Since I last wrote...

Sorry for not writing more frequently. Am really not sure where to go with this blog, whether I should continue, or if so, what should be its focus. But while I ponder that, here's what I've been up to:

I finished the semester (which I know I told you all already, but I have to repeat it, since it's such a lovely feeling). And I haven't spent TOO much time refreshing the site that tells us whether our grades are in. (Two grades are in, one more has been submitted by the prof but isn't released yet, and the fourth is nowhere to be seen, although that's still the case for lots of classes. I won't look until they're all in, of course.)

I submitted my law review note to be considered for publication. I don't think it's going to get chosen, because I think it's still underdeveloped, but hey, worth a shot.

And I started my summer job. It's a little surreal working for a firm, because I'd never envisioned myself working for a firm (and yet somehow applied for firm jobs and accepted one. Sometimes what I want to do and what I think I should do don't quite match). And part of me is convinced that I am somehow not suited for working at a firm. The rest of me thinks that this is a holdover from my academic past, the assumption that academia and the for-profit world are diametrically opposed, and if you succeed at one, you're doomed in the other. And that this is a ridiculous assumption.

So, so far, so good - the people are lovely and I haven't had problems yet figuring out how to do what I'm supposed to be doing. Obviously after a week I can't really comment on my success or failure or whatever yet. But the work is interesting and the atmosphere is great. 

The most amazing thing for me, though it makes me feel like a wide-eyed goober to comment on this, is the FREE FOOD EVERYWHERE. The firm caters lunch for its employees every day, and has kitchens on each floor better stocked than my kitchen is on most days. There's a coffeemaker that dispenses hot water, and a water machine that dispenses ice, and lots and lots of teas, so I can make iced tea to my heart's content. They even stock my preferred hippie granola non-sugar sweetener!

(Mind you, I have grandiose plans for this to be my summer of fitness and health, and lunches of four-cheese lasagna and bowls of Hershey's fun sized every 10 feet bode very poorly for my success. But still. I can't even tell you how nice it is not to have to worry about bringing lunch.)

So far, the biggest thing work has taught me: there is nothing - NOTHING - quite like the feeling of leaving work on a beautiful Friday afternoon, and knowing you are GENUINELY leaving that work behind you until Monday.* Turning in all your grades at the end of the semester comes close. But for me, at least, finishing the semester meant that now I could finally turn to all the other, non-teaching work I'd been putting off till grading was done. Working 9-5 means you have to be in one place from 9-5, but when you're done for the day, you're DONE.

*I know that once I actually finish, and (god willing) get a job, this may happen much less frequently. I either won't leave in the afternoon, or I'll be coming back in over the weekend anyway. Or I may work from home. But for now, it's pretty damn nice. 

Comments

[Notorious Ph.D.]

Love the "free food" note -- old academic habits die hard...

[New Kid on the Hallway]

Oh, it's a total law school thing, too - student organizations meetings/talks/etc. are all held over the lunch hour and the assumption is that you HAVE to have free food or the law students won't show up!

[Seeking Solace]

One of the great things about internships is that you do have a chance to see where you fit or feel the most comfortable. Don't worry about what everyone else thinks you "should" do.

[What Now?]

One of the very best things about my job is the fabulous free meals every day. A colleague who is leaving to take a job at another school was asked by another colleague how on earth she could contemplate leaving the FGS cafeteria. The departing colleague thought that this was a ridiculous thing to say, but I completely agreed (although had the good sense not to say so, since why quibble with someone else's career decisions?). Not having to figure out my own lunch is bliss, and actually one of the things that makes the summer a little more difficult than it should be is having to feed myself for every darned meal.

All of which is to say, I'm glad to hear about this perk of your summer job!

[Rebecca]

Please don't end this blog! Reading it makes me feel a little less like a loser.

[joy]

Please keep writing! I really enjoy your observations on law school and the legal profession. You seem like someone I might meet and like in real life.

[New Kid on the Hallway]

joy and Rebecca - thanks! I didn't mean to suck for any "don't stop writing!" comments - am just not sure I know what purpose this place serves right now. But I do enjoy writing, and (virtually) meeting those of you who comment!