April 06, 2004
War Story
It's been seven months since I started law school and I finally have had an experience worthy of all the hype afforded to the rigors of law school. As the loyal reader knows, I had a take home final due last week. No problem. I had it finished at 11pm the night before. But, when I attempted to go to sleep, I couldn't do it. Cases were floating through my head. Insecurities and questions were swelling my brain. Why do I have the feeling I cited Miranda wrong? There must be a better case to use than X. Did my case comparisons have enough penny and franc (don't ask!). And on and on. Ultimately, I did not sleep the entire night.
I left the house for 9am class and all was well. I had my coffee, adrenalin was pumping, I was awake. One class down. Two classes down. The final is to be turned in at 3:30. No problem. I went to my third class at 1:20. After 10 minutes, I was sweating. I took off my sweatshirt. I'll be OK. 10 more minutes and my head started spinning. I felt nauseous, dizzy, and lightheaded. I left the class for some fresh air. I felt as though I was going to faint. I walked around the block. I drank some orange juice. I ate a powerbar. I was feeling worse. My legs were week, my vision blurred. I went to the campus doctor. I had a fever. My blood pressure was 140/110. He told me to go home and get some rest. But, I couldn't.
The exam was to be collected at 3:30. No exceptions. The doc told me he couldn't do anything to convince the registrar to let me turn it in early. I wasn't bleeding. I didn't need to be hospitalized. There was nothing he could do. It was 2pm. I had to make it until 3:30. My head was still spinning. My legs were weak. But, I made it. I turned in the bloody thing at 3:30. I came home and wrote my personal statement for my law fellow application. I couldn't sleep again that night. I had now been up for about 50 hours. I headed to campus the next day to turn in my application. Done. I took the rest of the day off. I'm OK now.
I left the house for 9am class and all was well. I had my coffee, adrenalin was pumping, I was awake. One class down. Two classes down. The final is to be turned in at 3:30. No problem. I went to my third class at 1:20. After 10 minutes, I was sweating. I took off my sweatshirt. I'll be OK. 10 more minutes and my head started spinning. I felt nauseous, dizzy, and lightheaded. I left the class for some fresh air. I felt as though I was going to faint. I walked around the block. I drank some orange juice. I ate a powerbar. I was feeling worse. My legs were week, my vision blurred. I went to the campus doctor. I had a fever. My blood pressure was 140/110. He told me to go home and get some rest. But, I couldn't.
The exam was to be collected at 3:30. No exceptions. The doc told me he couldn't do anything to convince the registrar to let me turn it in early. I wasn't bleeding. I didn't need to be hospitalized. There was nothing he could do. It was 2pm. I had to make it until 3:30. My head was still spinning. My legs were weak. But, I made it. I turned in the bloody thing at 3:30. I came home and wrote my personal statement for my law fellow application. I couldn't sleep again that night. I had now been up for about 50 hours. I headed to campus the next day to turn in my application. Done. I took the rest of the day off. I'm OK now.
