3L Year in t-40 hours

Monday is the first day of classes for my last year of law school, which makes this a good time to look back a bit.

About four years ago I started to think that I might like a career change.  It was a scary thought.  I had a very comfortable job with a company I absolutely loved.  I had some seniority.  I had job security.  I had great coworkers.  But I was bored.  So. Very. Bored.  The department I had moved into didn't have a lot of upward mobility, and I couldn't see that I would be able to do anything less boring for some time.

And I thought that I might really enjoy a legal career.  Since law school seemed seriously cost prohibitive, I decided to look into working as a paralegal.  But that wasn't so easy, either, since I was overqualified to be an entry-level secretary, but underqualified to be a real paralegal.  I took some paralegal classes at the community college, and decided to bite the bullet and leave my beloved but boring job.  I took a job that I was overqualified for just so that I could get some experience.  The experience I got told me that I really needed to go to law school!  So, that's what I did.  And I am very, very glad to have made that decision.

First year was actually a lot of fun, although I had some major culture shock issues the first several weeks.  Being nine years older than the straight-out-of-undergrad types may not sound like a huge age gap, but it was, particularly at first.  But I do still consider it to have been a fun, enjoyable year, and I met some absolutely amazing people that I am sure will be some of my best friends for years to come.  :)  Second year was not quite as fun, but that really has nothing to do with law school, and everything to do with the mental and emotional turmoil that comes with infertility treatments.  I survived the year, and as I've posted on this blog before, this summer really has helped me to move past some of the unpleasantness of the past year.

I'm really, really looking forward to this last year.  I'm excited about the classes I'm taking.  I'm looking forward to less stress in general, and being able to focus on learning again.  I even hope to push myself a bit this year and see what I can accomplish academically when I really try.  Not that I haven't tried so far, but I've always had at least a class or two each semester that I've not given my all to, and I don't think that I've really proven to myself what I am capable of.

17 hours in the fall, 13 in the spring, and then it will all be behind me.  The first two years went by very quickly, and I am sure that this one will fly past.  Hopefully I'll make some good memories in the process!