I took the LSAT

I should also mention that not this weekend but the weekend before, I finally took the LSAT.

I suspect I did very okay.

I took LSAT classes off and on from February through late August. I didn't do much of the homework, though, because I kept being busy and had a hard time paying attention to it.

I thought about re-scheduling it again (which costs like $80), but decided I definitely wasn't going to have more time to study for the December test. Or the February or June tests. I'm not even really sure I want to do law school anymore. If I do, I suspect I'll want to re-take the LSAT sometime after I've finished my undergrad. When I'll actually have time to study and do all of the homework.

My test-taking experience was all right. The LSAT administration on the U of U campus is in the engineering building, which is actually pretty nice. My room didn't have the door open when everyone was supposed to be checking in, so a lot of people waited outside instead of just coming in, and our group got started later.

I was a little nervous because I usually use the timer on my cellphone to keep track of my time on each section. For the LSAT you are allowed to bring an analog watch, which I have, but the morning of the test I couldn't find it. I went just hoping that my room would have a clock. It did. And that was fine.

It was kind of interesting to see how people approached the test differently. You're allowed to bring a gallon bag with a few things in it: 3-4 pencils. Erasers. A highlighter. An analog watch. A juice box or drink in a bottle no more than 20oz. A snack, ONLY FOR THE BREAK. Your ID. Your wallet and keys. Medical items, for those who need them.

It was funny, though, because some people had like a dozen pencils. Seriously, though. Like, the bottom of their bag was full of pencils. I would love to watch someone take a test and actually use 12+ pencils. What, do you use each pencil for one answer bubble? And then there was this guy like, diagonal from me. He had ONE pencil with one of those bigger pink erasers that you can put on the end of a pencil. And that was about it. Most people had watches. A few other people didn't. Most people had gallon bags. This one guy had his stuff in like, a grocery bag. A few people didn't bring bags at all. I felt really weird not having my cellphone, but I think if it was OFF and in my pocket and I left it alone, nobody would have cared.

There was kind of a funny/awkward moment at the beginning. The girl who was administrating the test said: "It's hot in here. Are you guys hot in here?" And I never am, but a bunch of other people agreed with her. She adjusted the thermostat and then walked across the room and muttered, "Maybe I'm just having hot flashes. I haven't had my period in a few months." But like, she muttered it loud enough that the whole room (70-ish people) heard. And we all kind of looked around, like, did she just say that? And she had.

Also, she had a lisp. Which would not be such a big deal except that when we got to the writing Sample teSt aSSeSSment she kept having problems reading the instructions. She put her head down and was like, sorry guys, and told us she was just not with it today. Poor girl.

There were a lot of questions I didn't get to. I think that's partly because I hadn't studied recently. I'll get my results by e-mail about 3 weeks from my test date.

I'm hanging onto my test prep materials in case I decide to try again in a year or so, but it feels good to (kind of) be done.

LSAT prep classes.

I started my LSAT class this week.

I'm doing the same class that a few of my friends did.  It's not super close to downtown, and it's pretty intense-- 3 hours of lessons on Mondays (or Wednesdays, if I prefer), 3 hours of drills and questions and answers on Thursdays, and practice tests every Saturday morning from 8-12.  Plus homework that is meant to take about an hour a day.  

It's a two month class, but I can take it multiple times if I want.  So I just planned to start now, do the class twice, and take the June test.  Which I hoped they wouldn't mind.  And!  They planned on it. They just assumed that everyone would do two sessions.  (If we want to.)  The lessons are going to be the same, but we're using different examples and doing different problems and taking different Saturday tests.  They said that our group (the people who start in February and test in June) is the group that sees the best results of everyone who takes the prep classes.  Fantastic!

So I really was hoping that I would like it.  Because four months of that would be miserable.

On Thursdays and for tests we'll have a guy named Phil, who got a 180 on his LSAT, and is supposedly great.  But we didn't meet him.  Instead we met Brent (who will teach us on Mondays) and Tasi (who does administrative stuff).

Brent is the best.  He introduced himself, and here are some of the things that I remember about him:

- He doesn't like shoes.  He wears sandals all the time.  During the winter he wears thicker sandals that have thicker soles "so that I get less snow on my feet."  

- He is forgetful.  He said he's one of those people who has driven off with the gas pump still attached to the car.  And we all laughed, and then he finished his sentence: "four times."  But he said he's getting better.  This March it will have been two years since he did that.  ("Unfortunately, it hasn't been that long since I drove off with the bank canister.")  

And then we went around and introduced ourselves, saying our names, where we're from, what we're doing, and something interesting about ourselves.  There are 13? people in my Monday class and here are the interesting things about them (but a few people didn't say an interesting thing):

1. A girl speaks Lithuanian.  (Brent said he speaks Finnish.)

2. The guy next to me is an original ballroom dancer.  Before Dancing with the Stars became cool.

3. One guy is attempting law school with three little kids.

4.  One girl was a BYU music major and became a U of U Behavioral Science major (she explained that she totally changed her mind)

5. Another guy has 3 kids and loves skiing.  

6. Another guy has 2 kids and works for the US Department of Commerce.  [And, if any of us or our friends want a job with the Census, we should let him know.]

7. Someone else lived in St. Thomas for 5 months.  Which is an island.  He had an internship there.

8.  Another girl has "a bad case of spring fever".  (Who doesn't?)

[9.  Mine was about having random hobbies.  Like making cheese, and I said another one but people wanted to talk about the cheese.]

And it was fun.  

We got bags, and lots of books, and during out breaks we can have a soda if we want.  (Complimentary drinks always seem nice, even if technically I'm paying for them.  I feel similarly appreciative when my stylist gets me a drink while my highlights have to wait.)

So.  Turns out, I love it!  I wish I could major in the LSAT.