While I'm sure every "blawg" out there will be posting on this little matter of race and education, I'm mostly posting about it because it gives me an excuse to post the work I did for the Write-on Competition. The casenote all us hapless 1Ls had to write was actually about controlling precedent in one of today's Supreme Court decisions.

So my first year of law school ends on a high note. I have been invited to join the BYU Law Review Staff as an Associate Editor for the 2007-2008 school year. I worked my grades into an acceptable range. My student loans haven't cleared $20,000 (yet!) and my wife and children haven't starved, frozen, or left me. Everyone, heave a sigh of relief! One down, two to go.

Within the next three weeks I will make my final 1L post. I should know whether I have been invited onto Law Review or the Journal of Public Law by then (I already have an invitation to Moot Court, though I have not decided whether to accept). Today we'll talk about grades again--and how to improve them.

Sorry about the lack of content lately. It's transition time! I've been meaning to get back to my "No More Heroes" series of posts, but I find myself challenged by the subject matter. d^_^b I also thought about doing a "1L Retrospective" but I've decided to save that for when grades come out. So I'll catch you up to where things stand.

Unless you follow video games, you probably have no idea who Jack Thompson is, and even then you may have no idea. He is an attorney whose "religious right" politics have had some impact in this country; he has fought long and hard to suppress media obscenity. Although his efforts are not limited to video games, he is particularly reviled in the gaming community.

Not too long ago, I wrote about the tension between managing commitments and missing opportunities. I know that building one's resumé is an issue for students starting as early as high school, maybe earlier. No matter how great you really are, you probably won't get a chance to demonstrate your abilities until you have a job.

So, I had an amusing clash of worlds today. Actually it may well continue, it's hard to say!

I've been thinking a lot lately about my resumé. I still don't have a solid summertime commitment, so this last week I took part in "On Campus Interviews," an event organized by my law school's career center. The goal is to land a paid summer internship, though I would work for free if I could find a legal internship with an ideal company (think Marvel Entertainment, Tor Book, Nintendo).

Unbelievable.

I'm far too opinionated to call myself "apolitical," but maybe "politically agnostic" gets the point across? I grew up in a very Republican household, and I am to this day registered to vote as a Republican in the State of Arizona. But right now, neither political party is impressing me much. I get the feeling I'm not alone.

This post is not a rant against the two-party system. I just want you to know that I'm not spouting partisan criticism here. Because stupidity, clearly, knows no political affiliation.

Today was my last day of classes. I have four finals to take over the next two weeks. Then, no grades until February. However, as I have completed my first semester, I thought I would share the lessons of my first four months as a law student. I do not know how valid these lessons will be going forward, but looking back I wish I'd known these things from the beginning.