Laurinda, 3L

So today is the last day of my law school career! I wanted to wish all my readers well(if any besides my own college friends)!

If you are going to law school I leave three important pieces of advice.

1. Stay in touch with your friends (high school, college, etc.)
2. Do not leave things last minute i.e. if it is a paper class, write the paper in the first week
3. Be a Barbri/Westlaw Rep - it will make things cheaper overall.

Looking back, I can say that I am so proud of myself for finishing law school and I know that most of you (when it happens, and it will) will feel the same way. Now is a great time to go law school and actually if I could do it over, I would do it the same way.

Farewell all and as trite as it is - Good Luck in all your future endeavors (aka standard yearbook goodbye).

This is an actual amusing story.

On Monday, I passed in my Massachusetts Bar Application at the John Adams Courthouse. Being a law student, I was carrying every thing_ books, laptop, bag of school supplies, lunch, etc. As I am going through security, the guard asks me to take everything out of my book bag because something looked possibly sharp - it was my mini westlaw stapler located in my bag of school supplies. Of course, this was at the very bottom of my bag.

Further, I was asked to empty my tote purse - why because of my lunch. Specifically, the fork I use for lunch.

A fork is a weapon and necessitates a weapon receipt. In filling out the weapon receipt, it requested nature of weapon: fork for lunch. I then passed it into the guard's keeping.

After I passed my application, I retrieved my fork.

It's the second to last week! I almost can't believe how fast this final quarter has passed.

I plan on taking the bar exam in New York and Massachusetts. For those reading, this application process probably seems far into the future. But I would recommend for anyone who does plan on taking the bar, sign up to be a BarBri or Kaplan PMBR representative. The reps get to take the bar class for free. Looking back, I wish I had done that because I would have saved myself more than $2700. That's how much it cost to sign up for the New York barbri class. That's not including the amount that I have to pay for books for Massachusetts.

It may seem self-evident, (but I remember when I was a ignorant 1L who knew nothing), BarBri is separate from the bar exam.

The Bar exam is administered by the board of examiners. You take the exam in the state where you plan on practicing. Many people choose to take two exams. This is possible for MA, NY, CT, and RI. I don't know about the other states, but I imagine it's difficult with a state like California.

Otherwise, even before you can take the bar exam you have to apply to take the bar exam. For NY, it's fifteen minutes online. For MA, it's a bit more of an ordeal with requirements for recommendations and employment history from when you were 18. I've heard RI is even more difficult, requiring even your traffic violations.

Still, for incoming 1Ls applying for the bar is very far off. But it's a good idea to keep in mind what you'll need.

The Northeastern University Law Journal lives! Our first issue (remember - Guantanamo) has been published online. Further, requests for articles for the next issue have been solicited. I think it's been a great showing for a new journal such as ours.

We just hosted our second symposium last month "Shelter from the Storm: Advocacy in the Subprime Fallout. Journal members (such as myself) attended as well as volunteered to give directions, watch coats, and food.

All kidding aside, the Symposium went really well. The panels and panellists were interesting and responded very well to questions. Because the panellists were so familiar with the work and law, it was more of a dialogue than just a lecture.

The symposium is free (free food and free attendance) and the public (meaning you) is invited. The Journal is currently in the planning stages on what the next topic will be, and if you have any suggestions . . .

The Journal symposium wasn't the only event. There are usually a lot of things going on (last night LEAF hosted a showing of WALL-E .

Just this morning a prospective student was getting directions to sit in on a crim class. A visit could combine classes and even checking in on a meeting or getting free food and mingling.

I saw Observe and Report last week with a friend. It's a Seth Rogen movie so if you've seen any of his other movies i.e. Knocked Up and enjoyed it, then you will probably find this movie just as funny. The basic premise of this movie is that Seth Rogen's character, Ronnie is head of security at a mall and there has been a flasher and thefts.

The movie has a lot of laugh out loud moments like when Ronnie says to his twin underlings: "You two are my infantry, if I lose one, God gave me another." I warn, however, that it is rated R for a reason (nudity and violence). For example, one of my favorite scenes is golf cart inflicted violence on skateboarding slackers and my least favorite was the minute long naked man running through the mall.

Otherwise, it's a funny movie (probably not worth the $10 movie ticket price) but definitely a matinee at least.

I also went to Morton's for their power hour. I used to really like their Power (aka Happy) hour, but the quality of the food has gone done and the prices have gone up. I know that times are tough, but I don't think that is an excuse for stale bread. (I had ordered their mini cheeseburgers). The crab dip is still great, but honestly for $6 a plate, I'd rather go to M&S.

This Restaurant Week I went to Smith and Wollensky with my law school friends and L'Espalier with my college friends.

