Procrastination is a bitch

This morning at 10AM our second writing project for this semester of legal writing was due. The assignment asked for 12 pages (too short) of predictive memo (too boring) goodness, all to be done in the span of 2 weeks. The special part about this project is that it was the same type of project we had to do for our last project last semester, except then we had a month plus to do it (and it was over the course of 5 projects).

I am not sure what happened, but my much of my fellow classmates this was an all-nighter sort of project. 10 people were missing from my morning class (btw, I have a couple of day classes), and when signing in, about half marked themselves as "here" instead of "ready to participate." Between that showing and looking at Facebook last night, I am starting believe that either (A) I must have done something horribly wrong, since I submitted my project at 7PM last night instead of 8AM this morning or (B) I really suck at procrastinating. My answer probably lies somewhere in the middle.

I do recognize this though. After looking at my research notes in Onenote (the greatest program ever), I started my paper 10 days ago. I started my research on Monday of last week. Meaning, I started the hard part of my paper last week and was really chugging along. By Thursday I had a handle on a majority of my research, including the summerizing of the cases, so by Saturday morning I was putting the last parts of analysis together.

I am not saying that my method is better than everyone else's. Who knows? Maybe those crazy procrastinators are getting the better grades and I am an idiot for not running around like I am freaked the hell out about my grade (I am, but I contain it and just lose ample sleep over it).

This does remind me of a story, and possibly the reason why I hardly ever procrastinate*. When I was in 3rd grade, for my Black History Month project I had to do a book report on a biography of Martin Luther King. (OMG, I remember when "book reports" were valid projects. I miss those.) My mom decided that I was going to be busy all month and therefore I had to get to project done immediately. In one afternoon, I read a 63 page book, wrote a report, and made a pretty cover (where I cut out the picture of MLK from the cover.)

Granted that was 16 years ago, but the principle still stands. If you got the time, do it. Although, I must say "Got the time" now means grabbing a few extra minutes after class to get ideas down when they strike me. Still, it helped me out this project.

*I did procrastinate a few times in college. The results were not pretty and neither was I the day the project was due.

Friday Musing- because the weather sucks and so does legal writing

So you know that thing deep inside of your that is somewhat intangible but still sort of helps you to feel good. I think we used to call it a "soul." Well, that thing is crushed now, and law school is to blame.

That is law school though, isn't it? One day you feel on top of the world. It is so great to be in law school. I am so lucky to have this opportunity and the opportunities that it will open up for me. Wow, I am thinking on a whole new level. I totally nailed that question in Contracts. I'm awesome. The next day you think, "Gee, the word "shit" doesn't quite cover this feeling." It doesn't help that the DC metro is being slammed with the crappiest weather all semester.

So, what now? I think I will stay on the roller coaster and hope I don't puke (not a hypothetical vomit, I really am getting stressed to the point where I want to puke.) In the process, I think I will try to avoid the communal bitch-fest about LRWA (legal writing). Listening to other people complain really only makes the feeling worse.

Things to do other than a writing assignment

So Monday morning my class has a writing project due. What I am doing right now?

• Thinking about all the cute interview/ work clothes I can buy from Ann Taylor, even though if I don't finish this project I won't have the grades to merit interviews.
• Staring at my Torts book, for no other reason than it is a pretty shade of red.
• Looking at my friend's new fashion blog.
• Trying to figure out what I am going to eat for dinner.
• Trying to figure out what I will be for Halloween (or as I like to put it "what version of trashy slut will I be for Halloween?"- this year, none)
• Wishing I had an income
• Wishing I had a clue
• Wishing that dry boring office memos were not part of the legal field.
• Did I mention pining after this season's latest office wear?

I do feel the need to dispense a trick that worked for me though when it comes to these God-awful writing projects of doom. Print out a draft and read it out loud. Print to be able to make marks and read out loud so you are forced to recognize typos like using "it" instead of "is."

Writing Project Update

So after all that proof-reading until I was numb, I submitted my writing project and got a grade back. I scored just about the median (not like I am about to broadcast my exact grade to everyone). It wasn't as well as I had wanted to do, but it definitely gives room for improvement. I'll admit, I am disappointed. Writing is supposed to be "my thing." I was a writing minor in undergrad, I should know this stuff, right? Still it is a bit of a humbling experience (all of law school is, I don't know why I thought this class would be any different). Now I take the experience and turn it into something that I can improve upon in my next set of projects. In the meanwhile, here are some hilarious tid-bits my professor sent out regarding the importance of proper legal writing in the professional world.

http://www.abajournal.com/weekly/judge_labels_lawyers_motion_nearly_incomprehensible_marks_up_errors
http://www.abajournal.com/uploads/Glasser1.pdf
http://abovethelaw.com/2009/09/21/Nault%20v%20Evangelical%20Lutheran%20Full.pdf

The Final Proof Reading Count

For the record, before I submitted my writing assignment Sunday afternoon my proof read count was at 8, plus one proof read from my fiance (which is allowed by the LWRA rules, since he is neither a lawyer nor a law student).

Proof read again, and again...

and again!

So Monday my first graded (meaning, non Pass/ Fail) writing assignment is due. It has been building on the same thing we've been working on in our past two assignments, but due to my performance in that previous assignment (I passed, but have been saying, I've barely passed) I am really trying to up my game. Here is a list of what I did for this assignment:

1. Created a draft fixing what I thought I did wrong on the last assignment and incorporating the new stuff.
2. Proof read that draft.
3. Proof read it again.
4. Got back my last assignment.
5. Incorporated the changes based on what my writing fellow (the person who grades my assignments) pointed out.
6. Proof read that, looking for multiple occurrences of mistakes.
7. Reread the guidelines for submissions.
8. Proof read based on that.

I have proof read four times and I am going to do it at least once more. I am not sure whether I am freaking out about this or this is how I am supposed to attack my assignments (or both, if so, this is going to be a very redundant three years).

On a different note, we had our student org. fair yesterday, complete with buffet. I still content that the best part of law school is the free food. It was really fun though, and I got to see what sort of organizations are out there and what opportunities there are. I'll let you know more about how my foray into student organizations goes.