The Halloween Grinch

People who know me often remark on my wide grin or loud and high laugh. Yet what they don't know is that I'm a bit of a Halloween Grinch. Maybe it's from my non-existent trick-or-treating experiences as a child (try convincing an Asian mom to let her daughter risk getting kidnapped at night getting (possibly poisonous) candy from strangers). But nowadays, I don't like the people ringing my doorbell the whole night. The knocking and ringing bell interrupts me in the midst of my outlining, and gives me no peace. Plus, it's not like they're cute or anything. So many are big high schoolers or grown-ups who have just so-so costumes, some don't even bother to dress up. And you expect me to give you candy? I admit my grinchness. Don't bother me, I'm trying to remember the MPC categories of mens rea.

Wise 2 cents

I met with an alumna from my law school today for an informational meeting. She's a down-to-earth, warm-hearted attorney (very hard to find in this profession) who's been in public interest and now government work for 20+ years. I love her practical tips about what questions not to ask: "What's your typical work day like?"
"What do you love most about your job?"
(B/c the person you're asking may not like her job, and the last thing she wants to talk about is her "typical workday.")

And what not to put in your cover letter: "I'm a 1L interested in _____ area of law. I've grown tremendously in the past year. I've honed my skills in law school...."
(B/c it's boring and not helpful to the employer. Tells nothing about you.)

As newbies, it's hard to know what pitfalls to avoid and how we should sell ourselves to the ones in hiring positions. I know I've definitely bored a few top-level attorneys with my "typical workday" question (undergrad career offices used to recommend this question!).

Dark and Twisty

I just realized that like Meredith Grey in Grey's Anatomy, I am pretty "dark and twisty" too. It accounts for why I sulk so much in law school.

I love Grey's Anatomy b/c so much of the competition in med school is like law school. Sometimes I feel like Izzy, barely holding on to compassion and humanity while trying to prove that I can be "intense" too, but today I realize I'm sort of like Meredith too.

Prof. Contract's criticism

I know I'm the annoying student that goes to office hours to bother my oh-so-busy law profs from their momentous, life-changing legal research. But it was pretty tough to take Prof. Contract's criticism that my questions are "too vague" and sound like I haven't "thought about the material." In other words, he thinks my questions are dumb and show no thought. I'm used to profs who enjoy teaching and warmly comfort us by saying there are no dumb questions.

Goodness, I graduated from the same elite undergrad Prof. Contracts came from. I know for a fact that I'm better than what he perceives me to be. But how do I convey that? How do I rephrase my questions to sound intelligent? Or is this airhead really me? I admit, I'm a self-conscious, insecure student who needs superficial validation. Even a fake check and chocolate cake prize for writing the funniest demand letter from my LWR TA was enough to make me happy that night. It compensated somewhat for the unhappy grade I got in the LWR memo.