Although my final Appellate Advocacy brief was due today, I have spent the last two weeks working on it every spare moment and handed it in on Friday so I could enjoy the weekend.  It was such a relief to hand it in; the last two months working on it felt much longer.  I gave myself Sunday off-and I picked the best day in the last few weeks to enjoy.  The sun was out, the temperature was up, and it was an overall beautiful day.   That is the best part of New England weather, once you begin to get discouraged that it will never warm up or the sun will never come out, you are rewarded with some absolutely gorgeous days.

Now that my brief is handed in I have two weeks before my final oral argument.  I need to spend time catching up with my other classes.  Unfortunately, I can’t forget about Appellate because I still have a lot of preparation before my argument.

This entry is going to be a list of sorts.

1. I went to the VLS Takings Conference on Friday, and was thoroughly impressed. As any good event should do, it explained a lot to me and left me with a lot to think about. For one, how do we assess water regulations in light of takings and regulations laws while keeping the philosophical importance we as human beings place on water in perspective? It’s an interesting question, and certainly not one I will be able to answer any time soon. It’s nice to see people working towards that though, and conscientiously at that.
2. I haven’t been feeling so hot these last few days. I think the semester is finally catching up with me. I hate sore throats and whatnot, so my diet for the past 24 hours has consisted of 1% solid food, and 99% orange juice, tea and water. I will beat this.
3. How is it already November 9^th? That is just nuts. I’ve heard that law school flies by, but wow. Thanksgiving is basically in two weeks. After that we come back for a week of classes and finals. Gah!
4. I finally feel like we’re starting to get some feedback on where we are thus far. We got our Civ Pro and Con Law midterms back. I also had a meeting with my dean’s fellow today to discuss the first draft of my open memo. It’s very helpful to know what I’m doing right and what I can improve on. I work best if someone tells me, “Look, hey, this is a good effort, and it’s very effective here, here and here, but this paragraph needs some work because this is not technically how such and such a doctrine applies practically.” My professors and dean’s fellows are much more helpful than that example illustrates, I promise.
5. It is so warm right now! I hate it. Ski resorts opened this past week, and it was in the upper 50s today. What is that about? Where is the snow? Word on the street, though, is that I better be careful what I wish for…

Ok, I must go spend some quality time with torts and my open memo. But, the pay off is huge tonight. Carolina plays at 7! Go Heels!

And just like that October is over, as is any semblance of sunlight past 5pm. Though I was pleasantly surprised to find I had an extra hour to sleep in this morning. October ended with VLS’s annual Oktoberfest which I found met and fell below my expectations though partially through my own lack of consistent participation. I was surprised at the relatively small showing for the chili contest, mostly because it as tons of free lunch-paid for in part by your student activity fee

But most of the events I attended were definitely in the spirit of mischief and mayhem and doing anything unrelated to law.

I am really glad that the workload seems to have settled down, I have a big event that’s taking me down to Massachusetts all of next weekend so the fact that I no longer have midterms/fake midterms/papers combo means I may actually be able to take part of next weekend off and not be the girl who brought her law books to her friend’s wedding (though they do go with my shoes……).

I am also pumped for the upcoming takings conference at VLS. I am really interested in the role takings  will play in the development of water rights and water restrictions which I believe are inevitable regulatory responses to the growing demand and shrinking water supply (though technically the water supply doesn’t shrink per se, it just becomes unusable). It should be a good time.

The last few weeks have brought beautiful changes in this area. As a Californian, I have never seen the leaves change colors. I took a trip to Boston a few weeks back for a Red Sox game, and the drive was amazing. The colors of the leaves are vibrant yellows, oranges, reds, and greens! The change seemed to happen so fast. From all the stories I had heard about the fall in the northeast I imagined this process to be gradual and last for a month or more. It felt like one day the trees were all dark green and leafy and the next they were insane bright colors and now, in a matter of weeks, the leaves are practically non-existent. Lately we have been having beautiful weather here. At “home” in CA I would be cold when the temperature dropped into the 40s and 50s. It’s interesting how a change of perspective can make a world of difference. The temperature dropped to the 40s and 30s a couple weeks back and recently has been back up to the 50s and 60s. The forecast is calling for a drop in temperature of upwards of 10 degrees. Already tonight it is back down to the 30s. Also expected this week is SNOW! I’ve been told that it will be getting colder, much colder, very soon. I am halfway excited to experience life in the snow, but I know that that novelty too will ware off in no time, just as the novelty of being in law school in a new place wore off in a couple months. On that note, I have been increasingly homesick for lovely So Cal. It just makes me that much more excited for Thanksgiving when I get a taste of home with the arrival of my mother dearest! I am also looking forward to visiting a good friend from home in Boston next weekend. That will be a much needed escape from the reality of law school in SoRo. With that I leave you until next time. It is time for my break to be over and my brain to turn back on so I can get some reading in before sleep!

