It's Not That I'm Ready...

Finals are upon those waiting for their turn at the Bar. We've reviewed out materials, drafted outlines (or in my case collated all the notes, outlines, lectures audio files) into a comprehensible attack format and should be prepared for our exams.

Of course, none of us ever truly are prepared. The malleability of the law, due in no small part to the flexibility of language and the shifting political concerns of the day, create complex issues the greatest legal scholars fail to provide fully sufficient answers for. What limits should be raised upon police action with regard to the right to counsel prior to indictment? How can society best ensure the protection of media industry's rights while satisfying average owners expectations of "ownership?" Must the right to free speech continue unhindered by any governmental intervention, or may society disallow conversations found to be useless as a matter public discourse?

I have no answer to any of these questions, but am prepared to take on the first, have an inkling as to the third, and the second . . . well, the second I will leave to those with an interest. Suffice to say that we, mere law students with a few months education in a variety of increasingly complex legal issues, are abhorrently unprepared for the task ahead of us.

Yet, we generally persist on in our studies. The promise of money undoubtedly underlies many of my classmates' aspirations . A thirst for knowledge, while not of paramount concern, can be found in everyone's eyes. Mostly, however, we fear the potential to falter. The average intelligence of a law student surpasses that of many other fields. We are bright and interesting individuals who generally work the system so that any potential that might be worked over is nullified.

And that fear was greatest at the end of my 1L year. A body of law so profoundly daunting so as to make any other mental challenges pale in comparison was before us, and the exigency of perfection was promoted by our terror. Not even the possibility of the unanswerable hypothetical causes me to lose a moment's sleep.

The fear is gone. I'm a 2L, and I have a stable internship in an office I hope to work at some point. I know what my future holds to some degree of certainty.

So, it is not my adequate(?) level of preparation that gave me a pass to write this post. It is that I am not afraid anymore, and think it is okay to procrastinate. God help me if my lack of fear puts me in a terrifying position on my report card.