last week the Boalt Alumni Association had a halfway through party for the 2Ls. I got to load up on really cheap wine and appetizers, and shoot the breeze with mod mates who I haven't seen at all this semester. I was surprised by how nostalgic I became while looking around at all the people who slugged through 1L year with me. I guess it only takes a year to forget how annoying the person who shared long personal stories in torts was. Then again, maybe not. I’ll miss a lot of the people who helped me survive my first year, but I won’t miss everyone. I really can’t believe I only have a year and a half left before I can take the bar and become a lawyer. I feel like I am running out of time to do all the cool things I wanted to do during my time at Boalt. I never got to participate in any of the clinics, and I would still love to do an externship somewhere cool. I hope I have enough time to squeeze everything in.