Summa Time

Mid-semester externship seminar, which is basically an excuse for the administration to make sure we're not dropping acid at our unpaid externships and for career services to earn its paychecks during summer. I walk in after a day of working on no-sleep to partake in the traditional feast of subs that have been sitting out for a few hours and I run into: Gnome Hooker. She's everywhere I have to be. Like some sort of perverse, unwanted Visa card.

One of the rising 2Ls responds that what surprised her most at her externship is the fact that the legal system doesn't always work the way you want. "Like, as law students, we like, have a strong sense of what's right and wrong. And sometimes things turn out wrong." REALLY? I thought they beat that starry-eyed idealism out of you in first semester. First year is supposed to be about learning to brief cases, write memos, outline, and having your soul crushed slowly in a vise.

Last week wasn't a whole lot better. I got home from work on Wednesday and took an hour off before studying. I woke up two hours later with a fever. How I got the flu in the middle of July is anybody's guess, but if I had to take a stab at it, I would say that God knew my final was on Friday and saw an opportunity. I spent two days laying on the couch and wishing for death. I was told that I could take a make-up pass/fail, but after I hung up, I realized I couldn't take a required class pass/fail. When I emailed to double-check, I didn't get a response. I was way more nervous about not taking the final and relying on the benevolence of the adminstration to sort it out, so I took the final. Luckily, the fever broke before test time. Un-luckily, I didn't know there was a multiple choice section until the proctors told me to take out my scantron.

I did get to see Harry Potter (and Mama Roo, Anne, and the Ya-Yas) and that took the sting out of it. I also learned that I could make Jennie laugh inappropriately in the middle of the climax of the movie. It was surprisingly easy: Dumbledore takes out a knife and cuts his hand. I lean over and whisper "We all know you can't get blood out your palm that easy." Bam! (She knows, we've tried). She's a lightweight.