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: Clever WoT

That's It?

Today, I finished my very last final exam ever, bringing an end to about 20 years of consecutive schooling.

This is the sort of thing that takes some time to process, but I can tell you what looks like at the moment. Consider this the field report.

From 5am to 4:30pm I did nothing but cram for--and take--my Federal Courts exam. As I was stapling the tests together (it was an 8 hour takehome, and each finished copy weighed in at 15 pages), I had a strange, spinal rush of absolutely pure glee. That's right: glee. I can't remember the last time I felt glee.

This was not just "woo I'm done" relief. This was 7-year-old kid on Christmas morning getting a Nintendo, hopping up and down transcendent joy. It lasted maybe two seconds, but it was a wonderful punch-drunk happiness while it was around.

Later, I was looking at myself in the bathroom mirror (I was washing my hands, not just weirdly staring at myself) and I realized that I just finished law school. It's utterly surreal.

Of course, the "just finished law school" thought quickly turned into "going to be a lawyer" quickly turned to "oh shit the bar," but it's still nice to be done. I came home and felt more like a human being than I've felt in months. I washed dishes with my son while my wife cooked dinner, I gave the kid a long and raucous bath, I got mildly margarita-toasted, and at no point did I think "gotta study til midnight" or "gotta get up at 5 to figure out the Franchise Tax doctrine."

I'll talk about this all more as it gets pieced together in my head. I'll also do a bunch of the blog-things I've been meaning to do: write about my small army of impending publications, discuss current projects, talk about how incredibly smart my crazy-haired baby is and how supportive my wife is, and update the Blogger Directory.

One step at a time, though. Today: bring an end to the 80% of my life that has been spent in school. Tomorrow: everything else I've been meaning to do for the past four months.

Next week: I have absolutely no clue. Maybe hanging out with the family, sleeping, and preparing to move. That doesn't sound too shabby.

Full post as published by Clever WoT on December 19, 2007 (boomark / email).