nin137

Law School is a lot like 10 Rounds of Boxing

there are certain moments in one's life which are so crazy,
so out of the blue, and so utterly pathetic that that one
person must step back from that certain moment...stare off
into the distance for a second and say to himself resolutely,
"i've gotta fucking change my life."
this certain moment occurred for me today. specifically it
occurred as i was arguing with an elderly asian lady who ran
the local convenience store near my law school. i wanted to
buy a beverage (specifically a Shasta cola) which i knew
would cost exactly $1.
well i just so happened to have a $1 coin in my pocket. it
looked nice and new with a beautiful picture of the statue
of liberty on the front and john adams's mug on the back.
the asian convenience store lady was not impressed.
"no no...dolla! we need dolla!"
"this is a dollar. it's a dollar coin!"
"no, paper, you got paper? we no take coin. no dolla coin!"
for some reason i became immediately enraged (mainly because
i think i needed the sugar and i turn into a pregnant lady
with swollen feet if i don't get mah shizzle right when i
need it) and pointed to the point on the coin which says
"legal tender for all debts public or private"
well coins are so good as to not have that written on them.
why? oh maybe BECAUSE EVERYONE SINCE ASSYRIAN CIVILIZATION
HAS ACKNOWLEDGED THE INDISPUTABLE VALUE OF A ROUND PIECE OF
PRECIOUS METAL!!!!
there was no way i was going to win this fight. i rolled my
eyes as dramatically as possible and sulked back to the
freezer tossing the stupid Shasta cola inside.
i looked at my watch and realized i had just spent 5 minutes
arguing over a stupid coin for a stupid discount soda.
fuck me.
so then after about 2 hours of reading for constitutional
law and receiving the first 6 rejections for interviews i
realized the boxing analogy.
i was really 'beaten down' by the OCI responses. in the
first round i had dropped off 10 of my 25 applications. i'd
heard from 6 and all were, "eh no thanks."
law school is like boxing mainly because you get beaten down
like this all day long. the first year, you're the
undersized guy getting in with the experienced system. some
don't make it and get knocked out in the first round...some
make it too bloodied and bruised to the fifth and have to
concede...then there are some who make it to round 6 (which
i consider summer).
then during round 6 you either get a job (i.e. get in some
good punches) or you have to settle for summer classes (i.e.
keeping up a good defense until someone gets in a good punch
on you).
then comes round 7 which is the second year. this is the
beginning of OCI. everybody's like, "shit you made it this
far, you're golden! you're awesome! your'e so great, get
the fuck out there and get em tiger!!!"
then OCI hits you with a haymaker right in the nuts. you
drop to your knees not believing what just happened and that
you don't know how to get back up.
this i think would be all the rejections.
but you have to get up. you crawl back to your corner.
you're panting, you're hurting, you're sweating and the
vising in your left eye is a bit blurry. but you're ready
to get back into the 8th round.
and in the 8th round you're just praying for that one
opening. you know you can do it, shit you haven't folded
yet, you just need that one opening to get in that great combo!!
this is the one interview that you actually get from OCI.
which i got today. it's the opening. right now i see my
opponent's guard down and i can deliver the combo.
i'm just so fucking happy to get a chance.
god damn this shit is fucking competitive. i despise
hyperboles as much as the next guy, but jesus what people
say about this is true. i'd like to think that with my class
rank and all that i'm damn competitive although not #1 in
the class, but jesus!
so now here i am. 8th round. i'm panting, i'm shaking as
my tired muscles convulse involuntarily, but i see my opening.
i just hope my punch lands.