Did my last post seem incomplete? It certainly trailed off in an incomplete thought. Did you notice that the last sentence had absolutely no punctuation? It seemed incomplete because it was incomplete. I started writing and stopped to verify a point that I wanted to mention, and by the time I returned to writing, the admissions office had posted my blog clearly marked "draft". Apparently, posting happens automatically and anything I have written last gets posted at a certain time along with the latest posts for all other Suffolk bloggers. No one reads all the blogs before they are posted so a "draft" marking apparently means nothing.
I have decided to complete the post because it makes an important point about law school and evening students that was totally missed when posted in its incomplete form. (That is why this post has the same title as the last one.) Also, since I was on a self-imposed hiatus from blogging during the first semester of law school, it seems appropriate that I start where I left off and bring you up speed as I start my second semester.
So, let us try this again:
"I finally feel like a real person..."
These were the words of my colleague as we left the law school two Fridays ago and slid into a booth at Beantown Pub. I second that emotion. (80s anyone?) YES, we have classes on Friday nights. We have classes on Monday and Wednesday night too, and on this occasion we were all feeling the weight of the week. Typically, we are in class from 5:30 or 6:00 p.m. until 9 or 10 p.m. on the three nights that we have class. It is a hard routine... bed, work, class, bed, work, study, bed, work, class, bed, work, study and… so on. It was so good to sit around a table at the pub with fellow 1L evening law students and get a sense of how, collectively, we were doing. (The cheese fries, nachos, and other comfort foods helped too.) Most of us agreed that there just was not enough time in the day to get everything done.
It has been said that one should spend 3-5 hours studying per one hour of class. So, let’s do the math. Assuming we are in class for 3 hours on 3 nights per week, on the low end that would be 27 hours (3x3x3) and on the high end that would be 45 hours (3x3x5) of study time each week. Consider that an average work week is 40 hours, if one then studied for 27 hours and spent 9 hours in class that would total 76 hours per week. This leaves a mere 92 hours (out of 168 total calculated by 24 hr per day x 7 day per wk) in the week for sleeping and doing other important things like running errands, chores, travel to work/school/other, interacting with family, and eating. That may seem like a lot of time, but it is not. It is very little time indeed as sleep alone at 7 hours per night would take another 49 hours.
I find myself squeezing study time in whenever and where ever I can. I read on the bus and train on the way to and from work and sometimes at lunch time. I keep flash cards listing the elements and key facts related to the rules I have learned in my purse so that if I ever need to wait (in line, at the doctor’s or dentist’s office) I can review them. It is not so much the actual amount of time spent as it is what spending that amount of time feels like. I feel as if am doing something pretty much every minute of the day.
This is why “I finally feel like a real person…” resonated so deeply with me and the others around the table at the pub that night. We finally took the time to breathe.
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