Amy, 3L

I'll admit it, I get bored easily. For me, one of the best things about NUSL is that your daily life changes every few months, and September has been nothing but change. I began my second year about a month ago at Tufts School of Medicine as part of the dual JD/Master of Public Health program. Second year really is night and day from being a 1L, which has been great. Also great: knowing I'll finish both degrees in 3.5 years instead of 5.

Going from Civ Pro and Contracts to Epidemiology and Environmental Health has been a little difficult, but it really is a nice change of pace. Unlike law school, there are usually concrete answers in a scientific setting; you definitely know when you've found the right answer. On the other hand, that means when you're wrong, you're wrong. A brilliant argument isn't going to help you when your numbers don't add up. (Also unlike NUSL, they give actual letter grades here. I had forgotten what being graded on a curve feels like.)

I was worried that being at Tufts for 2 semesters would cause me to lose touch with my NUSL friends and the law school world in general, but so far, that's not the case. I'm at the law school 2-3 times a week, studying in the brand-new building or taking advantage of the free printing. I've also been able to continue being a part of the Black Law Students Association and volunteering with the Admissions Office.

This blogging thing is also completely new to me, so stay tuned!

One thing I love about NUSL is the amount of academic support they provide. For example, I went over to the law school last week to help with an academic workshop the Black Law Students Association gives for the 1Ls every year. Turns out we had to cancel it because there was another workshop given by the NUSL Academic Success Program at the same time on a different topic. After talking to Prof. Drew, the head of the Academic Success, she decided to help us put on our workshop the following week. (Prof. Drew also meets with students one-on-one; her office door is literally always open.)

There's also a lot of mentoring opportunities. In addition to the faculty mentor assigned to our LSSC Law Office, I had a student mentor and a faculty mentor through BLSA. I really regret not taking enough advantage of these opportunities or visiting my professors during office hours more often. I remember learning a lot during the time I spent sitting on the couch in my Torts professor's office, listening to other student's questions after getting mine answered. The faculty here is pretty accessible, and help is always available.

I haven't had midterms since college. The first year of law school was all about the final exams, so this is taking some getting used to again. I find myself veering towards the legal angle in my public health assignments, which isn't surprising given my background, but I didn't realize until now to what extent my academic point of view has changed since starting law school. In my Occupational and Environmental Health class, for example, I'm working with a fellow student who's also a physician at Tufts Medical Center. Even though we were writing on the same topic (allergen exposure in healthcare workers), our drafts looked completely different. Mine had citations to OHSA regulations and state laws, while her version contained tons of scientific studies and medical journal articles. Our papers will be stronger because we both brought our separate points of view to the table.

Yet another reason I love this program: I'm surrounded by doctors, nurses, and non-profit workers as well as other law students. The view at NUSL can get a little too focused for me sometimes, which is not unusual for a law school and not necessarily a bad thing. This has just been a refreshing change for me, giving me some much needed perspective.

I get asked this question a lot. I usually mumble something about government agencies, policy work, or non-profit orgs, but I often find myself wondering what that really means. Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Health Law Advocates annual benefit breakfast. HLA is a large non-profit here in Boston, a sort of collective of pro bono attorneys. It was such a relief to see people making a professional life out of work that positively influences others' lives. The keynote speaker was a Juvenile Court judge who spoke about HLA attorneys’ work as mental health guardian ad litems for juvenile defendants. After spending the summer co-oping in the Boston Juvenile Court, I know how important mental health advocates are for children in trouble. This intersection of health and legal advocacy are the kinds of situations I want to seek out (or create). That's why I chose the dual-degree program. (I realize I answered a different question than the original one, but I'm going to be a lawyer, so that's a valuable skill.)

