slightly out of phase

JuBu and Heidi, among others, are currently engaged in course selection for the next academic term. I wish I could join in. I love playing scheduling games. But my school marches to the beat of its own drummer.

"Is the fall-term schedule even available yet?" I asked at the registrar's office.

"No."

If hearsay is anything to go on, we'll be choosing our fall classes while all the law schools in Ordinary Time are aswirl in spring-semester exams. That's kind of neat, except when you balance it against the fact that we'll still be taking exams well after most people's summer-associate gigs have begun. Damn quarter system.

I imagine that my fall-term schedule, whenever it comes up, is unlikely to be anything spectacular; my course-selection maxims, like my sensible shoes, are unexciting at best. But there's no shame in pragmatism, or if there is, then I guess I'm just shameless. My plans include:

- Bar courses. I'm over the *yolp*-I'm-clueless-about-the-Constitution thing, but old habits die hard. Crim Pro, Con Law IV, Wills & Trusts, and Remedies still remain on the to-do list. (As does Community Property, which is -- teehee! -- not taught at this law school.)

- Graduation requirements out of the way as early as possible. By the beginning of fall term this year, I should have fulfilled my writing requirement; by New Year's, professional responsibility should likewise be out of the way. Goal: to save the sunset days of law school for minimally stressful things.

- Intellectual Property course sequence. Complete as of this term. Love the quarter system.

- Jurisdiction in the Federal Courts. An implicit requirement for any wannabe judicial clerk, even if I'm not one of those "ooh, a perplexing chestnut! sign me up!" kind of people.

- Negotiation, Decisionmaking, or some other fun semi-psychological class. Extra points if roleplaying is involved.

- At least one completely random seminar, most likely on law in a society that I've never studied before...just because I can.

- At least one class in another department. There's an entire university attached to this law school, and I should be profiting from it.

- Extra points to any course taught by a famous local personality (professor, judge, etc.); it'd be a shame to miss such an opportunity.

My problem is that I've run out of limiting factors. "You're taking Tax just because you think it's interesting??" a chagrined Adam exclaimed at me back in December. "Why not take, oh, Admiralty Law?" To which I responded, "Yeah, why not?"

I have no reason not to take Admiralty Law, Bankruptcy, Antitrust, Secured Transactions, Admin Law, or a good two-thirds of the course catalog. And even things that I do have a reason not to take -- missing prerequisites, for example -- I still gladly imagine on the roster. "I'm such a fan of this professor," I'd say of the worthy responsible for teaching me both Corporations and Tax, "that I'm going to take Taxation of Corporations II just to have another class with him." I wound up not doing this, but I do miss the guy, and I bet I'd love the class.

It'd be interesting, at this point, to take a class I didn't like. Just for the experience.

thus spake /jca @ April 15, 2004 11:16 PM | TrackBack