Stresstest

Long time no see, again. There's been some crazy shit happening for the past couple of days and I did not have time to write a single blog post. Well, not that this blog post will be any more interesting or useful to you but still. 

I completely lost my track of time and I had to check my calendar to know what day is it. So, Sunday huh? I'd usually say I hate Sundays because you know, there's always Monday following and Sundays are in my experience always kind of depressing or rainy and I come to the realization I haven't done anything for school and so on. But since I still "enjoy" my month off (not really but I have no lectures until October), Sundays are okay for now.

To sum up my week - I bought a planner! Now, I got all excited that I'll finally be able to plan my life and be productive af with a beautiful looking planner, and then I could only find some basic, simple looking planners. I was a bit disappointed but I settled for a simple green-ish looking one because it was the most practical. I already wrote in some of my important tasks and let me tell you - I failed to stick to it. Maybe it's smarter I leave it alone until October and try again then.

As I mentioned in the previous post, I had to go to the library to get some books and return the ones I don't need anymore. I was planning to go to my apartment on Tuesday or ultimately on Wednesday but I had to go to the hospital with my gran on Thursday so I basically haven't studied a lot for my exam I had on Friday because I didn't have all the books. Complicated, I know. All in all, I'm glad I went with my gran instead of going to my apartment and study, because the doctors there were kind of negligent and almost caused a disaster. Luckily, I'm very well informed about all the health issues my gran has and I happen to know something about it too so I had to be really persistent to convince surgeon, anesthesiologist, and nurses that it's risky to use a general anesthesia on her. They should know this already and check her medical records but apparently, that's too much of a hard work to do. So disappointed and glad I was there at the time. 

After being at the hospital literally for the whole day, I came home around 7 in the evening and I was so tired I couldn't study. I knew if I don't at least skim all the notes and cases, I have almost no chance to pass my EU law exam. So I took a 2-hour nap and studied until half past 2, then went to bed and woke up 3 hours later, went to my apartment which is quite far away from my home and studied for another hour and a half. I was so sleepy and had NO COFFEE!!!!! On top of everything, I got a cold and I was feeling like shit. Now, I don't know if I'm so lucky or I actually studied enough, but the exam was pretty easy and basic. I don't want to get my hopes up, though, because for every exam so far, I had a really bad feeling and then I passed with a good grade, but now I have a good feeling so it might end up terrible. We'll see.

Alrighty, enough of my blabbing, I still have to study for two exams and actually pass them, so I might be a bit lazy with blogging again. But do keep your fingers crossed for me, a tough month is about to begin.

Rant

Today was my last day at the seaside. It went by so quickly, I wish I could stay there for at least a week longer and chill. Haven't studied for shit, of course, but I tried. I even took my book to the beach but kids were screaming everywhere, not only in front of my porch at midnight.

I went to see my grandma who's in a nursing home and was very ill for the past 3 months and she is doing okay. Still not sure if I'm glad I saw my crush after quite a long time or not because I thought I got rid of annoying emotions and thoughts that were interrupting my study routine through the whole semester, but apparently, I'm crushing even more now... I'm an emotional wreck if I combine everything with being stressed due to my finals. Maybe being in a relationshit just isn't for me atm or you really can't handle law school and boyfriend at the same time like I hear so often, idk.

Excuse-zee-mwa for a pessimistic post today but I just feel like getting my thoughts out and see if I feel any better because honestly, I kinda feel sad and anxious out of nowhere. I have so much on my mind lately and I tend to overthink everything so it's getting slightly out of hand. But maybe, MAYBE it's just a bad day because my vacay is over and now I SERIOUSLY have to study or else I will be studying the same thing all over again. 

Tomorrow's gonna be a long day. I have to pay my rent, go to the bank and sort out some adult shit I don't quite get, visit gran, pack stuff and leave asap to my apartment and study! I must not forget to visit the library and return some books and pay a fine because I can never return them on time, then I need to visit my law library and get some more books for my final. I will probably forget to do at least one thing because that's just me, always. I need to buy a planner!

