Legally in Love: “Lizzie” Says Goodbye
I have avoided writing this post, knowing that once my editor approves it for send-off, my days of BLSGs are no more. Of course there will be happy hours, birthdays, reunions and courthouse run-ins, but my hunting ground will never again be 250 Joralemon.
I’m relieved law school is over, for it was an excruciating experience requiring a major caffeine addiction and the sacrifice of an actual social life. Once the bar is over for us 3Ls, we will truly be set free, a thought both exciting and terrifying.
Looking back, I applaud anyone who managed to have a steady relationship with a student during all these years; balancing school and family seemed like an impossible feat that I was never able to accomplish. I started school single, and despite my best efforts, I am leaving it that way. As cold as it may sound, career always came first for me. So instead of seeking and fighting for a non-jurisprudence romance, I opted for those with whom I always had the common ground of school to keep our “agreement” afloat. I loved the convenience of being with someone who was on my time schedule: we knew when to study, when to actually study, and when we just needed a friend’s shoulder to lean on.
Life as a student is over now, putting to rest all of my experiences with school-centered pseudo relationships. Along with ~ 450 other graduates, I am set to receive my Juris Doctorate degree. My parents are over-the-moon happy. I have learned how to think like a lawyer and write like a lawyer, and have even gained some substantive legal knowledge here and there. However, my diploma will not be a true reflection of all that I have learned since my first day of class 1L year, which includes what I want versus what I need in a partner. Just like my iPhone, convenience makes life a whole a lot easier, but it never gave me the mutual deep connection with another human being I have always longed for. I never realized that getting a legal education would teach me important lessons about love!
As for my personal BLSGs, it is to them I owe my favorite moments in law school. Even though we can stalk each other on Facebook, we will inevitably lose touch. Yet I will never forget our laughs over Thai food, the drunken make-out sessions at student-sponsored bar nights and our cringe- worthy awkward encounters when we didn’t know what to say to each other. The good times helped me escape the dread of exams and job-hunting, and the bad times forced me to deal with the growing pains of the heart.
So thank you, to my BLSGs for making me realize I don’t want to end up with a lawyer, to the “real” Lizzie B’s for unintentionally covering my identity, and to the class of 2012 for making the last three years of my life truly unforgettable…we did it!
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