A Law School with History

I found some great photos of Southwestern Law School on Flickr, feast your eyes on some of Los Angeles' finest historic architecture:

Bullocks Wilshire Building -- an Art Deco Landmark

It used to be a high end department store to the stars in the 1920s that was later converted to suit the school's needs. There is one room called "Chanel Conference Room" where Coco Chanel showed off her couture dresses! Now, where's that Chanel bag that I can't afford???

The first & second floor is home to the Leigh H. Taylor Law Library and the remaining floors are dedicated to classrooms, faculty offices, and cafeteria. There's even a terrace but I'm not sure if it's usable.

this photo actually came from Wikipedia

photo credit atwater village newbie

photo credit silverscape

photo credit lauren isabel

Chanel Conference Room

photo credit Floyd B. Bariscale

photo credit: army.arch

Julian C. Dixon Courtroom and Advocacy Center

A mock courtroom where classes are held, moot court competitions hosted. It's basically a place to foster the learning of law students with innovative technology and top of the line media outlets. This month, graduates who passed the Bar were sworn in by an SW Alumni judge in the courtroom.

I would love to be part of moot court, hopefully I will get an opportunity....!

photo credit Floyd B. Bariscale

Schedule

There are so many things left to do while summer is dwindling down. Orientation starts on August 10th. I have a small little checklist of important and not so important things I still want to do/ buy/ take care of...

I received my Fall packet the other day and with it came my complete schedule for Fall'11 and Spring'12 semester. Eek! The school also informed my that (first installment) tuition is due mid July. I'm still waiting on my financial aid so hopefully I don't have to scramble for money to make the first payment.

I will have class every day except Friday. Once school starts I know that "Friday" or "the Weekend" won't mean anything. It'll just be another day to do homework, prepare, and most importantly read. As much as I am trying to prepare for school, reading different opinions and accounts, it's hard to determine what will be the right recipe to success for me.

Through the Summer Academy, I've already met and gotten to know 14 fellow students which I think is a great advantage. Hopefully I'll find the right people to study with that will stay as focused on law school as me. I must say though, I can already feel the competitiveness of some and I need to step up my game!

Practice Exams

The Summer Academy is not graded nor does it affect admissions but attendance is mandatory. So naturally, the program has included practice exams in all three areas we are covering.

Tonight, we did Torts and Legal Writing, back to back. Aside from the LSAT, it's been a while since I sat down and had to write an essay and/ or be tested on material. I graduated college in 2005, I'm completely ancient. Needless to say as I sat there for 60 minutes for each class I managed to do it but the degree of how I did it was painful.

I'm definitely out of rhythm. I had the worst case of word vomit which tends to get me in trouble in my personal life...! While the exam conditions were skewed I had trouble organizing my thoughts and follow the outline I created. Being in this program has really highlighted some of my bad studying techniques and made me realize I need to CHANGE my ways.

By the way, in law school you can TYPE your exam. Maybe they already do this in undergrad but I love it. According to Facebook, I type a mean 100 wpm so more smart shit can flow onto my exam. ;) Say goodbye to a three hour hand cramp from rigorous writing in a bluebook!

A highlight of the week was in Crim Law we had oral arguments. In high school I thrived on public speaking. I was in every debate or government club possible but that was 10+ years ago. Overall I think I did ok. We were actually thrown to the wolves because my group was giving a case and only had 10 minutes to prepare while the others had a case that we all needed to prepare for as homework.

I feel blessed.

Over the course of my application process, I was an avid lurker on a popular law school forum. It drove me insane. While it was helpful in ways for the most part it elevated my paranoia. I realize that with any online message board you have to take it with a grain a salt. Not everything what people post will be the truth or good advice. It's like those dating sites, people often misrepresent themselves in order to appear more favorable.

I returned to the message board today to lurk and see what's going on in the "Southwestern 2011" thread. Many are still awaiting a decision or are left on the waiting list. I can't imagine what mental state I would be in if that were me, especially when my options were limited of where I could attend. I'm almost half way through my summer program and I'm extremely grateful to be in this position.

My anticipation to start my first year is mounting as I get deeper and deeper into the program. I have so many goals and things I want to accomplish in the short school year so hopefully I can reach all of them.

Materials

I can't believe the week is almost up. Tonight I have class but these last three days went by so quickly. And to be honest, I'm having a lot of fun.

Granted, the Academy gives me a small preview of what Fall will be like but I'm enjoying my time reading and preparing for class. Yesterday, we toured of the Leigh H. Taylor Law Library and also got pointers on how to conduct legal research. I was pretty impressed with the quality of the library. I'm pretty sure the library will become my new home.

Our classes cover three areas: criminal law, legal writing, and torts. On the first day, we received packets with reading materials and a big clunker called, The Bluebook, which is basically the bible to legal citation. It's definitely overwhelming looking at all the rules and procedures, hopefully my homework will go smoothly.

I Got Carded

It's even more official now because I am a student ID holder! I'm the worst at taking any form of ID or passport pictures and my new student card is living proof. To save me from humiliation, I purposely covered my face with my finger.

Overall my first day at the Academy went great. I participated as much as I could and didn't hold back. It helped that I was prepared and went the extra mile with the reading assignment. The program is basically a preview of what's to come in August which I thought was a great way to put my nerves at ease.

Summer Academy

Academic Excellence Academy is a program that provides a rigorous introduction to the study of law to a selected group of entering students. The ideal candidate for this program is an applicant with exceptional potential for long lasting impact upon the legal community based upon the content of their application, and the presence of non-traditional indicators of success. This program is distinguished from traditional summer academic support because of the intensity and length of the program as well as its selectivity. The Academy is limited to approximately 15 students.

My summer program starts tonight and

I already received my first reading assignment on burglary and California penal code.

My mind is running wild with unproductive thoughts of what to expect from the program. I've read the description of the Academy multiple times looking for more clues and even googled for comments from past students.

I'm the type of the person that likes to know what to expect. It's black or white, no surprises. But, life is never that way and I'm sure law school is the same.

I guess all I can do right now is read my assignment and wait.