We hear a lot of talk about balance – especially those of us that are women. (I imagine this is because our society tends validate and perpetuate men being less “in balance.”) Advice, thoughts, books, articles, law school professors – we are surrounded by the topic of balancing career, family, health, free time, and whatever else we may be juggling. There are even seminars on how female attorneys can balance career goals with family. This is...
First Year
(Written quickly in a pause between classes on Halloween night. Cut and Pasted the next morning.) Gosh, is there anything more powerful than Mommy-Guilt? I have been feeling horrible all night for not skipping classes and going trick-or-treating with my family. My son and I had a great time this past weekend doing pumpkin carving, face painting and having little Halloween parties. Still, I missed THE night. I missed seeing him in his costume. I...
“This was your decision.” OK – this will be a short entry, but I just had to write it. Last night before class, a friend and I were teasing each other about hearing from our partners unsympathetic variations of the phrase, “This was your decision.” Both of us have supportive partners, but let’s face it, being with a law student is no easy task. As I have mentioned before, our families bear additional burdens...
There must be a paper due…… because here I am writing a blog instead of going over the paper that I must hand in tonight. I think it is really close to being done. It is our second legal memo. We’ve been working on it for about a month and it’s gotten to the point that I’ve read it so many times it no longer makes sense. Our prof. once used the phrase “total abomination” to describe the only reason a...
We had the best weekend – a totally spontaneous trip to the beach! My Friday night legal writing class had been canceled, and I decided that my family needed to spend time with me more than I needed to go to my 7:00pm Civ Pro class (for just one night). We were all looking forward to our first Friday night together in 7 weeks. We’d probably grab a pizza and just enjoy our few extra hours together. It was a gorgeous day. Three people...
What’s an evening student to do? Most of us work all day, go to school at night and the remainder of our time is spent trying to balance homework and family. Still, there are certain realities of law school and ultimate employment, and those realities have to do with our academic career beyond the grades. Books (and advisors, I presume, though I’ve not had time to talk to one) tell us that we need to get on a law review, go to seminars,...
About Me
Insider advice and insights to help you decide if you should pursue a higher degree while raising children, and tips for being successful if you're already on that path, from a woman who graduated from law school in her early 40's while working full-time and helping raise two young children. While most of the blog posts were originally written several years ago, they have recently been sorted for the most relevant materials, and new content is being added.