Halfway and Home

The forty-five or so of us who took the Criminal Procedure II test yesterday weren't the last people to finish the semester—some classes have paper deadlines that extend beyond the finals period—but we certainly had the last final exam. It's over, thank goodness. I'm halfway done with law school. Last night at the gym a 3L congratulated me and remarked on the halfway mark. "I hope that was the harder half," I said. "Oh yeah," he replied. Next semester will include the defense and revision of my Law Review Note, a criminal trial for Legal Skills (Feb. 5), an ACLU trip to D.C. (Feb. 6), the Students for the Innocence Project's Death Penalty Symposium featuring my boss from last summer (Feb. 7), a second straight Spring Break trip to New Orleans with our awesome Student Hurricane Network group, and more fellowship research for my professor on First Amendment issues. My class schedule is not finalized, but it will certainly include the Death Penalty Seminar, with the same judge teaching that I had for Crim Pro II. I'm stoked about that class.

An update on my last post: Yesterday the Public Service Fund, the student-led W&M Law group that raises money for people like me who insist on working unpaid summer internships, sent an email to all public service-oriented students which said that only 15% of my class has secured a job for next summer. To contrast, the email said that 40% of the 3L class had jobs at this point last year. (This is an issue for PSF because when people who do not find paid jobs, more request public service funding.) I should mention that our class is not 25% inferior to the 3L class in any substantive way; quite the contrary, I have heard from classmates who have secured jobs with some of the top D.C. firms. No, the legal job market sucks in a very real way. Go, go gadget Congress. Is it January 20 yet?

Oh, and we lost the hockey game to the Marine Science graduate school team, 3–2, with :27 left in sudden death overtime. We had led, 1–0, after the second period, but the VIMS (Virginia Institute of Marine Science) team scored off the face-off in the third, and followed with what seemed to be the dagger goal with under 2:00 to play in regulation. One of our amazing hockey players, though, took control and scored a goal with under 1:00 to play, tying the match at 2–2. We were almost to the shootout when VIMS scored, dashing our hopes of an IM title. Maybe next year.

My flight to Iowa leaves in 4-1/2 hours. My brothers have been sending me weather reports that have prompted me to pack a pillow for what could be a long trip home (Richmond to Chicago to C.R.). I can't wait to get there, whenever it happens.