vicarz | (no subject)

I am not mad. I did not spend all day writing one piece of fake legislation for my writing class that is only 2 pages long. I am not mad that even those 2 pages are not done. I got up and went to two grocery stores. Then I came home and did some research. Feeling like I had a handle on the existing law as it related to my fake legislation, I ate, relaxed, and went to the gym. I then ate, showered, and didn't work again until perhaps 4pm. I wasted more time than I'd like to admit watching segments of Spike TV's ultimate fighting championship. I didn't realize how fucking hard it would be to figure out the simple process by which legislation is presented to the VA assembly or what mysterious formatting conventions they adhere to. I have not spent days writing, I have spent hours writing. I have spent far more hours floundering on legal research, since I have only had 1-2 hours of training in how to perform such research - learning mostly by crises such as this one. Those prior crises have only required statutory or case-law queries. My grade is high enough that I can turn in some bullshit and probably still get the B-, and I now lack the choice if I am going to get the rest of my homework done for the weekend. I am not mad. I do not have time to be mad.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I do not have time to be mad.

No shit. Good luck, fellow grad student. I'm not doing this to myself again, if I manage to graduate with everything done...

Next paper, speak to a legal librarian, if you can.

They work business hours - as do I. I would have to leave my job to receive their assistance. Technically they train us, if by that you mean 1 hour per semester we observe them blowing through research and light speed on a screen viewed from a classroom.

I'm sure they're very helpful, and were I a day student I would take advantage of their pressence. As it stands, working M-F while in school I have to make other arrangements.

Sympathies given. I have some similar problems: no one ever talked to us about finding primary sources, using the Library of Congress or National Archives, or even how to plan and research. In theory they are supposed to during a research seminar, but then I am told it is part of the academic sink or swim: you figure it out, execute the research, adn write a compelling argument. One small catch - most of the classes we have are reading seminars where we, at best, read adn review or analize someone else's work...supposedly in order to figure out what our own should be like.

An interesting theory and production method - but it leaves us somewhat floundering while they take our money...and I already know most of those bucks do not go to the professor in question. Hell, active mentoring is discouraged because it will somehow "taint" the student with too many passed-down attitiudes and ideas. Hello - can we just get methods?

In any event -- sorry the weekend hasn't gone better. I was up until 04:30 this morning working on my paper and I haven't crossed the 3000 word point on what was supposed to be my finished 6000 word draft - due tonight.

Vodka in late May?

Shit yeah.

I expect you to shit before late may, else your eyes will go completely brown (like the oil-alien) in X-Files, and then they will expload. That would be bad.

Look at it this way...after all this work...at least you will know what aspects of law you possess no desire to practice, right? Skol!