Eight weeks later...

I am numb. My fingers are tingling. My head hurts--probably because my brain is throbbing, if that is possible. But, the good news is, mid-term exams are history. All that we must do now is wait for the grades.

It has been a very long week. Everyday we had to prepare for class while simultaneously trying to find a few hours to study for exams. For most of the week I spent 18-20 hours at school and only came home to sleep, shower, change clothes, and take care of the pets. But for the pets, I would have probably just lived in the library. There were study groups and private study sessions and roundtable discussions and tutorials and still not enough hours in the day to get it all done.

A good friend asked me if I'd given this 100%, and I had to admit that I had not. I suppose the evaluation is subjective, though; yet I do not think I have given it my all. Granted, I have given a lot, but not my all. For instance, I do not come home every night and review the day's notes and lectures. I do not prepare flash cards on a daily basis. I have made little use of the CALI exercises (which are awesome), and I have only listened to about one of the instructional CDs that I checked out of the library (I have downloaded 20+.) And I do not spend the weekend reviewing flash cards and outlines of the previous week's material for each class. If I had done all of this, I then could say that I had given 100%. But, I'm just not sure when I would have slept. Right now, I'm averaging about four hours per night. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do all that is required as well as all that is suggested.

We've now completed mid-term exams and eight weeks of our first semester of law school. One of the professors quipped "Congratulation on being 1/12 of the way through." There is something to be said about that, especially in light of the fact that at least three of my classmates have already said they will not be back in January--if they even stay through December.

But I am looking at mid-terms as a place to start rather than a place to stop. I believe that these exams were a gift. They showed me where my outlines have failed. They have shown me where I need to improve, and they have given me eight more weeks to get my notes and materials in order before the final exams are knocking at the door.

Frankly, I feel good about what I did today. I don't think I knocked any of them out of the park, but I was comfortable with most subjects so that I could provide a multi-layer answer. Now that the exams are over it's time to take a break, catch my breath, let the body have a few hours to recover, and then get busy.

I hope you'll continue to accompany me on this journey.