Burning the Candle

I hate evening classes. I know there are lots of law students who successfully attend and graduate from evening law school programs but it's just not for me. Unfortunately, this term I have two evening classes and my attendance in both has been -well - spotty.

My first class starts at 6pm, which is a fine time, and poses no problem when I'm sitting at home editing my daughter's Language Arts assignments, mixing up a tasty Risotto, or rearranging my Fantasy Football team. But put me in the classroom and sleepiness takes hold rather quickly. And the class after that, the one that starts at 7:30pm, has been a loser from the start; I'm usually home and pouring myself a glass of wine by 7:45pm.

The problem is my home schedule. I am usually up by 5:30 am or, more recently, 3 am. The kids wake up one or a few hours later. Then, it's a quick dash to get two slow moving children out of bed, cleaned, fed, and dropped at school. Bubba stays home with me during the days I have evening classes so I do my best to work around his play and feeding schedule, but the noisy sounds of his Thomas the Tank Engine play are constantly in the background making school work and paid work a challenge. By the time I get the girls from school and get home it's 4pm. Class is the last thing on my mind.

I cannot imagine working full-time and then going to class. I think I would curl up in ball and cry every day. Sure, balancing life felt easy when I was 23 and had only one kid while finishing up my undergraduate degree and working. Madhubby and I made it work. Now, I could not do it. I am more suited to leisurely schedules with large gaps of time; No more frantic running around for this girl.

But evening law students manage the load every week: home, work, school, library, home. I can rigidly schedule my home life but throw something else into the mix and things go all pear shaped. Really, I think it takes an amazing amount of motivation and dedication to stay the course in evening classes, but motivation and, lately dedication, are both qualities I have lacked when it comes to balancing my life with law school.