Holy CRAP! Those law books are EXPENSIVE!

These are the required law books for my first semester. They cost me $875. The books stacked on top are my personal books about preparing for law school. All told, the grouping of books cost me around $1000.

I'm not complaining; I knew this would be an expensive venture. Ok, I am complaining, but only squeakily. I DID know this would be an expensive pursuit. I just didn't know how quickly the costs would add up.

I had to buy reams of new clothes. Blouses, skirts, slacks, and even--gulp--a business suit now hang in my closet. I also bought a half-dozen shoes, including a pair of black loafers.

I bought a brand new backpack, which is en route as I write. All the law school forums included multiple endorsements for Tom Bihn's Brain Bag. It seems to be the Snoopy's doghouse of backpacks. $200 later my olive green bag is on its way.

In addition I have all the extra costs of school to tack on. A combination lock for my locker; and ethernet cable; a laptop cable; highlighters and pens and paper and binders and folders and god knows what else are requiring me to open my wallet. My bank account is dwindling but the folks at Discover and Visa headquarters are thrilled that I've returned to school.

And all this so I can graduate and work 70-hour weeks, wearing business attire, carrying a briefcase, in a job market that's dwindling, hard-hit by the recession.

I wonder every day whether this was the right move. Only time will tell.

Please see my original post here: http://lauramcwilliams.wordpress.com/2009/08/13/holy-crap-those-law-books-are-expensive/

New law school dream--not flying

Last night I dreamed about a law school classroom that was creepily similar to my middle school social studies room. But in this dream I was decidedly behind my classmates. I walked in late and was, in fact, only making it to class a few weeks into the semester. Also I sat in the back.

Still, this was an honors class and I was honored to be there.

Then I realized I had neither bought the book nor done the assignment. It was lucky that this didn't matter because the prof.--a gigantic version of John Houseman--was kind enough to ignore me.

The classroom debate was vigorous and I was stunned by the intelligent points other students raised. In my dream, then, suddenly, all noise stopped and I only watched the soundless class continue. That was when I noticed the books resting on the desks of the students in the rows before me. (It's common knowledge that while LSAT scores aren't reliable indicators of law school performance, high class grades are directly tied to a student's proximity to the front of the classroom. I was in a 'D' seat.) The assigned book, called The White Paper, was over three feet thick. Students used wheeled suitcases to carry them to class. I hadn't even remembered to bring my backpack.



When I was a kid the dreams where I was flying were my best. The nightmares were soundless giants.

Away we go.