Well, it's done. All my exams are over for this term and I am officially done half of law school. 3 semesters to go. At this point for this term I've done all I can do and my fate is in the hands of my profs and the curve.
The little law school on the prairie marks using a curve. This means only some many of each mark is available. If a prof wants to deviate from the curve they have to go and argue their case before the entire faculty, so I doubt this happens too often except for the moots, law review and seminars.
In first year the curve worked both ways for me. In one or two classes I rode the curve up, and in one class for certain, I rode the curve down. This term it will be interesting to see what happens. I had one seminar, where a paper I wrote was worth 60%, and participation and presenting my paper were the other 40%. I think I should do okay, plus it's a seminar so I'm not sure how the curve works. To avoid having three exams in four days, I wrote a major paper (worth 100%) in one class.
That left me with three exams. So how did they go. I would characterize them, with my apologies to Clint, as the good, the okay and the ugly. Today's exam I think I rocked so we'll call it the good. It was public international law. I had five days to prepare, I knew my stuff, and I had time to plan and review my answers.
The okay, was Indian and Aboriginal Law. I say okay because I have had this prof before for a number of assignments and a class. I have never gotten anything other than a B+ from this prof, no matter how much work I do or don't put in, and regardless of whether I thought I did good or bad. It's anonymous marking, but 3 out of the 5 things I have done for this prof have been anonymous and it still hasn't made a difference.
The ugly, well that was Evidence. It was the day after my Indian and Aboriginal law class and it was well just plain ugly. The exam looked nothing like any other exam we have had, and looked nothing like the tutorial problems we were given. Nice. I just didn't get evidence, and what little I did get didn't make it onto the page. It is for this reason that I pray the curve is with me.
A short break is now allowed, and new classes start in January. However, over the holidays I have to prepare for my moot. When I'm back in January, it's before a three-member panel of QB judges to rake me over the coals, over an evidence problem no less. GAH!
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2 comments:
Congratulations on reaching the midway point - it is a milestone that you will probably come to appreciate more after your moot. Well done.
Evidently, the little law school on the prairie has a different marking system than the little bijuridical law school in the big city. B+ is only "okay"? People would have shoved moot partners under buses for that level of consistent grade in Montreal. Fewer than a half dozen As and A-s were handed out to a class of 150, and there was no such thing as an A+.
(You will come to understand the depth of dependence one develops on one's moot partner in the weeks ahead, and the B+ will grow exponentially, I promise.)
Happy Holidays Glen!
Congratulations, Glen!
You needn't worry too much about marks - your friends know you're smart. The marks one receives in law school are, largely, a crap shoot.
And don't worry about evidence too much, either. It's one of those things that makes more sense when you're in a court room. All of a sudden, the rule in Brown v. Dunn will become crystal clear.
Happy holidays. We miss you . . .
Karan
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