Osler's Razor

If you don't get there early, you apparently forgot to mention to anyone that you are taking pc...
 

I forgot to ask this in the last post. Even though I'm not a BLS law student, I'm really curious (and maybe there are some upcoming Pcers who don't know): Why Jello? or chocolate pudding?
 

I think the most important piece of advice is that you have to guard against totally freaking yourself out about PC classes. I think a lot of people become paralyzed by fear, and when they are called on they are so nervous and afraid that they forget to just think. Stay calm, and remember that these are professors and not three of the four horseman of the apocolypse.
 

Which is it, pudding or jello?

At W&M, being all colonial and stuff, I think we had Spotted Dick or something.

And instant pudding pales in comparison the old kind you cooked, which gave it that gelatinous skin across the top. I loved that.
 

Oh, the jello-- I was at the grocery store yesterday and saw a PCer stocking up on jello. "Easy to make!" she explained, and that made a lot of sense.

I think it kind of freaks people out when I see them in the grocery store, but I'm not sure why.
 

OK, Jello it is then. Just don't put any fruit in it! That always grosses me out.
 

Yeah, I agree with rrl. Don't let the hype of PC get you so crazy you can't function. Only about 5-10% of the professor's questions are unfair (and the whole class knows they are unfair), and the worst that happens is that you get a memo. Life goes on.

The reading is overwhelming, but you can do it. And jot down a few notes on the cases to make sure that you remember THAT case out of the other 30 you read. You'll surprise yourself how much you remember.

In PCI and II, try to stay nameless and unnoticed... at least at first. They tend to pick on people who catch their eye in the first week (you walk in late, you aren't prepared, you are falling asleep, your phone rings, you sit on an aisle seat).

Do your PR reading on the weekends. When you finally finish your other PC readings, and it's 2 a.m., you will thank yourself.

You guys have a big class, so don't stress out. You'll survive and live to tell the tales.
 

Also, making it through the first two weeks is the key. Whether it gets better after that or just seems like it, there is a difference.
 

As for PC Food, do what I did and buy huge drums of mixed nuts. Provides good protein without tons of carbs (carbs makes one sleepy); and need no for refrigeration. Stash them in your bag, and during breaks between PC and evidence you can eat a few handfulls.

Also, choose caffeine pills over coffee before class -- coffee contains water. Caffeine + water = full bladder. Avoid full bladder because, even if your bladder begins to spasm uncontrollably due to being so full (which mine did several times during PC) you still cannot (or should not) leave during class to use the bathroom. One guy did -- huge mistake!
 

I wish i had never found this blog, Prof. Osler--but that is what I get for googling my own name and finding your post about Lawrence.

Some more advice on PC:

1) Think, do not just read. Laws and rules exist for a reason, try to figure out the reasons and let the rationale guide your answers to subsequent questions. An answer (even if wrong) based upon a reason can help prevent you from looking like a fool.

2) Remember Stephen Toulmin and ignore Aristotle. Now is not the time for enthymemes, it is the time for syllogisms and structured arguemnt. Use the cases as evidence and assemble your answers in a logical manner.

Claim+warrant+evidence. often you will not have time for the evidence, but do not offer a conclusion (claim) without at least having some facial warrant to support it.

3) Do not be afraid to be wrong, embrace it. The best PC students I knew often made mistakes. Why? Because they are frequently called on, because they were confident, and because they were not afraid to push their reasoning, persuasion, and analytical skills.

You are training to be an advocate for clients, not a quiz show contestant. Take risks but also show guts. You don't lose money for wrong answers, but you will lose credibility with the prof if you seem unsure, timid, and unwilling to actually think on your feet.

4) Ignore the "nameless and faceless" advice if you want to excel, rather than just survive. Appearing engaged and participating in class is a buffer that can protect you from backlash from wrong answers and earn you some capital if you make errors in your litigation. And, if you want to be a better lawyer in the real world, be engaged. Don't be extra, be a principal...it pays off.
 

Uhmmm yeah I am not sure the jello is a good idea... unless you are using it as like ammo...

OK
I was never in law school and I doubt I ever will be FOR SURE after reading this blog... However I was a student forever and had to live out of a backpack... And now I am also a mom. Plus I spent like 6 years in nursing school not becoming a nurse, and I had a lot of nutrition classes. SO HERE IS ALL THE ADVICE I HAVE about this topic...