The novelty of law school has officially worn off. Every day reality sinks further in that this is our life now and for the next few years. The first few weeks were full of the excitement of law school and developing a new life and relationships with new people. Now we are all in the harsh reality of what is to be a 1L. It is incessant. You finish your work for the next day, and there is still work to be done. You finish your memo assignment, but you could always make improvements. You outline your classes, but tomorrow you will have to make modifications. The work is never done. There are no breaks. Fall break didn’t even consist of a break. My point is that your work is never really done. Improvements, modifications, and further understanding can always be had. Now beginning our 11th week at VLS we are all well aware that you can’t do it all. To maintain your sanity you must remove yourself from being a 1L. You have to take time for yourself, for life, exercise and nourishment.
One day, in anticipation of the impending winter cold and snow, some fellow 1Ls and I found ourselves in need of shopping. None of us are from rural areas of the country and discovered that the closest “real” mall is an hour and a half away in Manchester, NH. The giddiness we experienced pulling into the mall parking lot was absolutely ridiculous when you consider our ages and the fact that we were at a MALL! Nonetheless, living in SoRo will do that to you. It is rare to find large populations of people anywhere in this vicinity. Even driving the hour+ to Burlington doesn’t provide the effect felt when arriving in a city. It was a good reminder that there is life outside of law school and we must live it in order to be successful and healthy law students.

Every year Vermont Law students take a little break at the end of October to celebrate Halloween with three days of festivities. Oktoberfest is a team competition sponsored by the SBA. Weeks before Oktoberfest, the rumbling in the halls started about teams and activities from the 2nd and 3rd years. The activities this year included a keg toss, dodgeball and kickball tournaments, a pumpkin carving contest, chili cook off, cake eating and of course a costume contest.

Oktoberfest this year was a great way to blow off steam and do some non-law school activities while bonding with law school friends. There are some very creative law students who carved pumpkins and came up with interesting costume ideas! It was great to celebrate Halloween in South Royalton with all of my law school friends before the final stretch of the semester.

Well, another week has passed.  At least I got 2 midterms out of the way.  I just hope I did okay on them.  I am just glad that I don’t have to worry about them anymore.  Now, I can start worrying about finals.  I am definitely nervous about them.  However, I believe I can do well on them.  I just need to be prepared.  I can’t wait until thanksgiving break though.  Law school wears you out.

Finally! The last two weeks have been so so so SO busy, and I finally feel like I’m caught up, both academically and personally.

And just in time too!

Oktoberfest is here! Obviously, as this is my first year in law school, and necessarily my first year at Vermont Law, I have no idea what to expect from this Halloween tradition. After yesterday, I’m starting to figure it out, though.

At 12:45 there was a keg toss outside the library. Basically, teams got together and, well, tossed kegs to see who could get theirs the furthest. Then, at 3:30, there was some serious kickball action going down at the rugby pitch. I had an appointment at 4:00, so I didn’t get to go to that one. I’m sort of bummed about that, because kick ball used to be my game back in 4^th grade. David Robinson and I would arrange it so we could always be on the same team, and then we’d ROCK it! The best was the highly specified “pitches” we used to insist on. Some days, it was bouncy and slow. Some days, it was smooth and fast. And on some days, when we were feeling particularly crazy, it was fast AND bouncy. I’m not quite sure how this turned into a diatribe on school yard kickball, but there it is.

Anywho, the best event of the day, in my opinion, was trivia. I LOVE trivia. I’m not always great at but it’s super fun. I’ve had a few roommates who have been avid trivial pursuit lovers, so there’s been a lot of trivia in my life.

VLS trivia was a super crowed, super hot event wherein seemingly everyone in the school packed into Crossroads in teams to compete. Categories were fairly diverse, and were both general and specific to VLS and Vermont. You know, literature, VLS trivia, environment, science, geography, Vermont.  The long and short of it is, if you’re here next year, I recommend you join an Oktoberfest team. But watch out for Binding Authority, because we’ll be back and ready for action.