After only 2 months in the MPH program, we already have to start planning our Master's thesis project. This is one of those moments where it seems crazy to me that we're doing this on top of law school. The deal is that we have a few months to plan, and then implement our projects during our first academic quarter back at NUSL. I'm a little overwhelmed, but we're getting good support and advice from our advisor and previous JD/MPH students. I am excited about this, though; it's an experiential thesis project as opposed to spending a year in the library doing research. And anything that lets me get out of the library is a good thing.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! I was struck this week by how much Boston has become home over the past year and a half. I really feel like I'm part of a community here, both through NUSL and Tufts, but also through other friends and people I've met in my new neighborhood. If anyone is worried that Boston seems too big to make a home in, I'd encourage you to come visit and challenge that notion.

One drawback to the JD/MPH program: my law school friends just finished their finals, while I'm just gearing up for mine. I don't have any actual exams, though, so maybe I still get the last laugh. OK, back to my Health Communications project...

We're heading into finals here at Tufts, so this one's going to be brief, sorry! I heard through the grapevine that there's been a lot of interest in the JD/MPH program this year, which is great! I guess some of you have been considering whether to apply to Tufts along with your NUSL application or wait until spring of your 1L year. The benefit to applying now is that a spot will already be reserved for you in the next year's class (and they won't have your first semester law school evaluations to consider). Personally, I applied in February of my 1L year and it really was not that difficult. I just had to fill out Tufts' one-page form and write a short personal statement. Other than that, NUSL will just send your admissions file over to Tufts, and you're done! I chose to do it this way because I was stressed out enough with all of my law school apps that year. If you're able to take on another type of grad school app at the same time, more power to you! Of the 11 of us in the program this year, I don't think anyone applied at the same time as they applied to NUSL. In fact, three of my classmates applied and were admitted after their 2L year. (But DON'T count on this; they really don't like students to do it this way, so they may not let you in.) If you have any further questions, please email me or post a question to the blog. I love it because then I don't have to think of a blog topic out of nowhere for the week!

(You can tell that it's finals and I'm sleeping less by the inordinate amount of exclamation points!) (and parentheses!)

I'm so close to being done! Finals at Tufts are a night and day difference from NUSL. To start, I don't have any actual in-class exams this semester. This doesn't always happen, though; guess I got lucky. Unlike law school exams, where you're not done until the exam's over, I've got two (group) assignments left, and we can be done as soon as we push ourselves to finish. Well, as long as it's before the 20th! My stress level is (almost) zero compared to law school finals.

I'm looking forward to next semester. We have to take Biostatistics, but I got into a class I wanted to take at Boston Univ. School of Public Health, so that makes up for it. It's a course called "Legal Strategies to Reduce Health Risks," and I'm really excited about it. It's an avenue I want to pursue in my career, so hopefully it will provide me with a very practical classroom experience.

In other news, I have a possible placement for my Applied Learning Experience, or ALE. That's the Tufts name for the Master's thesis. More on this once I know for sure...

I'm enjoying two weeks of actual rest, no classes, no papers, no books. And it's wonderful! I am excited to get back, though. Next semester I'm interning at the Medical-Legal Partnership for Children in addition to the Boston University course and preparing my Master's thesis, so it should be a busy semester.

My Master's thesis work is going to be done at Health Law Advocates, a non-profit health law firm here in Boston. I'm going to be conducting an evaluation of their Children's Mental Health Guardian Ad Litem program and looking into expanding the program into other juvenile courts around Boston.

Going between three different institutions has been a little complicated, but worth it. I love being able to get wherever I need to go without a car. Back home in Minnesota, you can't get anywhere without a car. Here, I can get anywhere around the city for $60/month, much less than the cost of gas, parking, insurance, maintenance, etc. Yes, the train can be slow sometimes, but it's a small price to pay to be car-free. And besides, you can always find a friend with a car if need be. Zipcar is big here, too; there's a Zipcar lot a block away from my building.

For any recently admitted students--Congrats! Feel free to send questions/comments!

I'm finally back to reading cases for a health law class. It's been about six months since I've read legal decisions, and I really missed it. I know that makes me a dork, but... oh, well. This semester is shaping up to be much more rigorous than the fall: four courses, an internship, starting my Master's thesis, and a part-time job to pay (some of) the bills. Life as a graduate student may be stressful at times, but it's never boring, I promise you that.

