The Bitter Law Student

Reflections on an Internship

It's my last day at the summer internship. I've got mixed feelings about it. For the most part, however, it was a great opportunity to see how a REAL law-firm operates, as it's radically different from what is taught to us in law school. The material that I was working on did get a little boring from time to time, but the experience really did reaffirm that this IS the area of work that I want to be in.

Things I will miss about my summer internship:

1. The lawyers that I work for. (They're so awesomely different in a way that totally works. Seriously, they could form their own boy band. I'll even assign them roles: D.C.: The "older brother." M.M.: The "confident heartthrob." D.C.2: The "serious one." S.C.: The "shy one." T.A.: The "wild one," and S.G.: The "little brother.")
2. The three interns that I work with. Again, we're all so incredibly different (in that strange way that always seems to work) that we could form our OWN grrl-band and open for the lawyer boy-band. (For the record, we have names, too: Princess Fiona: Political Spice, Maddox: Brainy Spice, Mindee: Sweetie Spice, and The BLS: Spunky Spice.) Seriously, though. I love the fact that we all came from different law schools with incredibly different experiences and backgrounds, yet still managed to have a really productive summer. Let's face it: WE ROCK!
3. The fact that the case that I'm working on is going to be MONUMENTAL as far as lawsuits in this area of the law go. Seriously, it's gonna be huge. To know that I had a small part in it is exciting in itself.
4. Living with my mom. I didn't get to spend as much time with her as I wanted, but it was nice of her to allow me to stay with her rent-free so I could keep my apartment where I'm going to school... :)
5. My shopping sprees at Borders.
6. The money that I'm making. (Yeah, it's shallow, but this job paid me the most I'd ever made before.)
7. The RETIREMENT that I'll be collecting for my three months work at this job. Can you believe that? I work at a BIG, well-known corporation (Cookie Bin) for THREE YEARS and not a word is uttered about pension or retirement. I work for a small law firm for three months, and suddenly I'm collecting it? (Note to self: File under "Things that make you go, "WTF?" ")

Things I'm NOT going to miss about my summer internship:

1. The hour commute that I took, one way, to work and back EACH DAY. I love to drive, but this was REALLY REALLY pushing it.
2. Spending all the sweet money that I was making on GAS. (Seriously, anyone else pissed about the price of gas? I'm blaming Dubya for this. I don't know why... I guess I have no one else to blame, but when Clinton was in office, gas was $1.20 a gallon.) Maybe I should be thankful that I'm driving a compact car, as opposed to an SUV, but STILL...
3. Click, drag, release. Click, drag, release. Repeat until insane.
4. Living with my mom. We are WAY too different to coexist in peace under one roof. And then there's the fact that she's allergic to my dog. She was still sweet to let us under her roof for three months, though. :)
5. The fact that there are NO Starbucks in a 100 mile radius from where my summer job is located. That's right. The BLS was SANS STARBUCKS for three months! *horror movie scream* Borders has a little coffee shop that makes wannabe "Frappucinos," but let's face it... they're not the same.
6. Getting up at 6:30am EVERY morning so I can be out the door by seven and in my desk chair at 8am. Blech. It makes me yearn for my dorm days when I could roll out of bed five minutes before class, jump into a pair of sweats and a baseball cap and sprint to class. (Yep. I've done it. And I've been asked out after that, too. Guys: What's up with THAT? Does that make a girl more approachable or something? You see her without makeup, decide she's still cute, and THEN you ask her out?)

So... with school not starting for another week, I know you loyal BLS readers are wondering what I'm planning on doing during that week. NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. Well, that's not true. I just got back from a lunch-hour Borders shopping spree, so I've got plenty of reading material to keep me busy this upcoming week (and semester, after I start law school again.) Among the selections are: The Devil Wears Prada, We Thought You'd Be Prettier, Wicked, and Bringing Down the House (I've already devoured the first 40-some pages during the last half of my lunch hour... can't wait to continue it.) I also need to finish Freakonomics, which is effing HILARIOUS. I'd recommend it to almost anyone. And Sweetie Spice loaned me Finding Neverland, which I NEED to watch, according to pretty much everyone who has seen it. Combine that with the fact that I'm planning on having my cable reinstalled so I can watch Celebrity Poker Showdown and Battle of the Network Reality Stars on Bravo. Can I just take a minute to exclaim HOW MUCH I love Bravo? Bravo ROCKS! Where else can you watch movies that are so bad they're AWESOME, along with original series starring washed-up reality stars (Richard Hatch, Richard Hatch, Richard Hatch!!) trying to stretch their 15 minutes of fame. I could seriously watch it all day. Bravo should change its slogan from "Bravo: Watch What Happens" to "Bravo: Ensuring that The BLS flunks out of law school."

Anyway... my last day is about to come to a close, and I need to get some (read: a little) work accomplished before I'm officially done as a 1st year Legal Intern and become a 2nd year Freelance Internet Correspondent, as I'll be able to code documents for the firm without having to leave my apartment that's nice and close to the law school.

As a final note: Looks like Captain Obvious was reporting the news today. Check it.

posted by The BLS @ 8/19/2005 03:35:00 PM