The After Hour "Life" of a Law School Building

I don't usually stay late at the law school, after the last class has ended. But I was here one night this week to let students in our evening program know that Career Services was open and available to them as well. I set up a table near the entrance way, had some snacks to distribute (as with mice, one can always attract a grouping of law students with food!), activity calendars and the like and waited for the evening students to enter the building. I then tried to engage them in conversation about Career Services. 

After some in the building that evening, it suddenly hit me: (I did know this once, but my law school years are  but a distant memory) -- the after hours law school building has a distinct after-hours "life." . . . A "rhythm" ...a "hum," if you would:

• students leaving the library to move their cars closer to the building for security purposes then race back upstairs to study;
• students (those who don't have them already reserved) maneuvering for the best study carrels or library locations to settle in for the night;
• fights in the library?? . . One student was telling me how she simply had asked another student to "tone down" her talking so the rest could study. The recipient of the request then picked up a chair and tossed it against a wall! (... "anger management" needed? . . pre-exam stress?) 
• students moving outside of the building waiting around the circle for the coming "pizza man" delivery;
• students attending an evening program with an engaging speaker. . (others students lurking in the hallway waiting for the program to end and eying the trays of food that had been set up for those who were actually attending the program (see, my "mice" reference, above); 
• evening students coming quickly in from their day jobs looking beat and already exhausted (I so admire the diligence and dedication of night students who often have full time demanding jobs, are parents -- and still find the time to pursue a rigorous law school curriculum!) 
• law students friends hugging and catching up, and slumping into couches in the "fish bowl"  
• students taking a few minutes down in the near the snack bar (now closed) and scarfing down dinners of granola bars that will eventually live in the text books that they are currently reading and will NOT be found until the student has graduated and past the bar exam -- TWO YEARS LATER! . . . 

. . .. It just doesn't end with the end of classes for any given day while in law school --does it? Law school and life in the building goes on until the doors finally close (here it's at 2:00am -- Security will escort students to their cars [hopefully parked on the adjacent lot] should they wish). As I said, it was that way when I went to Georgetown years ago. Funny how you forget the little things of how you lived as a law student as time passes.

So, here's to all who are (as I write) getting ready for another evening in the creepy "dungeons" of the  law school. building!!

Here's a thought : . . .Perhaps such a preparatory routine makes it easier for young associates to work those late hours in the pristine corridors of Biglaw., or in the less than elegant floors of a legal clinic in preparation of assisting a single mother save her home. . . just sayin.

Gotta love the dedication of a nocturnal law school building law student! 

P.S. If you study at home. . I know that you have it tough as well!