I have to say that I'm less than impressed with the administration over at Tufts. The MPH students are treated a little like second-class citizens. It's not enough to make me regret doing the MPH, but something worth noting. Yet another reason I'll be glad to be back at NUSL.

This weekend, I spent some time with some law school friends that I haven't seen in a while. We had a great time catching up and discussing our current classes, etc. I'm pursuing health law, while another is co-oping in the drug court and one is interning for a federal judge. We're all on very different paths, which I think is indicative of NUSL in general. There are many different interests among students, and I enjoy learning from others whose goals are different from mine.

On an entirely different note, biostatistics may not be as bad as it seems... but now that I've said that, I'm screwed.

I've discovered an unforeseen downside to cross-registering for a class at another school: you need two different universities to close in order to get a real snow day. With seven inches of snow in Boston today, I thought I had a good shot, I really did. Boston University cancelled, but so far, my evening class is still on. I've got my fingers crossed...

In other news, I have my first client through the internship I'm doing with my advisor's organization here at Tufts. For the first time, I'm getting to see what it looks like when the desire to serve the public and the belief that the law is on your side collide with other people's apathy and/or greed. It's a housing case with a landlord more interested in collecting rent than the condition of his apartments. Throw in some sick kids who are allergic to the black mold growing in their ceiling and a set of loving parents who are doing the best they can to provide for their family, and you've got a mess. I enjoy the work, but I find it hard to understand the position of someone who would put profits ahead of people's health. It's definitely not the last time I'll be faced with this issue, I know. Hopefully we can write a letter that's sufficiently scary to prompt the landlord to decontaminate the apartment. At least that's Plan A. Now I'm off to think up a Plan B, seeing as I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist. Yet.

As soon as we started our MPH program, we found ourselves using the term "cohort." A lot. Usually used to refer to a research group, we've been using it to refer to ourselves. As the JD/MPH "cohort," we've gotten very close. It's been great to have a group of 12 women (yes, we're all women this year) who are so brilliant, hard-working, and supportive. Whether it's studying together or complaining together about how we miss law school sometimes, I love experiencing Tufts with them. It's like the normal NUSL "help each other out" attitude taken to another level. This semester is particularly numbers-heavy, so we're going to need each other more than ever.

I think I've been more productive during my spring break than I have been all semester. Seriously. Moral of the story: class just gets in the way of getting schoolwork done. I've made major headway on three research projects, done all of my laundry, cleaned my room, caught up on my emails, and even watched a movie! Lesson learned. I don't think I'm ever going back to class again. I may fail, but at least my life will be in order when I do so.

I've hit that point in the JD/MPH year where I feel like this will never end, that I'm going to be in school forever and there's no end in sight. We were warned that this would happen at some point, and I think most of my classmates are there too. The good news is that the dual-degree program adds an extra six months to our tour of duty, and in this economy, putting off a job search for another six months is a very good thing. Also a good thing: We'll be heading back to NUSL in only two months! I never thought I'd say this, but I really, really, really miss law school. I'm actually excited about taking evidence this summer! OK, I'm off to have my head examined...

These last few weeks have brought a new challenge: getting my thesis work plan approved by the Tufts IRB (Institutional Review Board). For those who don't know what that is, it's a group of scientists in an institution who look at research proposals to make sure that we aren't hurting anyone or violating any patient rights in our research. In reality, it's mostly just a pain for MPH students because we're usually just interacting with people's information, not people themselves. The problem is that we're dealing with scientific research-oriented people on one hand and legal research-oriented on the other. Scientific research and legal research have two different sets of ethical standards, and I'm not well-versed in either of them, really. The good news is that we're surrounded by people who are. The challenge is getting them to talk to each other and figure out how to accommodate the two different sets of rules. Well, that, and finding a few hours to sleep each night.

I'm finally back at NUSL! I can't tell you how nice it is to be back. I've honestly missed reading cases and debating legal policy. (I'm aware of how sick this sounds.) There's been some reverse culture shock, I won't lie. The paperwork and administrative junk we've had to go through coming back from Tufts hasn't been fun, but I'm hoping that's mostly done now. Emphasis on "hoping."