There are a lot of good ways to get nutrition that is quick other than jello. The nuts are a good idea for sure but they are full of fat. You could do your own version of a "lunchables" but of course not the real lunchables because they both expensive and vile... Just get those pre cut cheese cubes or even string cheese things - they have a lot more flavors these days. You can also get some turkey cold cuts and put them in a ziploc... (COSTCO has AMAZING prices on cases of ziploc bags which I cannot live without).

You can use sort of more durable fruits like an apple, (if you are worried about a mess, just cut it up first) or grapes, I mean mushy fruits do not do well in a backpack..but you could cut them up first and put them in gladware type containers.


The whole point is to make EASY on yourself You need all of your time and energy to study and read and be tortured in class and NOT worry about food the point is to stay alive, not have gourmet meals... eating 16 times a day is not a bad thing - it keeps your blood sugar up! You need a steady supply of protein and carbs and nutrients.

Also do not forget to take vitamins.. Costco has these amazing vitamin packs that have everything you need 90 day supply for like 13 bucks.

Also It sounds dumb but juiceboxes that kids use are great You have to watch for the ones that have high fructose corn syrup those are just sugar. But I know of TWO brands at least that do not have it: Juicy Juice, and Hansen'S. Costco has big cases of Hansen's for like 8 bucks. Jucy Juice you can get prices for it at Target. If you want it to be cold, you can freeze them and then just use them for your ice pack for the rest of your stuff.

For a lunch thing, Target has a great selection if you do not want to do the mail order thing, but Lands End has lunch boxes of every size this year, at good prices. LLBean has THE BIGGEST backpack I have ever seen in a catalog that was actually for a student and not for Grizzly Adams... it is called the TURBO TRANSIT and its holds a TON plus has a compartment for stinky gym stuff or wet stuff on the bottom PLUS has a couple of great handles for lifting it and a TON of secure zippered pockets. IT also has great straps that do not hurt your shoulders as much AND one of those waist things that also help with the load. You could fit books, lunch, laptop, cell wallet pda, and even your dog in there if he is not too big.

Also costco is a great lace to shop for this kind of stuff. They have tons of big packs of like those 100 calorie packs, granola bars, fruit rollup types things (again watch for sugar) stuff like that.




If you live in an actual HOUSE there are always frozen dinners. As an expert on frozen dinners I know that the best ones are "SMART ONES" by WW followed by Healthy Choice. Lean Cuisine are pretty bad, Stouffers are GREAT but fattening. But if you are skinny and do not care, I LOVE Stouffers Mac n Cheese, and it grosses most people out but Spinach Souffle is great too.

Remember to have a med ziploc for OTHER stuff you might need. Aspirin, cold pills, vitamins you forgot to take EMERGEN-C packs if you feel a cold coming on, you know... contact lens stuff, your electric wall cell phone or laptop charger, just emergency stuff.
 

I agree with the others above, sleep at least x hours per night (x= your bare number to feel sane, if not well rested).

Do not skip material that you reasonably believe will be covered. Professor Osler is the most honest about what he will cover, so read all that he assigns. As for the others? You know by now how to read for facts and law and you will be an expert in a month or so. I made little briefs on a legal pad with a line to remember the facts and a line to remember the law. Cross reference your brief to the case. Once you hear your name, your brain may short circuit. (Mine did! "Miss Hunter tell us about..." agh! Who is Miss Hunter? Oh that's ME!!) Review before class any case that you read/briefed more than a day ago.

You will fail occasionally and sometimes you will be caught unprepared. If you don't know already, whether in PC or in life (more likely life, unfortunately) we all fall down. Learn to spring (or grudgingly haul yourself) back up and keep puttering on.

The best lesson from PC is learning to manage your precious time and to live with fear. The truth is, everyone in PC is scared and there are some wildly unfair aspects of PC that promote this atmosphere. (Any good training program runs you through the WORST case scenario...PC is giving you a safe environment for legal emergency and disaster training.)

PC is not reality. You will not have time to be as prepared as you would be at trial or in practice. The trick is, prioritize and balance what you CAN do. Remember what your life was about pre-PC and live an abbreviation of that life...do not abandon it.

My best advice is to simply take it one day at a time. Make a calendar or a tickler system so you don't miss deadlines, but just tackle each day as it comes. Put one foot in front of the other and it will be over very quickly.
 

One more thing. If you have a chance to share a froo-froo drink in a ceramic buddha with Prof. Osler--take it.
 

Excellent advice, former PCers. Josh! You are alive! And, uh, I think the Tiki Lounge is still there. They just won't let Sorey back in.
 

Wait a minute!!

Admiring, if not longing shots of little rodent dogs are one thing, but frou frou drinks out of ceramic buddhas.....?