New school supplies!!

Today I went grocery shopping and I came across some school supplies. Needless to say, I'm basically obsessed with office stationery, colorful pens and highlighters so I went for it. I bought some stuff I need at a cheap store where everything costs basically 1€ which I think is great for school supplies because you can go crazy and not end up completely broke afterward. Another alternative is to buy your supplies online, through eBay for example. You can find awesomesauce stuff up there for a fair price and you can choose between various cute necessary and unnecessary stuff.

One thing I really needed was a stapler. I got lucky and found a package of ORANGE stapler and hole puncher, which is perfect for me because I adore the orange color. It cost around 5€ and it's definitely something I'm going to use on a daily basis. One thing I definitely went for too is THIS CUTE stapler. Just look at them! They are small and can fit into your pencil case or bag easily so it's always in handy whenever you need to staple your papers.

Even though I already own a ton of highlighters, I still gave in to the temptation when I saw a pack of erasable highlighters. Like what?! I was curious if this thing really works and how well it works. I tried them out and it actually erases pretty well on printed text and my notes that I have written with a pen, but on the other hand, you can still see a bit of a color if you highlight and erase on a pencil written notes. I'd say it's pretty handy for library books because you can't tell it has been highlighted after you erase the ink. I'm not sure if there were any more colors available because I picked it in a hurry and didn't even check properly, they cost around 3€. I also came across THOSE freaking awesome highlighters which are erasable too and look much cuter and are definitely more quality and worth the price. 

Moving on to paper clips and page markers. I bought them in this cheap euro store we have in our country and it's called Tedi ( I'm pretty sure you can find it elsewhere in Europe too). They have SO MUCH stationery it's mindblowing. I bought some colorful paper clips and stapler clips, and of course, I had to take some page markers because they are handy af and I'm running out of them quickly. Get yourself a stack of cute post-it bookmarks and sticky notes and make your studying and remembering things much easier and more fun.

I still haven't bought everything I need because I'm kinda picky about pens and notebooks so I have to find something that will suit me. I am also in search of a decent planner because it's a must for an organized law student (even though I'm not organized at all but I will do my best and try it this time). I was thinking of having a planner on my phone but I prefer to write stuff down on paper.

That's all I got today, peace out mah friends!

Study tips & tricks for law school

During my active procrastination hours here at the seaside, I came up with some of (for me, personally) very useful tips for studying and I thought it would be great if I shared them with you, you never know when you might need them.

1. First thing first, I highly advise you not to buy completely new books at the beginning of school year. If possible, wait until professors tell you which books you REALLY need and then run to your library and get them there, as many as possible, because they're free (and believe me, law books ain't cheap!). Another cheaper path you can take is that you buy used books from your older colleagues and you might even score a few notes and briefs in the package!

2. Listen to your older colleagues! If possible, get to know people who are at your law school for a couple of years and are well aware of how things work there and know the professors. Ask them for advice, help with studies, how to manage all the work and most importantly, about exams and professors' preferences. This is the best way to start law school a bit less stressed. If you do get a friendly advice from your older pals, DON'T IGNORE what they tell you, because it's golden information, they already know how things work.

3. I know how frustrating it is when you get a book from the library and can't use highlighters in it... it makes me sad really, but there's something you can do about it. I came up with this a couple of days ago (I'm slow, yes) and it motivated me af! The only thing you need is page markers (or whatever they're called) and scissors. Cut these bad boys into thin strips so they can only cover the font size in your book you need to highlight and - voila, you can now highlight keywords and remove it later, no one will ever notice.

4. If you're constantly running out of time and are way behind your studies (me 24/7), sticky notes are a pretty good way to make things speed up a bit. I always need to make notes when I study, but it takes so much time. What I do is take a bunch of sticky notes and write a summary on them as I read through the book. Write only important information or something you have trouble remembering and stick it in the book. When going through the book, quickly skim the text and read your summary on sticky note. It works for me!

