2005年11月23日 星期三

Snow!

Aaron and I were studying for our finals in the library. Aaron stressed out and went out smoking.

He came back and told me: "Hey! It's snowing."

He wasn't too excited because he's from NY. New Yorkers never get excited.

I said: "What? Seriously?" I was really excited because snow is rare in my country, Taiwan, a tropical island.

I heard about it. People talk about it. I know it's coming. I just didn't expect it to come so soon (I mean the snow, not the final).

So I ran down stairs, opened the door, and saw the snow blew over the city. This is my first urban snow. I've never seen snow in a city.

It was thrilling. Almost supernatural.

Library is like underwear, they feel all the same when you're in it. Studying in the library sometimes confuses me of my location. Am I studying in Taiwan? In California? Why am I always studying?

But the dark street and the omnipresent white powder that I ran into, suddenly transcend me to another world. The real world. The deep dark sky that seems to hide any emotion and the ice cold breeze that seems to wipe all feelings. I was stunned by the beauty of the nature, and ashamed of how senselessly I've been living. Dazingly I stood in the snow.

Until my head hurts. It was a little chilly so I walked back to the library.

Aaron looked at me with interest: "If snow excites you so much now; you will be overwhelmed when you see the white Christmas."

I said: "Once in a while is not bad, but not too often will be better" (I mean the snow, not the final).

* * * * * * * *

Just today I learned two good friends of mine have lost their close relatives. My best wish to them and to their family.

We are never strong enough to bear the lost of a family.

Although separated, we will continue the journey they left to us, and, I believe, they will continue theirs. And one day we will reunite.

2005年11月22日 星期二

茶壺裡的風暴

今天當我十一點施施然去上犯罪法時,赫然發現老師已經開始上課,而同學也都坐滿教室了?

原來史儒林教授上星期五宣佈,今天要提前一小時補課。是我忘了。

不只我遲到,連上星期五翹課的凱倫與蘿拉小姐都遲到。事實上全班大概有20個人遲到。

由於凱倫與蘿拉小姐上星期五的筆記都是跟我要的,因此都有點生氣我沒有通知她們今天要補課。

凱倫跟我很熟,也跟我一樣覺得上犯罪法是浪費時間。所以笑一笑就沒事了。

蘿拉比較認真,最近好像有一些煩心的事,所以就真的很生氣。她說: "我在這堂課裡沒有朋友!" 還對我說:"我再也不相信你了!"

聽到這種話,有點傷心。

一方面的確是我忘記了。她們依賴我通知她們上星期五上課的情形,所以我沒有話講。

因為是我自願取得幫助的責任(Assumed duty to intermeddle),因此有責任要完全告知課堂上的資訊。

另一方面,我是忘了說,不是故意不告訴蘿拉。是疏失(negligence),而不是故意(purposely)。甚至可以說,我在乎的責任(duty to care)僅及於提供筆記,而不包括別的。不需要說不相信我吧?

上星期才一起跳舞,以後還要見三年的同學,如果就這樣翻臉,實在很可惜。

總而言之,在謝了正在給假期(Thanksgiving)之前,發生這種插曲,實在有點諷刺啊。

2005年11月10日 星期四

Anderson v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.

Having fought to perfect an assignment for 4 consecutive days with less than 20 hours of sleep, and after receiving an unsatisfied grades from my midterm exam, I was frustrated and tired.

I lost contacts with friends and families. I lost contacts with televisions and movies. I lost contacts with me in the mirror.

No time to complain, I went home and finished dinner in 20 minutes. I cleaned myself in 10 minutes, fired emails in 10 minutes. I tore down and reassembled my assignment in 1.5 hour, killed Civil Procedure in 1.5 hour and terminated Criminal law in 1 hour.

Finally, at 12PM, the last three torts cases lies on my desktop, awaiting my torture. My focus is gone, and my bed is seductively crying for my attendance.

I do not complain hard work nor busy schedule, but I do not accept time in waste. My busy schedule forces me to run, but does not force me to feel. I have learned to artfully pinpoint and copy the knowledge within the text, but had no time to learn by heart or to establish my own thoughts.

Yes I learned discipline and persistence. Yes I learned hard working and being efficient. But I couldn't feel the passion of knowledge nor the joy of intellectual challenges. I become a test machine without fires in the eyes.

With no choice, I reluctantly picked up the Torts text book again, and sailed to the end of the day... Another hour passed and the routine seems never ending...

Alas, the third Torts case saved my day.

There is no happy story in Torts, and this one is one of the saddest. A young girl was burned in a house fire because of the malfunction of a heater. Forty percents of the infant's body were burned and her fingers wobbled together as the result of the melt of skin. She will have no hair and cannot talk normally. Her stomach will forever show the hand print of her mother, who died in the fire trying to protect her. She will have to go through 27 surgeries for the next 2 years. And if she makes it to juvenile, surviving inflammation and risk of cancers, she will begin to face rejections, stares and disgusts from people who she cares or who she doesn't care. She may never marry, and may never raise a kid and have a family.

Always I ask myself to empathy the characters in the case. This tragedy touched me as well as the judge who wrote the opinion deeply. I cannot imagine how the judge feels when he was listening the case, as much as he cannot envisage what the young girl will face in the rest of her life.

At the end of the case the jury awarded the girl 2 million dollars to recover what can never be recovered. The case ended at the end of page 523. The girl went on to her battle and the judge called in the next sad story.

And a first year law student who was losing faith, learned how fortunate he is.

2005年11月2日 星期三

A typical day for 1L



  • 7: 00 a.m. Wake up.
  • 7: 26 a.m. Wake up again, take a shower.
  • 8: 13 a.m. Read newspaper on the metro.
  • 8: 50 a.m. Torts class. Professor makes silly jokes to keep class interested. Failed.
  • 11: 00 a.m. Criminal law/Contracts. Someone was killed/someone breached a contract.
  • 12: 00 a.m. Civil Procedure. Smart professor try hard not to outsmart everyone. Failed.
  • 1: 10 p.m. Have lunch. Oh not Wendy's again.
  • 3: 24 p.m. Wake up in the library.
  • 5: 00 p.m. Legal Writing Class. Double space, left justified.
  • 8: 00 pm. Go home.
  • 8: 40 p.m. Have dinner. When did I refrigerate this?
  • 10: 00 p.m. Check email. Still no email.
  • 1: 11 a.m. Sick of Civil Procedure. Go to sleep.