At Smith and Wollensky, I selected the salad, the steak sandwich, and the chocolate cake. Let's get to the meat of the matter. The filet itself was good. However, I've certainly had better. Ruth Chris and Oak Room just did a better filet. S&W's filet just lacked the tenderness, juiciness, and moistness that the other restaurants had. Further, it was a filet sandwich so the portion is small.

However, if you are a dessert person, the chocolate cake more than makes up for the paltriness of the sandwich. The cake was magnificent with its layers of cake and mousse.

L'Espalier was just a major disappointment. The food was average and I hope that it's regular menu makes a better showing. My ultimate conclusion about L'Espalier is go there if you want to be able to say that you've gone to the most expensive restaurant in Boston, but it's not worth going there for the food.

When I was in New York, I ate in Chelsea, the financial district, west village, and soho. New York is just a great place for a food tour.

First, I had dinner with my sister at Ilili, a great Mediterranean restaurant. Since I tend to be an adventurous eater I tried the lamb brains which were very good and the kibbeh nayeh (raw beef) which was also very good. Sadly the veal sweetbreads were out.

Interestingly enough, one of my college friends who I hadn't seen the entire time I've been in law school was three tables down from us. This led to us making a lunch date in the West Village (NYU area and near the famous Arch).

We had lunch at Cucina something. One of the things that everyone always ask me is how is law school and whether or not I regret it. My friend was pre-med and her parents very much wanted her to be pre-med. She found during the first year that wasn't what she really wanted to do. I think that is the same thing with law school. It really should be something you want to do. A person shouldn't spend a lot of money if you don't really plan on following through. Better to make that decision earlier in the game.

Also I would recommend contacting students at the school to get the low down. You can always contact a current student (provided by Admissions) or if you have friends have them take you around!

New York is one of the most expensive places to live which is why I ultimately decided to go to law school in Massachusetts. I think by now most people have received acceptance, rejection, and wait list letters. It's the beginning (or middle) of decision time. For me, expense was one of those considerations that I took into account when making my ultimate decision.

So I promised a few weeks ago to regale you with my travels. This segment could be more appropriately entitled Travelling to New York on a Budget. Just because New York is expensive, doesn't mean that you can't make traveling there cheap.

If you are on a limited budget, it would certainly behoove you to spend a few moments on line to make a itinerary. There are a ton of things you can do in New York for cheap / free. For example, the botanical gardens and the Central Park Zoo have free days or free times. It being ridiculously cold when I visited, I decided to spend my time indoors.

My first destination was the Sony Wonder Technology Lab. This is a fun place to go if you have kids. It's still fun if you are an adult. I would recommend going on weekdays when there are hopefully less kids and more adults. Also if you are in New York, they have free showing of movies in their theatre weekly.

The National Museum of the American Indian is unlike other Native American museums in that it celebrates the modern adaptation of Native Americans in the United States. It's in the Wall Street area and right across from the bull. It's a nice place to while some time away before lunch :-).

The last museum I went to was the Forbes Magazine Galleries . It's a nice place to visit and five minutes from the train station if you go the right way. Unlike other company galleries, the gallery is located in a separate area from the business and has it's own entrance. This is a good museum to visit if you want to go somewhere slightly off the beaten track and see toys from long ago.

Otherwise, have a great day!

I may have mentioned this before, but picking a class schedule is always a fun time for me. Before classes start and the grind of studying every day, picking classes is always full of hope and potential. That's why when you don't get into limited enrollment classes, that hope and potential is a bit dashed. This entry is going to be a bit of a gloat -- this is the first time that I've gotten into ALL my limited enrollment classes.

Of course, I can't go to all of them. The point of a lottery is to enter as many classes as you can to see what the luck of the draw will get you. Still the next problem was that I was spoiled for choice. Yup, which limited enrollment class would I pick. Before I knew which LE class I had gotten into, I had registered for more than 12 classes. I had back ups and various options which actually is a bit of fun, the only problem being that you can't order books ahead of time. Now that I know, I slowly pared down the classes to : Corporate Tax, Entertainment Law, Employment Law, and International Legal Research.

The new quarter starts soon, see you then!

Another benefit of working at Raytheon is that Raytheon employees also get Museum of Science Omni and Planetarium tickets for free! Sadly, I only realized that this week. Therefore, I am going to take advantage. On Sunday, I am going to see the IMAX of Adrenaline Rush and the planetarium to see Sky Heroes: Myths in the Stars.

I realized that classes are starting very soon. Actually I knew all along, but kept denying it. Still March 1 is creeping very closely. This means that my weekends free of studying will soon end. This is the third to last free weekend I have. I am certainly going to enjoy the rest of them.

Next weekend I am going to New York. Megabus had a promotion where you typed in GREENBUS and you could get a bus ride free. My roundtrip ticket to New York cost $0.50. Fifty Cents is the cost of the reservation.

I plan on visiting some of my law school friends and going to museums. Let you know more when I get back!

Have a great Valentine's Day weekend!