An Important Thing in Life: Hard Work

I started out writing my blog every weekday. Then I went to four days a week thus giving me time to go enjoy one of my vices - poker - on Fridays. However, this past week I have not written a single blog until today. The reason being, I started a law class this past Monday.

The law school I will attend in August offers a program they dub "The Summer Enrichment Program." The purpose behind this class is to give first year law students an introduction not only to an aspect of the law: crimes, civil wrongs and the constitution, but also to aspects of the first year of law study to better prepare students for that arduous first year. The course is intended to instill habits which will benefit first year students to give the students a better chance of succeeding.

Courses are actually offered by some preparatory businesses (I've received advertisement of one of these). The courses offer to instill the habits necessary for first year law students. The courses only concentrate on those habits nothing else. The cost of these courses can be over $1000. The course advertised to me lasted one week.

The class I'm taking from California Western not only instills these same habits, also, the law school will award me three credits toward my law degree; assuming of course, I pass the class. Additionally, the class will actually put those habits (skills) to use in an actual law scenario vice just lecturing on what good study habits are necessary for success in law school. The benefits offered by the Cal-Western class far exceed the course offered by others. And this benefit analysis did not even take into account the cost for the Cal-Western class - which I should add is much less than the other courses.

So what does all of this have to do with my blog. Well, I must prepare for class everyday. The classes are Monday through Thursday, and to account for some who may still have jobs, are held in the evening. The preparation necessary for each class takes up a lot of my time - time that I cannot waste by spending an hour or two, sometimes three, researching and writing a blog - especially when you consider my blog is my blog and the only payment I get is when I open my blog page to see my written words.

I want to do well in my class. Additionally, I want to ensure I have the necessary study habits and time management skills needed for the first year of law school, which is not like some under-graduate program. The first year's worth of law classes is set by the American Bar Association (ABA) and consists of five classes each semester. The amount of work to be done in each class exceeds the amount of time you have in each day for the work. In other words, they give you more work than you can conceivably handle. Then on top of this, your grade for each course is dependant on the only exam given for each course - the three to four-hour long final exam. That's right. You do not get credit for class participation. You do not get credit for homework. You do not get quizzes or a mid-term. Your entire semester's grade is dependent on one exam and one exam only. I should also point out, the exam is not open book nor is it mulitple choice. The exam is several scenarios with the expectation the student discusses the applicable law and outcome from the scenarios (in other words, you have to know the law and how to apply the law). This is how law school separates the wheat from the chaff. Handle the pressure, handle the school, handle the profession.

So unlike some undergraduate degrees where one can do the minimal work and still pass with a somewhat high grade, law school requires hard work. And when the first year law student feels like he or she has had too much law, the cure, as stated by Karl Llewellyn, a law professor from Columbia who wrote a book on law school titled "The Bramble Bush", is to study more law (Llewellyn, pg x). To get through law school, one must have commitment and one must have drive and one must perform hard labor. A law degree is not a degree that is just handed out. If a law degree is handed out, which one can assume might happen, especially from a law school which is not accredited by the ABA, the law degree is not actually worth much; neither is the person with said degree, which is why the ABA puts very stringent controls on law school. A law degree needs to be earned. Earned through hard work. Earned through intellectual sweat and tears. Earned through law and more law on top of it. And when I speak of law, I do not speak of mere rules, but also the application and the meaning of those rules and how they shape behavior and society - no small feat for those who think rote memorization will get them through law school.

I do not expect law school to give me a law degree. I expect to earn my degree. I do not desire hand outs - I only expect just reward for just hard work. There are some people in this world, correction, in this country, who expect hand outs. They expect something in return just for showing up - as if gracing someone with their presence is actually worth something. Participation is not justification enough for a reward. You should get out of anything you do what you put into it. If you put little into something, you should get little out of it - expecting anything more should be viewed as thievery.

I want to succeed. I will put forth the effort to get through not only the class I'm currently attending, but, also law school. This means I have to sacrifice some of the little things in life to get the reward for which I am aiming. A reward I do not assume I will get nor expect to get. The reward will come my way if I stick to my plan of hard work. The important thing in life for me right now is hard work. Thus I have cut back on my blog and, if you haven't noticed, I have cut back on my vice. Today is Friday. Instead of playing poker at the casino, I wrote this blog. Now I will get back to studying.....

Mike

Llewellyn, K. (2008). The Bramble Bush: The classic lectures on the law and law school. Eleventh printing with new introduction and notes by Steve Sheppard. NY: Oxford University Press.