Part of what makes Pink Floyd a timeless band is their ability to tap into real emotions and feelings.  Sometimes, I wonder if any of the members of Pink Floyd every applied to law school- if so, “Time” is obviously their ode to the process.

I am a man of instant gratification.  If I commit myself to something, I fully (and often wrongly) believe that I should see the fruits of my labor immediately.  As you can imagine, waiting for law school to begin is driving me CRAZY.  I started studying for the LSAT in December of 2007, took the LSAT in June of 2008, and won’t begin law school until August of 2009.  Patience is a virtue- one that I am having to develop.

I am about half way through with the book, and I can safely say that Bleak House isn’t primarily about the law… not as far as I am concerned.  Don’t get me wrong… the book is great.  The characters are as wonderful as you would expect from a Dickens book, and the story is very interesting.  However, the infamous lawsuit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce- a lawsuit that is considered a scathing parody of the follies of the Chancery Courts of 19th-century England- is merely a backdrop to the story.  It is a way to get the characters where they need to be.

To me, Bleak House is a story of priorities.  The most charitable characters- that is to say, the characters most involved with actual charities- are depicted as selfish fools, caught up so much in the business of others that they can’t see the sad state of their own condition.  Richard Carstone is portrayed as a tragic character who can never decide what he wants… someone who banks his priorities on a law suit that will never bear fruit.  These characters contrast starkly with Esther Summerson, who does kindness for everyone but expects little in return.

I would recommend Bleak House to law students, but not for its commentary on the law.  Rather, Bleak House offers insight to what can happen when you forget what is important in life… in a profession such as the law, this insight is as relevant as any legal case.

My GPA and test scores were high enough to give me a very wide selection of schools… I had my pick of undergrad schools in the region.  When people ask me why I chose Western Kentucky University, I have a hard time putting it into words.  Coming out of high school, my main goal was to find a school that I could love for the four years I would attend.  Immediately after stepping upon Western’s campus, I knew that this was it… this was the place for me.   The past four years have been some of the best of my life… I have gotten married, met friends that I will stay acquainted with for the rest of my life, and, as of four days ago, graduated summa cum laude.  I can wonder how things would be different had I gone to a different school, but I can rest assured that my decisions have made me happy.

It is for similar reasons that I now choose to attend University of Kentucky College of Law.  UK was not the only school that accepted me, and it wasn’t the highest ranked school, either… not by a long shot.  There are prettier campuses that I have visited, and there are schools with better national prospects.  However… none of them are UK.  For a Kentucky-born kid like me, attending UK Law is a dream… a dream that few people can ever make reality.  If everything goes according to plan, in three years, I will be a law school graduate from the premier school in my home state with no debt.  You can talk about career prospects all you want- to me, it doesn’t get any better than that.

So that’s that… I turned down schools that people would die to get into.  However, I chose a place that makes me happy.  A place that I can love.  The next three years promise to be exciting ones… I can’t wait.