I came to a terrifying realization this morning. Finals are in three weeks.
For those of you who haven’t gone through law school finals, they can easily be categorized as three hours of hell. You’re given fact patterns and then go on a three hour typing-death-march as you try to get down everything you’ve learned (and in some cases haven’t learned). By the end, you feel like you ran a marathon, finished all seven Harry Potter books, and just came through the worst stomach flu experienced by man. It’s a mixture of accomplishment and slight nausea.
Perhaps worse than the tests themselves is the preparation. Law students are slaves to this thing called an outline. You basically take the basic shell of the class (with topics and such) and fill it with everything you’ve learned. They’re a bitch, but necessary. I don’t know if this is actually the truth or more due to the fact that my school basically said if you don’t outline you will fail out of law school and end up working the register at Goodwill. Okay, they didn’t actually say that but the sentiment was there. Either way, I’d never even consider going into a final without my outline.
I go through a distinct pattern of emotions when I outline. I start out being really gun-ho because outlining means the semester is almost over, and that is reason for excitement.
This lasts for a few days, until it quickly turns into me realizing how much I’ve forgotten from the beginning of the semester.
Which spirals into a pity party where I’m convinced that I know nothing and I’m going to fail all my classes.
This usually lasts for the duration of one episode of Gilmore Girls (my go-to freakout show) after which I remind myself that I am a smart and capable woman and overdramatic meltdowns should be reserved for people with reality shows.
I go back to outlining and wrestle through the material, vacillating between confusion and moments of clarity.
And then, a week or so later, the outline is complete. And then memorization and practice tests begin.
Why did I go to law school, again?
Throughout all of this I have one constant companion. Cookies. There is nothing that pushes you through work more than knowing that you get a treat at the end. While this has created a Pavlovian desire for a cookie after finishing just about any task, I’m going to go ahead and say it’s worth it.
These cookies would be the PERFECT treat after a long afternoon of outlining. A basic blondie jazzed up with some kit kat bars and chocolate chips. I brought them to my SBA meeting last week, but luckily I had a few left for myself.
Kit Kat Cookie Bars
Ingredients:
2 1/8 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking solda
12 tablespoon butter, melted and cooled
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup Kit Kat Bars, chopped
1 cup milk chocolate chips
Directions
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 9×12 baking dish with Pam – or you could be all baker-fancy and line it with parchment paper. If you’re lazy like me, though, Pam will work just fine.
In a bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a separate bowl mix together the butter and sugars. Add in the egg, yolk and vanilla. Next, pour in the flour mixture (one half at a time) and mix until combined. Fold in the Kit Kat Bar pieces and chocolate chips.
Pour into the prepared baking dish and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 27-30 minutes, until the edges are pulling away from the sides of the dish and the top is slightly firm to the touch. Let cool completely before removing from the dish and cutting into bars.