Apologies All Around

My my, I hadn't realized just how long it'd been. I suppose final exam time in law school will do that. Apologies are due all around.

Anyway, today was the first day of the Spring 2009 semester and it went exceedingly well. The day was marked with two new classes: Constitutional Law and Criminal Law, as well as a few freshly-empty seats. In law school there are evidently the few inevitable casualties. I am proud to say that I am not among them. To the contrary, one semester of law school has made me a stronger, smarter, more steeled and confident individual. I hope that each successive semester will continue to bolster me in these areas. Constitutional Law is an area of particular interest to me. Not only do you have to be a total nerd to really get into it (which I am) but it has practical and astronomically important application in the real-life practice of law. Protecting the rights of individuals from overbearing and paternalistic government is a role that will never decrease in value or necessity, no matter how ancient our nation grows to be. I am going to enjoy this class immensely. I will also enjoy Criminal Law, as the subject matter (and therefore the cases) are very interesting and I will finally get some guidance in statutory construction, the front lines, so to speak, of the profession.

Today was also the deadline for professors to submit first semester grades. They should be posted in their entirety here in the next few days. As for me, I have already learned 4 of my 5 grades and at the moment I am pleased with my performance. Hopefully this fact will not change when I learn how I did in that final class. When I made my prediction in the last blog that it would be "interesting" going back to school when everyone knew their grades, I couldn't have been more wrong. I was very impressed today at how much maturity everyone exhibited. Apparently I sold my classmates a bit short in that department. No one talked of grades at all. No inquiries, no sulking, no bragging, nothing. I'd at least expected those who did really well to slip some subtle hints into casual conversation, but not even that occurred.

I also signed up to play intramural basketball with the Section B Ballerz. Don't worry, that's not our official team name. We have yet to come to a consensus on that as of yet. I love playing basketball, though I could definitely stand for some more athletic prowess. When you're the LeBron James of the law, I guess that also makes you the Lionel Hutz of basketball. Nevertheless, it is sure to be tons of fun and I can't wait for the season to start. Wednesday after class is shoot-around and Friday is practice. Yes, AI, we're talkin' 'bout PRACTICE!

This semester is going to rock. Class is 30 minutes later in the morning and it ends at noon on Fridays. But the reading is going to be much heavier. Everything comes with a trade-off...