As I have noted in previous posts, this quarter has been extremely different from last quarter for me. But I think that is also the case for most people. And I think I know why: grades. During the first quarter, everyone seemed to be gunning, at least to a certain degree, since we’re all at least a little bit worried about job prospects and no one really knew how things would turn out (who’s good at test-taking, who’s smart at the law … though perhaps might not show it during class, etc.). Now that grades have been out for some time, I think some people (including myself) have fallen into a sort of indifferent bliss as to grades and have accepted their mediocrity at a very well respected school. For me, and I think for others as well, there are simply just crazy smart people here that I pretty much know I cannot compete with. I think I knew that coming in, however. I got a spot at Chicago Law by working really fuckin hard — not by being particularly smart. And so, since the really smart people here work very hard as well, and there are only a finite amount of hours in a day I can (or care to) spend time studying the law, there’s only so much I can do to try to compete with these clearly smarter and more gifted classmates.

I think this sentiment has now permeated a bit more throughout my class. People who seemed somewhat standoffish or arrogant in first quarter have eased off some and everyone seems more approachable and a bit friendlier this quarter. Of course, this could be because everyone knows each other better than before, but I prefer to believe in my theory. However, there is still a large amount of competition, I believe. Those who did not do as well as they had liked (myself included) may be more determined than ever to study their asses off to try to make up for last quarter (which is something like only 10% of our final 1L grades) and/or do their best to get on Law Review or something.

So for now, I have chosen the happy middle ground. Yes, I am fairly disappointed with my performance last quarter. But then again, if my law school career were to end right now (like if I had the average grades I got in first quarter) I would be fairly happy still anyway. Additionally, I, like most people here … I think, am not really terribly interested in performing ridiculously well in any case. Yes, it might open up a few more doors or make some career paths (such as academia) open up more readily. But I am in no way interested in academia and I think the most grades would matter for me would be if I maybe wanted some kind of clerkship (which I am undecided about) or in securing a prestigious firm job. And, in the end, it doesn’t seem like at least good jobs are necessarily reserved for the top 10% of our class, but I could be wrong …. it HAS happened before, however rare.

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