People always say that 3Ls have easy schedules, do nothing and are barely seen for the entire year. This is sort of true. I have a very easy schedule, and perhaps I’m not seen much at the Law Tower because I’m only there on Mondays and Wednesday. Even though I’m only taking three classes this semester, I find that I’m just as busy as before, but in a different way. In addition to classes, I’m working part-time for a judge, serving as Writing Fellow for the First Year Writing Program and serving as a note editor on my journal.
Working at court is a nice break and change of pace from taking classes because there is always something mildly entertaining going on (let’s leave it at that). I work two full days from 8:30AM to 4:30PM and I’m busy writing opinions/orders or taking notes and assisting in the courtroom.
As a Writing Fellow, I assist one of the instructors for the First Year Writing Program with her class. My class has thirteen students and on most weekends I meet with them individually to help them with their weekly assignments. I enjoy it a lot, but didn’t realize that reviewing thirteen drafts prior to individual meetings and then going over the drafts with each student for 20 minutes (over 4 hours total!) would take up that much of my time.
As a note editor on my journal, I work with four 2L students to help them each write a note (a 30-50 page paper) of publishable quality over the course of the year. While I haven’t yet had to look at any full drafts, I’ve had to review their note topics, meet with them individually and review development and analysis memos for their topics. It’s enjoyable and not too difficult, but I find that it’s time consuming.
With all the writing and editing I’m doing this semester, hopefully I’ll become a master writer.