As far as Tufts goes, we're all done with classes over there except for our thesis-like project. That's been a headache and a half to get approved, but I'm almost there (I think). I'm anxious to start with the project itself, get into the work and get my hands dirty, so to speak. I'll be conducting interviews with court personnel (judges, probation officers, attorneys) to evaluate a mental health promotion program in the juvenile courts.

One of the downsides of the JD/MPH program is that I've had to switch rotations, so I'm now in summer school. I've never done a summer quarter with classes, so this should be interesting. So far it's ok, but as the 4th of July and other summer events get closer, I think I'm going to really miss the freedom of summer co-op. I'm taking Evidence, Juvenile Courts, and Administrative Law, along with the MPH project and a part-time job. So much for relaxing. I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, though. I think the 11-week quarters will fly by a little faster than the semesters did. OK, back to reading juvenile death penalty cases on a beautifully sunny afternoon...

One of the craziest things about shifting my mindset back to NUSL is the co-op application process. The timeline's pretty tight; applications are due two weeks into the summer quarter. We turned in the applications on Monday, so now it's just a waiting game. I ended up applying to a couple of firms and some government offices as well as a non-profit juvenile justice agency. Interviews and offers start coming in next week, so we'll see.

In other news, I finally got approval from the Tufts Institutional Review Board for my thesis-equivalent project. So now we jump right in and see what happens...with any luck I'll have a product in a few months!

I will say, I'm really not liking this "being in school during the summer" thing. It's wonderful to be back at NUSL, but I'm used to summers being more relaxed, not having to worry about doing 75 pages of reading for the next day. The good news is that quarters are short and we're 1/4 of the way there already.

I think that kind of says it all. We're about halfway through this quarter, and I'm exhausted. This is my first time being on the quarter system, and they really fly by. I'd rather fly away at this point, to be honest. I really need a vacation; this is 12 straight months of grad school! UGH. Co-op is going to be such a relief. I really can't wait.

The job market is really on my mind lately. Or should I say, the lack thereof. There are all these posters around campus about forums and info sessions with slogans like "Are there really going to be no jobs when we graduate?!?!" In reality, I'm not that worried, but this is starting to freak me out a little. I have enough to worry about in the here and now, like where the heck I put my Admin Law notes.

Today I had my last class of the summer. I've now been in school for a year straight and I cannot wait for co-op! Finals are upon us, so life as I know it will cease to exist for a couple of weeks. One exam, two final papers, and one Master's thesis from now, I will be free for a few months. I look forward to re-establishing contact with the outside world. It still exists, right?

Yes, it's only been three months since my last set of finals. I just took my first law school exam in over a year. Luckily, I was pretty prepared and it really wasn't that bad. My brain is now mush, however, and I'm having a little trouble putting together coherent thoughts. Or incoherent thoughts. Or any thoughts whatsoever, actually.

OK, only two papers and a Master's thesis to go. No big deal, right?

(By the way, I highly recommend adopting an "eat whatever you feel like eating whenever you feel like eating it" policy during exam periods. It really does make you feel a little bit better. And on this note, I'm going to meet classmates for mass amounts of pad thai...)

Just finished thesis presentation, then consumed mass amounts of curried tofu. Leaving for a much-needed vacation tomorrow. Leaving computer/books/stress at home. Brain too fried to form actual sentences. Good luck to incoming 1Ls.

We're registering for winter classes already? Not cool. I wanted to pretend like I'll never have to go back to class again for another week or two. Oh, well. The good news is that unlike the problems I mentioned in my previous entry, registering for classes is actually really smooth with the new online registration system. I registered for Federal Courts and a trial practice course, among others. It'll be nice to just go to law school again; no MPH classes, no thesis, just straight up law school.

I've spent all evening baking pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for a potluck lunch at co-op tomorrow. Should be a good time, provided I can get these bits of pumpkin I just discovered out of my hair by then.