B-radley's blog: May 2011

Remember when I used to update my blog fairly regularly? Oops. Since my last post I finished finals, my first year of law school, packed up all my stuff in Arizona into a storage unit, packed up all my other stuff into my car and drove back home to Utah. This post will be a breakdown of all of those events and what I have been up to since I have been back home.

Finals
I had 4 finals each were 4 hours long and a 15 page memorandum to write. The memo was due first. We had to research court cases and argue whether or not warrantless GPS surveillance of a suspects vehicle is constitutional or not. It actually got pretty interesting to study. I did fairly decent on it, made a couple of stupid mistakes, but overall was pretty happy with the way it turned out.

The first final was in criminal law. This was my favorite class of the semester, probably a combination of an interesting professor and awesome cases to read. I thought the test went well, but grades haven't been released yet so who knows. The next final was Administrative Law. I thought the final wasn't too bad. We had a midterm in that class and I did pretty well on it so I am hoping that the final goes the same way. Next final was Property Law. This final was miserable. Luckily everyone thought so. Basically we read almost 1200 pages worth of material and were tested on random things in those 1200 pages. Most other law schools divide the class into 2 semesters and make it a more manageable 600 pages worth of material. But ASU doesn't not do that and it makes for one biatch of a final. The last final was constitutional law. I think that this one went alright. It was the second hardest final, and I think that I did decent enough on it. Who knows though. In law school everything is graded on a curve. And not a curve that used to make your 82% into an A like in high school and undergrad. Instead the curve makes it so the top 10% are allowed to get an A on the test. So in theory and in my case a reality a 94% on a final paper can give you a B-. I really hate the curve.

1st year is donzo
I really can't believe that the first year of law school is finally over. It really is as hard as everyone makes it out to be. It is not fun, don't let anyone tell you it is, they are lying to try to trick you into going to law school. It requires a lot of hard work and a lot of dedicated effort. But I feel like I have learned a lot. And I know that it will all be worth it one day. And I am told that it does get better. I hope that is the case. Overall I have really liked my experience. Moving away from home to a new place has bee a really valuable experience, one I am glad I chose to do. I learned a lot about myself, made some really great changes in my life, and know that I am better because of it. Where I will be next semester?.......know knows.

Arizona State University
I took some pics my last day in AZ of the school, library, and the institute building that occupied so much of my time so you all could see where I was at. Here are those pics:

Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law

Law Library

Institute

On Top of Institute parking looking at institute and law school and library

The Drive back home
Or as I like to call it my roadtrip with Tina Fey. I really do not mind the drive to and from Arizona. I took the scenic route from Phoenix to Flagstaff to Page, around Lake Powell, to Kanab through Cedar City canyon and then on to I-15 and back home to Farr West. My roadtrip with Tina Fey started in Flagstaff. I got her new book, Bossy Pants, in audio form and listened to it completely. When I didn't think I could love her any more, she goes and narrates this book and proves that I could, in fact, love her more. It is hilarious, offers some really interesting insight in to her life, what it was like to be a woman breaking into comedy, being the first female head writer on SNL, and then some insight on writing and producing 30 Rock. So entertaining. Made 6 hours of my trip really engaging. Also the drive is beautiful. Outside of Phoenix you get the real desert experience of nothing but rolling hills with cacti and sagebrush. Then you start to climb mountain on the way to Flagstaff. Flagstaff is super pretty too, you climb to about 7000 feet when you get there and you are surrounded by pine tree covered mountain peaks. It kind of reminds me a lot of Park City only a little bigger. Once you descend out of Flagstaff you go through wild flower covered meadows until you hit desert again and you circle around the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Then you have occasionally glimpses of the Colorado River and really pretty red rock plateaus until you hit Page, AZ. Then you go over Glenn Canyon damn and circle around Lake Powell. Then you go on to Kanab and see the Grand Staircase Then you can go and go to Panguitch or you can cut through Cedar City Canyon and take one of the prettiest drives in the whole state. If you haven't ever taken that pass you are missing out. It was all still covered in snow but super pretty. I saw an Elk and a ton of deer while driving through it. Which kept me awake. If you have never been on a roadtrip with me I have only one fear, and that is hitting a deer or some other large animal while driving. You come out of the canyon into Cedar City. Then you get on I-15 and head home, which normally isn't a pretty drive until you get to Nephi, but with all the rain, instead of everything being brown and dead it was all really green. Anyways, I left at 9am Arizona time, and pulled into my parent's driveway around 11:30pm. Traffic in Utah County was miserable.

Life As I Know It
Well I have been home for two weeks now. I have caught up on a lot of sleep. I am doing an internship for a attorney/friend of mine, got a job doing legal research for a health law attorney in Salt Lake, and am going to be getting another job at Lowes or The Buckle, depending on who will pay me more or maybe both, to earn some cash money for the summer. I have spent a lot of time with friends in both Salt Lake and O-Town, if I haven't seen you yet, call me. I have also spent some quality time with my nephew and niece, boy I have I missed those two. Also, My 4 year-old neighbor/best friend has been over almost every day to see if I could play or jump on the tramp. This kid kills me. I think me really getting started with my internship and my new job and working at either the Buck or Lowes is going to be hard for him.

Anyways life is good. Glad to be where I am right now. Let's make this summer fun, deal?