Well, this first week of fall semester has been an interesting one, to say the least.  Not having class every night from 6pm-9pm has been nice, but it also makes it confusing to figure out where I’m supposed to be when.  On Mondays, I have class from 3-5 and 7-9, so I have the 2-hour break in-between.  Tuesdays bring class from 7-9, Wednesdays from 6-7, and Thursdays from 6-9.  Most of my classes this term are on the 5th floor of the school, which is okay but different, because we are all accustomed to being on the 3rd floor.  At least we aren’t on the 4th floor with the apparent ghosts.

So, I’m taking Capital Punishment Seminar, Environmental Law, Evidence, and Law Skills I.  For Capital Punishment, I have two really cool professors who in their spare time (haha) are public federal habeas defense attorneys.  They are very interesting, and even though they are defense attorneys, they also allow students to express their viewpoints from a pro-death penalty side.  I really like them, and I think I’m going to love the class.

For Environmental Law, my professor is your old-style Southern lawyer, and he’s great!  He is “the” environmental guy for our state, as in if you have a case and you need an environmental attorney, he’s the one you want to hire.  I feel very privileged to have him as my professor.  He’s funny, very smart, and extremely good at allowing us to learn how to see the issues, which is very important.

My Evidence professor is hilarious.  He is somewhat irreverent, short-answered, but very smart and fair.  Let me give you an example:  “The book is Evidence by Fisher, Second Edition.  You are adults.  You don’t have to buy the book.  If you don’t buy the book, though, you’ll most likely fail my class.”  On another issue, “You can be polite, or you can do it they I would do it.”  I love him.  I may have to hire him to accompany me to some meetings in the future, since he’ll say things that I’d like to say but am too afraid to say outloud.

Law Skills I is a practical application class.  We write motions and such, and I really like the lead professor.  He’s retiring after the spring semester, and that will be a loss to our school.  He is also very smart, and he looks a bit like a combination of my boss plus a younger Harrison Ford.  Very nice, extremely smart guy who has funny jokes and lots of stories.  The other night, he told us about a client he once had who wanted to be called “Thor”.  This, of course, I found hilarious.

I also have a private carrel this semester, sharing with a friend.  It’s nice to have a spot to put my stuff so that I don’t have to carry it around everywhere I go.  It’s also nice to be able to go in, shut the door, and study without interruption.  I should have had one all along.  Tomorrow, I’m going to Target or Office Depot or such to buy a couple nice boxes to put my pens and food in, plus a planner so that I can write down assignments.  Sticky notes – one per week – have worked well for two years, but with everything I have going on this year, that’s just not going to work very well I fear.

Work was very stressful this week as our regulatory agency was in town.  It didn’t help to make my first week of school any less stressful, for sure!  Overall, being a 3L feels really good, even though I’m part-time and know that I still have, as of today, 630 days until graduation.