Giving up - or missing it.

(my writing is rusty - i can feel it. the voice is awkward and i'm grabbing at straws for words and phrases i can't say any prettily-er...forgive me)

This past weekend, as I sat and stared out the window, I was struck at what I now perceived law school was after 8 weeks of class.

Law school = giving up a million and a half things.

Law school = giving up ...
*relaxing days spent in the sun
*shopping whenever i want
*eating out whenever i want
*visiting friends in other cities
*seeing friends in my own city
*sleeping in on the weekend
*drinking on weeknights
*lazy afternoons doing nothing
*"free time"
*phone calls to keep in touch w/friends
*emails to friends
*responding to emails from friends
*exploring new york city
*long brunches catching up w/friends
*any nighttime activities

however, this perspective seems uber-negative and unnecessary ...
thinking about what law school is in terms of sacrifices and giving things up means i miss what law school actually IS

law school =
*new opportunities
*6 figure salary upon graduation (necessary w/that billion dollar debt i'll have...)
*not being at the mercy of corporate cost-cutting in a bear market
*no working for crazy bosses (for now...)
.........

well, i'm working on the positive things that it is .. =)

last week started off as my "mental week off" but turned into my week off due to DEATH-SICKNESS.
my parents insist i had nothing more than a severe cold ... but i'm POSITIVE it was more than a cold.
a cold seems so plebeian and insignificant. my illness was, for lack of a more precise term, so much more than just a cold.
it was debilitating and extreme. urgent and dangerous. definitely took me out of action for 2.5 days of class...

and as one fellow 1L said, as a law student, "being sick blows - totally not as fun as taking sick days in elementary school"

all i can say is, YUP.