Halfway there, in many ways

Wow, guys: you know it's been a really long time since my last post when my automatic log-in to this blog expires and I'm actually asked to sign in for once. I apologize for the long silence! It's been a busy few weeks.

I'm back in Cambridge, right in the middle of final exams after a lovely 12-day "break" in Texas. While seeing all my friends and family was great, it wasn't much of a vacation with all the studying I still had to do. But I like to think of it as only the first half of my break, since we get around 10 more days off (perfect, in my case, for a Haynes family MLK/Inauguration trip to Atlanta!) after finals are through.

Ah, finals. Law school exams are very different from anything I've experienced before (and I've been a student for a long time now- I thought nothing could surprise me!) It's the first time I've ever had the entire grade for a class hinge on one test, which professors were actually forbidden from doing at Texas. The result is more continuous studying on any given subject than I've done in my whole life. But it seems to be paying off- the two tests behind me were fairly painless, all things considered. It's hard to know where you stand, with everything graded on a curve and the new pass-fail system still a bit mysterious. But I feel confident that I answered to the best of my abilities.

Those two were Torts and Leg Reg, probably the subjects I feel most confident in; still to come are Civil Procedure and Contracts, definitely not my stronger classes. Other people feel the exact opposite, which I find really interesting. It's been a long time since I last had all the same classes as my friends, and I'd forgotten how much people's strengths differ. We're still debating whether I have it made (easier tests early builds confidence) or awful (all downhill!) It's probably the kind of thing where the grass is always greener.

Meanwhile, today is Russell's last day at the Harvard Disability Services Coordinator's office. We'd been hoping this assignment from the temp agency would turn into a permanent position, since it was so suited to his interests, but serious budget cuts conspired against us. He's had a great few months there, although the position is pretty stressful and I don't think he'd mind something a little easier. We'll see where the next assignment takes him, and in the meantime he'll probably get a few well-deserved (after a winter break much shorter than mine) days off.

Well, lunch and a stack of Civil Procedure practice tests are calling me, so I shouldn't dally here too long. But there you have it- I'm halfway through break, halfway through exams, halfway through my 1L year at Harvard. And finding a surprising amount of time to watch the Mad Men Season One DVD's Russell bought me for Christmas. (:

Hopefully I'm back in the blog habit now, and will be posting again soon. Although some of you will be seeing me in just over a week! Atlanta, the light at the end of the tunnel.