The Three L's: Law School

I am back after a long hiatus of packing, travel, friends, celebration and finishing up our first year in Cambridge! I'll catch you up on all of that later. For now, I'll continue with the second of the three L's: Law School.

At some point in your life, you have probably encountered a rare little specimen of human kind that I would like to call the Law Student. As the wife of a brand new 2L (hooray!), and being most certainly NOT a Law Student, I have a somewhat unique perspective on Law School. Do I have opinions about things? My husband would be the first to tell you I most certainly do. Am I a smart and capable person? Absolutely. Would I ever become a Law Student? No. Way. On. Earth. I have other talents, but a love of the Law is not one of them. Perhaps that is because of the overwhelming need I feel for grace (and the fact that one of my favorite hobbies just so happens to be trespassing, which also just so happens to be a felony).

But, back to Law School. Law Students have one very special talent in particular that I would like to share with you. They can and will relate anything and everything to Law School. I have spent the majority of this past year conducting an experiment on this very phenomenon, so I can tell you for a fact that it unavoidably and inevitably occurs. Now, do not get me wrong Law Students, I think that you are brilliant and amazing. However, what I like to call "Project Normal Conversations" went something like this: MAJOR FAIL. Here are a few examples of this lovely (ahem, slightly annoying) phenomenon.*

Faith: Would you like to join Jacob and me for dinner? I was thinking about making butternut squash soup with bacon, apples and green onions and there will be plenty for three.
Anonymous Law Student #1: Sure. Wouldn't it be horrible if we ended up like those people in that case I just read? There were these three people stranded on a boat and two of them reverted to cannibalism because they got so hungry. Do you think that cannibalism is punishable in the event of extreme starvation?
Faith: ??
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Faith: Do you watch the TV show Mad Men? Boy, that Betty Draper is a beauty. Did you see the episode where Lois runs over that British guy with a John Deere?
Anonymous Law Student #2: Yeah. That's probably an intentional tort. I'll have to look that up. Can I borrow Jacob's case book really quick?

*These conversations actually happened.

I realize that Law School requires a lot of work, time, effort, study and energy. I also realize that we talk most about the things that we love and that occupy our time. I also realize that in order to become a good lawyer, Law School is important. But, most especially, I realize that there is more to life than Law School, and that in order to interact with others in life, Law Students probably need to realize this too. Fortunately, Jacob and I went to a college where there were endless cocktail parties, meetings and events, and we had to learn to converse with other people socially and successfully (and not bore them to death).

I love my husband for being aware of this phenomenon and actively warding against it. He talks with me about love and life and anything I find interesting, like religion, science fiction, books, Doctor Who, how adorable kittens are and current events. For my sake, he doesn't relate them back to Law School, even when he really, really wants to. And because he shows his love for me in this way, I usually let him :)