Temptations Against The Law

With summer approaching and law school around the corner I started to think about getting my shit together. In the past, I haven’t exactly been a good student. Ever. That’s not to say I didn’t get good grades, but I didn’t exactly apply myself, and frankly, I cut corners wherever I could. For the first time in my life I don’t want to do that, I don’t want to get by on my superior planning skills and my ability to work the system. Not that I’m not intelligent, I just felt all the steps before where just that, steps. Hoops, if you will… hoops I had to pass through to get me to this point. I think its time to bust out my real skills and show people what I am capable of. Unfortunately that means I haven’t built good habits in my past academic experiences. Although from what I hear studying for law school is like nothing else. I did look at some of my friends that are getting their Ph.D.s and have decided I want to emulate some of their routines.

I have to balance my desire to kick ass and finally apply myself in academia with my desire to continue getting healthy and become a badass and having a “normal” life, whatever the hell that means. To me, its still seeing my friends, maintaining a healthy relationship with my girlfriend, and being able to take a break now and then to enjoy the little things in life (read watching TV, movies, and sports).

So, I came up with a list of things that will probably be serious distractions/temptations for me. I think my plan of attack is to be aware of these things that way I can schedule them in, prioritize accordingly, and hope it all works out in the end.

1. My Girlfriend – Basically, I’m in a new relationship and I am really happy. I am finally with someone I am excited to share my life with. The only problem is I have heard that law school can be a relationship killer. I don’t want that to happen. I also know it will be hard to juggle both and keep everyone happy. At least I know we are both committed to trying our best, and really that’s all I can ask for. It’s going to be hard not to spend my weekends snuggling in bed, my evenings exploring the restaurant scene with her and just general canoodaling.

2. WNBA – I love women and I love basketball, the WNBA is a natural progression. I am moving to Sacramento, home of the Monarchs. I don’t particularly have any favorite players on the Monarchs, but
Candace Parker
and Candice Wiggins
(Ace & Ice) just got drafted this year and I can’t wait to go watch them play. It is going to be hard to keep myself away from Arco Arena, and especially hard to keep me from watching basketball non-stop on TV. Once the WNBA season ends in September, the college basketball season starts up again and I can’t wait to watch Joanne Boyle’s Bears tear it up, and I am excited to watch Appel and company at Stanford. I didn’t go to either of those schools, and even though I did work for one, I am all about west coast bball. I don’t pay any attention to the rivalries. I’ll save my soapbox rant in favor of public school for another day.

3. Traveling back to the Ice Chamber – I love my gym. It’s more like a family, but that’s because it’s WAY more than a gym. Either way nothing can replace my love for the IC, even though there is a place that does crossfit. I hope to travel back to the IC for PT Sessions twice a month. That could be risky, we’ll see if I can manage.

Really it all comes down to kettlebell love


4. Best friend near by – One of my best friends from forever (actually, only since 2003) lives a town away. She’s a genius and is also studying her ass off. She is also one of my longboarding buddies. When I can drive to her in under 20 minutes, it will be hard to fight the compulsion. She is also an amazing chef. I am powerless when it comes to good food.

5. Meeting/getting to know my peers – I am hoping to get to know some of my peers. It seems like a friendly place, but I know this takes time. I also know the best way to procrastinate is to convince someone else in your class to do it with you (not that I ever did that in the past *cough cough* ahem).

6. New city to explore – I used to hate new places, but I have grown to love the discovery process. I want to find all the best restaurants, brunch places, party stops. I want to find the donut shop that is open late and procuring hot donuts at 1:30am, community tennis courts with working lights, clean nail salons with reasonably priced pedicures and good flowers. I want to find that Indy/grunge/arty coffee shop where I can spend all day studying because they also have great food, good music, and friendly staff. Sure I have never found all of these things in one city, but I haven’t given up hope yet.

7. Desire to knit, read, watch tv, general goofing off – I have multiple hobbies, I love to knit, play and watch sports, read, and even play video games sometimes. I have over 500 DVDs and I’m nearing 100 TV box sets. My hobbies have always taken up a lot of my time, and I am good at getting involved in something just to avoid what I should actually be doing. i.e. “If I knit my aunt a dishcloth for her birthday its still a productive activity even though I should be reading for class”.

I’m sure there are things I haven’t thought about, but this is a good start. Comments and suggestions welcome.