Orientation

So, for the past two days I've been stuck in auditoriums listening to Deans, Associate Deans, Professors, Associate Professors, and 3rd floor janitors talk to me about being a 1L. Just for the record I think titles such as "1L's" are pretty fucking stupid. They all seem to have their individual takes on the experience on what lies ahead of us. Luckily they all have a "majority" (see I'm already a god forsaken lawyer) opinion that it will be the worst, hardest, most stressful, complicated, life altering, exciting year of our lives. I'm not gonna lie, it's about as far from the University of Georgia's undergrad orientation as you can get. I remember, just a few years ago, being that naive young 18 year old that had to sneak around, drinking on weekends, scared to death of the consequences. Then there was UGA's Orientation. What I took away from that was essentially, this: The next four years are great. There is tons of drinking, fucking, smoking and occasionally we read. DePaul Law's Orientation: the next 200-250 days will be terrible. After that things will be bad. In your third year, things will get a little better. Then, you'll get a phenomenal job making like 100,000 a year. Half of this will go to student loans, one quarter to living expenses and the other quarter into a mutual fund. Don't worry, you won't need any spending money, you don't have time to spend money. The antithesis of the American Dream. Having money you can't spend. God, that must be painful.
To be fair; We had some great speakers. Just about every dean or professor made me laugh, was charasmatic, had something helpful to say and, in some strange way made me want to be a lawyer. Unfortunately, I'm not sure whether they made me want to be a lawyer because I'm genuinely interested in the law or, more likely, because I'm envious of their charisma. Either way, I suppose they motivated me, one way or the other.
To the logistics and reality of orientation. There are cliques as soon as you arrive. People already know each other. People had mutual friends at the University of Michigan, Nebraska, U of I, Michigan State, or Wisconsin. Being from out of town you (and by you I mean I) are already at a disadvantage. Additionally, most law school students aren't very cool. Sure, people have interesting backgrounds, can probably talk politics or college football but they just really aren't your type. Not like your friends back home. The only thing worse than sitting alone at lunch at orientation is thinking that, if you befriend one of these people, you might have to spend the next TEN lunches with them. I'm not saying I'm mister fucking personality, but some of these people are hopeless. So, in 8-10 hours each day, I've found two guys, both of whom seem pretty normal and easy to get along with. One of the two guys suggests that between our "study skills" session at orienation and the "faculty party" we go to a bar on the first floor of the Law School. Great, I could use a beer. And here, here, in this dark, windowless, smoky, shady bar I find MY people. I, we, find a table of about 10 first years, kicking back drinking pitchers. One dude drinks three gin and tonics in the time it takes me to drink one Amstel Light. Everyone seems very friendly. Even the girl at the far end of the table that I know is a bitch, acts friendly. We decide to head to the party as a little group, making us the largest group of two day old friends in the whole place. We head straight to the drink tent, put back a couple of light beers and switch to Pinot when the beer gets down to the really crappy stuff (MGD). These people are the shit, just a bunch of borderline, high achieving alcoholics like myself. I feel right at home. So at home it's scary. So at home that I remembered I left HOME to come somewhere that didn't feel like I felt. Somewhere I didn't have to drink. Every. Night. Really good times and really bad times have a tendency to blend, to become a gray area, at least for me. There are occasions I look back on where I can't remember whether it was a great night or a terrible night. I did realize tonight though that, although I was having a good time, times like this could lead to really really bad times, quick. I left a life similar to the one I had already started. The lesson I took was this. Go out with these people, on FRIDAYS. Outside of that, save it. It's not worth it, you wanted out of this. I think, possibly. It's possible I wanted out of this. I should want out. Yeah.