I’ll end on something I’m most excited about, which is the costume party tomorrow night. I went to a college (UNC—Go Heels! And thank Roy basketball season is here!) where Halloween was a huge event. I’m talking 80,000 people in three blocks huge. Suffice it to say, I love the holiday. Now, while I know this year’s won’t be on the scale a good ol’ Franklin Street fiesta would be, I have a feeling it’s going to be fun, nonetheless. I have great friends, am in a great place in school and life, and have what I think is a pretty awesome costume. The stage is set for greatness.

Happy Halloween!

They offered two drinks at the Students for Reproductive Justice event tonight.  That was just enough to put me in the mood to not do my reading for tomorrow.  I called it a night early, left chase, and went back to my apartment, which is now broken in, to a chaotic degree.

If you didn’t know my hobbies, you would think I enjoyed baking bread when you first step into my apartment.  But you would stop smelling and look around, and see boxes of empty bottles and various other contraptions, as well as gurgling buckets in the corners. You may also notice that my kitchen floor is a bit sticky.  Sorry, eh, a few spills this weekend from the beer making…

Currently, I have 15 gallons of beer brewing in my apartment.  A friend told me that I should combat my feelings of alienation and loneliness with a cat, like she does.  But instead, I have beer to come home to and take care of.

Sure, most of the time it is just there, doing its brew thing.  But this evening, I saw that the newest brew, a cranberry holiday Belgian ale, was going through the usual growing pains, with fermenting foam seeping out of the airlock and onto the lid.  I sanitized my big steel spoon, open the lid, and scraped off the extra yeasty/hoppy foam that isn’t awesome to keep anyway, and now it is as good as ever!  Now I sit with a smile, hearing the brews fermenting away!

I would not be able to brew at such a rate, learning about the craft and experimenting with recipes (don’t get me started on the Mayan Chocolate Porter w made this weekend), without the Ladies Brewing Collective.

The Ladies Brewing Collective germinated during my first crazy week here in South Royalton, at orientation.  After being sent back to dress more professional, I picked a seat on the bus heading to Montpelier.  I reckon I was sitting there, stewing in all-too-frequent feelings of previously mentioned alienation and loneliness, when Brianna Ruffe asked to sit next to me.  Ah, it was a friendship formation fit for a back-to-school special, folks! (well, I guess it was “back to school,” but with a shuttle bus and business casual as opposed to yellow bus and Trapper Keepers)

Bree and I discovered we had a lot in common, and that we had both brewed a few batches before coming here.  It didn’t take long, eating our free lunches in good company under the trees of the Vermont statehouse, to come up with the idea to start a ladies brewing collective.

It has been a huge success this semester, more than we imagined it would be.  Over 40 people on the listserv, our picture in the Herald of Randolph, and seven brews this semester are all feathers to put in our collective caps.  But, as awesome as it is to have started this, and to be able to brew this much without blowing our wallets, I am happiest with the fact that being part of the Ladies Brewing Collective has helped me overcome those feelings of alienation and loneliness that have been a recurring theme this first semester.  I am really happy that a common interest in learning how to brew has brought us together, that we can share our time and enthusiasm and enjoy each others company, all while making good beer.  And I am happy thinking that this is something that we can keep going throughout our tenure here at VLS, and hopefully inspire future members to keep it going once we graduate.

As one member told me last night while making the cranberry ale for our end of the year party, “you got to have a passion unrelated to your studies, especially when you are in law school.”  While the collective has definitely helped cultivate my excitement for brewing, it is also a community, a network of friends, and has the potential to do awesome things, just as awesome as the ladies in it.  So hear I am, committed.  Why get a cat to escape alienation and loneliness, when you can make BEER with cool girls?

Brew on!

Today I took my first law school exam. It was for civil procedure, my most challenging class. I spent all weekend long preparing and working on my outline. For whatever reason I had it in my head that we could not use our book for the exam. To my surprise I showed up to class today and saw that everyone had their books with them. I of course did not have my book even though that little voice in my head told me I should before I left my apartment. With five minutes to spare I made a mad dash through campus and down S. Windsor to my apartment taking out those in my way. I made it back to the classroom just in time to begin. I took a few moments to collect myself, stop shaking from the adrenaline rush, and take a deep breath. I settled myself down enough to work through my exam. I should have known that this was going to be a difficult week when I locked myself out of my apartment on Sunday. I have come to realize over the course of my life that I tend to make things more difficult for myself. I have decided to look at this in a positive light and have a sense of humor about it. Instead of freaking out and crying over these miss steps I laugh it off and call friends and family to laugh along with me. In the end I have learned a couple valuable lessons: always have an extra key to your apartment and most importantly:  if an exam is open book, do not forget to bring your book!