I was warned that this would happen. I didn't listen; but then, I never do.
Prior to Winter Break, I was up on all my classes, I don't think I had missed a class session and I was current with all my reading.
Now, with all my extracurricular activities, I find myself again behind in all my classes and in all my reading. I guess the one difference between this semester and the last two is that I'm not panicking in this one. I now truly understand that I will pass, regardless. What's disappointing to me, of course, is that I have to make trade-offs, sacrifices. I either learn (again) to say no and simply get involved in less things, or I accept that I won't get all the education that law school has to offer me. Merely showing up for classes and doing part of the reading is sufficient, perhaps, to pass, but it is decidedly not the way to get a quality education in the law.
So, I've revisited my decisions from the beginning of the term -- and, perhaps not surprisingly -- I've reaffirmed them. I am NOT doing as I once thought I might do in law school (study hard, treat it as an 8-6 job, do all the assigned reading (and possibly more), attend every class, get a superior law school education, etc.). Instead, I blog, and I party, I strike, I speak before the Regents, I attend Advisory Board meetings, I attend Search Committee meetings, and I try to stay active in TransForUM and in Outlaws, I bowl, I play poker, I participate in the Speakers' Bureau of the LGBT affairs office, and I even occasionally date (last night, we again dined at Amadeus where we had a magnificent meal (I had something called Bitka, I think it was) and then went to see an interesting play, written by a local playwright).
And, right now, (this blog entry notwithstanding) I'm working on a law school paper for my Critical Race Theory class. This paper is difficult, much harder than I expected it to be. I have to write an individual paper, but I'm also part of a group of 6 that have to present the history, facts, and "racial projects" inherent in the case we are doing and then lead a class discussion on the subject. It's an exciting case, but every time I think I've got a handle on it, I find another string that unravels my understanding as I pull on it. What an awesome project this is!
This seems to work for me. It gives me the balance I think I'm looking for. I don't think I could just confine myself to law school and only one or two outside interests. I came here largely because of my outside interests. So, my current plan is to keep on doing what I'm doing and let things just be how they will be.