Are you going to break out into a chorus of the Lumberjack Song next?

So at this point, if I want to read about manly stuff, like corn cannons and explosions, I have to go to Tyd's blog?
 

Oh, I'm alive. The last year or so has been nuts. Sat second chair for a Supreme Court argument, gave a speech in Kazakhstan that was televised on national TV, watched my son turn 5 yesterday.

Crazy.
 

Yes, Iplaw In fact My blog is where all the manly things happen.
 

That's right, I read about how they put you in charge of Kazakstan. Actually, I thought it was Dan Sorey at first. Just don't let the people start a newspaper or anything, and you will be ok.
 

who is commandante x?
 

Okay, I understand the Jell-O thing now. Thanks!

If it were me, I'd go for the instant soup packets, or the soup-in-a-cup things although they are probably full of bad stuff, but I guess y'all are in a hotter climate so the Jell-O makes sense.

Brr . . . I think I went to too many church suppers and grandma's dinners to be able to handle Jell-O again.
 

Now I haven't actually started PC yet, but I do have a tip for maintaining calm.

When you're feeling all wound up and your shoulders are tight as you think about the night's reading assignment, make yourself a gin and tonic. Just one should do the trick and last through most of the evening.

My recipe:
Start w/ 1 fresh lime wedge - squeeze the juice into the glass.

Then fill the glass with some medium ice cubes (note - do not use Waco water to make your ice as it will alter the taste).

Add 2 fingers of Seagram's Lime Twisted Gin (there are better gins out there of course, but hey your mixing here).

Fill the remainder of the glass with with Schwepp's tonic water.

Stir once to mix the drink - if you over-stir the drink loses all of its fizziness.

A proper GT also has the added health benefits of quinine as anyone who has ever had malaria or served in the African bush can tell you.
 

A Gin and Tonic? To relax you before a night of reading????

Think of how relaxed you will feel when you wake up at 9:30 AM with your head in a book, after having fallen asleep reading... YIKES!!!

G&T is one of my fav drinks but save them until you GRADUATE!!!
 

yes - but i said just one - over the course of the evening (as in 3:30 - 8 or so) - not downing them one after the other - make it last
 

Anyone in a position to compare the wrath of Prof. Underwood to that of Prof. Wren?
 

Believe me, I love Gin & Tonics, and would treat myself to one during law school on occasion, but only during the last half hour or so of studying. I've never been able to nurse any drink, especially a Gin & Tonic.

I guess I can nurse a bourbon or scotch on the rocks, but even that takes some effort.

And knowing that Waco is pretty darn hot this time of year, I am sure I'd suck any drink down quick if I were there!
 

Ah, the "Settle Down and Study Beer" theory. Actually does work pretty well, IF you only have one. And that one beer is not the entire pitcher. Or has a shot of Jager floating in it.
 

I had Professor Underwood for PC way back in '03 so things may have changed, but I doubt it.

I have to disagree with Tom's advice not to volunteer. I got my best PC advice prior to starting from one of Underwood's former student assistants. I asked him what the secret was and he said, "bust your ass and raise your hand."

The only way to get through PC in one piece is to do the work. All of it. I agree wholeheartedly with Josh when he says to be confident. When you're called on in class think of it as an appellate argument: answer the question with confidence and back it up with the assigned reading.

PC is a trial by fire and it is brutal. However, on what I hope is a motivating and encouraging note, the program turns out fearless and tireless advocates. I have been practicing for 3 years now and nothing I have encountered has been as hard as PC. Similarly, I have yet to be scared of anyone or anything. Anxious, wary and maybe nervous, but never scared.

A few more things: (1)Sleep is good and you need it. (2) A few of us in my class took almost every Friday evening off and relaxed with Ninfaritas. If drinking is not your thing then exercise, or do both (just not at the same time please).
 

I second the Ninfarita proposal espoused by my colleague and partner in PC-crime Mr. turner above.

You're paying quite a bit for this training... you get out what you put in.
 

I agree w/ the peeps advocating active participation. Work hard and look as PC as a once in a lifetime opportunity that you need to wring every last drop of experience out of. Have a sense of humor about it. Don't take things personally. Know that there are often plenty of reasons for whatever is happening, even you can't figure them out. Too many people waste energy getting upset about percieved "unfairness" when they could be chilling or even enjoying the ridiculousness. My strategy, that worked very well, was to sit in the line of fire and always make eye contact w/ the prof. Volunteering was critical, even if it resulted in getting shot down (but no memos). Plus, it can be fun to freak out your neighbors. Osler is vindictive about attendance - no joke.