May 1, 2016

Digesting Cases in My Brain




As a law student we are bound to read countless cases, some interesting, some crazy, and quite some horrifying (criminal cases give me nightmares).  That is an understatement my dears.  During my earlier years in law school I would dread those classes (and professors) who assign 20-30 cases per session.  On a lucky semester,  I get to multiply that number by 3 or 4, that's almost 100 cases each day!

Then I realize that I should not look at case reading as a terrible experience and forcefully convinced myself that it should be a pain I ought to be looking forward to.  Just enjoy it to the fullest in the same way that I enjoy reading my Facebook timeline or as interesting as stalking my party-mates on IG.   From then on,  I started viewing this activity as an opportunity to learn about the 'chismis' of strangers' lives.   You bet this change in perspective made my life a lot easier!

Do the 'full monty' baby

As a rule,   I would read the full text and no, I am not being barbaric to myself.  There is something so fulfilling when you know you are not missing out on some useless details in each case.  Digests would be helpful if I did them in the first place.  I would only look at others digest as a last resort, or in emergency cases.  In fact, I seldom join digest groups because,  I just find it so limiting.  

I think I wrote a post about how to easily find the important points of every case you read.  Despite this,  I do not discount the power of other peoples digests when the full text is super lengthy or when I have a hard time finding the issues.  

How I Do Digests in my brain

Lately,  due to other commitments (like partying and doing my hair and makeup on a daily basis),  I am unable to spend much time doing case digests.  To resolve this,  I discovered an easier way to do it,  doing brain digests! This is how I do it.  Follow at your own risk!

a. Read the case, make a mental note of the important points, facts, issues, rulings.  Then I would go over it if there are some points that I forget or clarify. 
b. On the day itself, I would skim again and just focus on the main points.  
c.  If I still have time,  I guess by the third skimming, the brain is quite familiar with the important points and that's it.  Digest in my brain, no sweat!

Whys

1) I don't have much time

The thing is, digesting or summarizing cases takes time when you have to read then do an outline, and put it in writing or encode it.  For the past year,  I have done my case readings either the day or night before a class.  I do not get the hardcopy, I just make do with the online version because you save on ink and paper by doing so. 

2) I'm not rich enough to have a secretary or PA to gather my notes into an intelligible and organized whole

For one, I am not really good at note taking. I get distracted when I take notes.  I don't even have a proper notebook or note taking system.  Aside from the distraction, even if I get myself some notepad, I would either forget or lose it so what's the point?

Come exam time, somehow my brain retains those bits of digest.  In some weird twist I can recall infos and issues.   It works for me.   Mind you, I am just an average student,  I just find a way to learn things differently by trial and error method.  I guess you just have to find a way that will make it easier for you to survive your case assignments.   This is mine.

Nevertheless,  one of these days, I might get down and gather all these cases in my head to add to the case digest section of this blog for those emergency times, you know.  If you find this post enlightening or worth sharing don't be shy to share it in your social media or just click on the 'Follow' button on my Google+ located in the upper right side of this page, believe me, it would be the best decision you have ever made in your entire day. ;P

I Haven't Blogged Much, Here's Why

Busy but same old cray me #lawsandfoundblog


Hey it's summer in the Philippines!  This is the time of the year when I ought to be spending my days in a hammock by some perfect beach. But WAIT!  I haven't blogged for years, or was it errrr weeks? That can only mean one thing -- that my life has been so exciting that I didn't find time to sit down and write something. Well, let's just leave it at that, ahem.  Let me just update you on some harmless happenings for the past weeks. Oftentimes, I forget I am a blogger.

School!

I have been busy with school, what else is new?


Partying

Moreover, I took the partying part on a higher notch and even went out on some weekdays, so much for being a good law student, eh?  I know, right?  As I always say, life is short baby so let's make each and every moment count.

The rule before is that I have to do school on weekdays then party two nights on weekends.
I am quite sure that this partying phase will soon be over hence, I am still in control and it will never spiral into a long term thing.

Nevertheless, when I party, it has to be over the top.  It came to some point when I even party on a weekday and take this,  the best thing about it? I have an early, like early 8AM major class the day after!  Man,  it is not something for the weak-hearted.  Maybe I was just lucky that I manage to survive my 4 hour class being sleepless, having a hangover and yes, needing to read tons of pages.


When you have an 8am class and
you partied hard the night before


You meet a lot of awesome people when you got out and then some aweful creatures at the same time.  Good news,  I still manage to get good exams results that are way better than when I didn't party, so I am sure I am doing something awesome!  Don't do this my dear fellow law students, what works for me may not work for you, I'm warning you!

Yay, got the top marks!  So much for being a party gal, eh?



Weightlifting

What else?  I have been weightlifting lifting crazy these past weeks to the point where I convince myself that my day would never be complete if I am unable to do so.  I am kinda addicted to it right now.  It is like having a really nice new boyfriend or something. You could not get enough of it.  I am still gunning for my target body and will stick to this sort of routine until I get there.


My favorite rack #dumbells




All by ma self! #gym



Sometimes,  I make lifting a reward of sorts which I would look forward to after finishing a certain number of book chapters. I would read then do some reps. Awesome, right?

Ahh, makeup diva and nail polish stuff!

These days I am also into makeup and nail polish , like I am truly obsessed, literally.  Some days, no - make that everyday, it doesn't matter if I have class or not, if I go out of the house or not, I just have to fix my makeup, my hair first thing in the morning.  Thank you so much makeup for stealing my reading time, I really appreciate this development.


The only drama I can stand is in my lashes #eyemakeup #fleek


But you know what? I realize that since my limited time has now been reduced, then I get to be resourceful in studying so I make use of the little time I have.  For some reasons I feel like

I am sure girls would relate, you know how awful it is when your nail polish chips right?  So some days I get to change my nail color every 2 days or so, so where do I get the time to do this out of my law school reading schedule? Of course I lessen my sleep time, I get by with just 2 - 4 hours of sleep time on most days.


Nail polish