I’ve been reading what seems like each update that the folks over at Public Affairs have been posting. Howard in Washington and Oregon. Lizards from the Galapagos. Garfield. Indy Star. Cannelton. Annual Fund. Madindas. South Hall. It is intriguing to read of happenings at ol’ WabCo.  

As for what I have been doing aside from reading campus news, I have been following the advice given to me by many a-knowledgeable post-graduate graduates: taking it easy. And so I have. For several weeks I was in Southwest Florida. Lately, I’ve been helping with things at my parent’s house, and spend most of my time reading greens on the golf course and reading Bernard Shaw on the back patio. I’ve managed to find a sweet balance between utter laziness and striving diligence.

In planning for the fall, I have been making arrangements for my apartment and getting furniture for it, filing FAFSA paperwork, and prepping for the onslaught of the lifestyle of a first-year law student. About two hours ago I visited a local shop, and I found a couch for my apartment.  It’s big and comfortable, and I can just imagine dozing off in it after a healthy Torts refresher.  A couch is pretty much the last big-ticket furniture item on my list, so it feels nice to have that out of the way. All that’s left is some appliances and small fixtures.

Today and this past week I ventured online and completed my remaining FAFSA obligations.  I filled out my eMPN (electronic Master Promissory Note) for IU.  I didn’t have loans while at Wabash, so this was new territory for me.  Fortunately, IU-B law school has a director of financial aid, and he really helped me through the process. The Department of Education didn’t do a bad job either of clearly and effectively laying things out.  Strike one up for them for a change.

While I’m extending my stay in “studenthood,” part of being a new graduate is the realization that from high above the Ivory Tower comes nosediving down, in Quimby cartoonish fashion, the fact that life has yet again shifted course. Law school is a fairly big adjustment.  Practicing attorneys and current law school professors have recommended several texts to help prep me for the “new mindset.”  I received an email from Greg Castanias out in D.C., and he recommended Ideals, Beliefs, Attitudes, and the Law by Guido Calabresi.  I’m going to hit up online stores for that in the next few weeks, anything to help with the transition.

 I may be new to this whole graduate thing, but I feel as prepared for law school as one can at this point.  Four years at Wabash equal a lifetime’s worth of knowledge and aptitude.  I’m excited both for law school and the chance to put my four-years to good use.