5. Stay motivated! Probably the most important thing, because you're most likely gonna be living behind a book during finals season and it will come a time when you'd rather become a stripper. Find a way to get back on track. I personally use some motivational quotes, stick them around my apartment or set them as a background picture on my phone/computer. Watch an episode of Suits, listen to music or go for a relaxing walk. You can also reward yourself with your favorite food or a bottle of wine after you accomplish your daily task. Treat yourself, even during hard times!

I hope some of these work for you like they do for me. Stay strong!

Procrastination - summer edition

It feels like it's time for me to write at least one blog post since I've been slacking off for the past week (that also includes studying for my last exams). Honestly, I don't know which topic should I write about that would be a tiny bit useful and interesting.

So I'm gonna sum up my boring everyday routine, some of you may find it interesting or at least good enough to procrastinate from whatever work you should be doing right now.

I'm currently enjoying my vacation at the seaside. And by enjoying, I'm referring to sporadically studying during sunbathing, swimming and drinking beer. I came to realization my planning skills are close to zero and same goes for self discipline. I still have three exams left to finish until I start second year of law school and I'm quickly running out of oh so precious time.

I wake up everyday around 9am, drink coffee and have breakfast. After that, I sit at the porch, listen to the neighbour's kids yelling and arguing about who's in charge of their play group. When I get tired of everyone, I head off to the beach, chill out and think about how many pages I have to study per day to not run out of time in the end. After lunch I try to study (unsuccessfully). By the evening, I can finally get my shit together and start studying for real with a beer on the side. Life's tough.

First year impressions

I might be a law student for “only” a year, but if  I look from  the other perspective, I’ve actually came quite far, considering almost half of  my colleagues quit after first couple of months. Law school is hard, agreed, but it’s also extremely interesting, not to mention entertaining. I personally always wanted to study law and for that I blame numerous TV shows and my favorite had to be JAG. I was literally obsessed with it and I wasn’t even 10 years old. Here I am now, around 10 years later, studying to become a lawyer. Being an anxious and not very confident person, I’m kinda surprised by my success, because I motivate and concentrate very hard and yet I still climbed one step closer to my dream profession. To everyone who’s struggling, don’t give up on your dreams and don’t let anyone tell you’re not good enough. You don’t need that kind of negativity in your life, same goes for “friends” who don’t support your decisions and try to convince you made a wrong choice.

Motivational words from Harvey *winks*

I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical when I applied for law school because I though my introverted personality might be a big problem (learned soon enough that ex cathedra lectures are no big deal and no one gets called on, lol). I’m forever scared of being called on at practicals though but let’s just face it, it’s not that bad after all and you’ll have to speak publicly anyways if you’re gonna be a lawyer. Someday you might even surprise yourself by your (unique) way of thinking and solving problems, so don’t be afraid to speak up (also, professors like students who can think critically and express their own opinions).

During my first year I noticed how drastically my perception changed, I literally think about law related things most of the time, it can be very convenient in everyday life too. Even if you’re far from being a lawyer, you still know a lot more than regular people who don’t study law. I think studying law gives you very broad knowledge which you can actually use, it’s not just fun facts (still kinda loads of fun facts but u kno what I mean).

I wanted to write what my favorite thing about studying law is, but I honestly can’t pick one. I really enjoy most of it, I even grew fond of reading, because that’s basically what you do most of the time as a student. I enjoyed Constitutional law and Civil law the most. Con law lectures had to be one of the best parts of the week, because professor made it extremely interesting and hilarious. In conclusion – despite complaining and stressing out about law school most of the time, it’s still something I most definitely do not regret. 

I apologize for not making this post hilarious, just felt like expressing my thoughts in all seriousness would be more appropriate (at least I tried, hehe).