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: [ Useless Dicta ]

Enjoy it While You Can

It's nearing finals time, which means I have resorted to studying in the Starbucks down the street from the law school to avoid the tension and down right near panic that pervades [Useless] law this time of the year.

At Starbucks this morning I was wearing my [Useless] law hoodie which is probably why an overeager and totally naive [Useless] University undergrad approached me to ask how I liked law school, if I had any advice, etc. Turns out she is taking the LSAT in a few weeks (whenever the December exam is) and is so freaking excited to graduate undergrad next year and move onto law school, it's all she's ever wanted to do and undergrad is just a stepping stone on the long road. I gave her the required pleasantries, and tried to spare her my usual rants about how much law school can suck. I told her that it's a lot of work, and not nearly as fun as undergrad but that in the end I'm actually looking forward to being a lawyer (which is true).

What struck me though was what happened after our 2 minute long encounter. A few of undergrad?s friends came into the Starbucks and they quickly ordered their drinks and sat down at a nearby table to begin an hour long session of carefree conversation complete with laughter and exaggerated ?oh my gosh he did not!? kind of exclamations.

That?s when it hit me. All of those wonderful memories of my time as an undergrad came flooding back. The ability to just waste a few hours with girlfriends shopping, having coffee or lunch, etc. It usually didn?t matter what we were doing, as long as we were together and having fun. After undergrad all of that disappeared, and it isn?t necessarily all law school?s fault. I went to law school, but my other girlfriends went on to other things, one went and got a 9-5 corporate job, another went abroad for a year before coming back to go to law school on the opposite coast from me, and another settled down and got married.

Watching those girls in Starbucks this morning certainly made me nostalgic for the ?good old days.? While I?m enjoying my life at the moment, growing up and becoming an ?adult? has certainly had its growing pains. I remember being where these girls are right now in undergrad, I was itching to graduate and get onto ?bigger and better? things. What I didn?t realize at the time is that where I was at that point in life was pretty fantastic, and perhaps just the ?biggest and best? part of life so far. That?s not to say that I?m disappointed with what has transpired after graduating undergrad, there have been disappointments and heartaches, but there?s also been a lot of growing up and self discovery that I wouldn?t trade in for anything. But in the end, I think the best piece of advice anyone ever could have given me before heading to law school would have been to savor and enjoy every single one of those carefree moments in my pre-law school (pre ?adult?) life, because they are some of the most fun moments and in the blink of an eye they are gone forever.

So for any of you overeager pre-L?s out there who are actually excited about embarking on the law school journey, just remember not to rush through anything. Life is pretty great if you stop for a moment and take in the scenery around you, and nothing that law school (or anything else that an ?adult? life) may hold is worth letting those great things in life whiz by at 80mph.

Full post as published by [ Useless Dicta ] on November 15, 2008 (boomark / email).