Ahhhhhhhh.....

Hey, you know what? I was all stressed out! I hadn't realized how bad it had gotten until I finished my argument last night! So much for self-awareness...

I survived, nay, did well at my oral argument. Here's the scene:

A bunch of students all dressed up in suits is waiting patiently for the professor to finish with the last group of victims. I'm in my quasi-suit - casual pants and velvet jacket. Sometimes it's good to be a woman! I'm definitely more comfortable than my peers in ties and jackets. As the appealing party, I have the joy and rapture of going first on the stand. My job is to state my case, explain my arguments, and answer the questions the judge is going to throw at me. And I'm first, and I've never seen one of these done. Oh goody!

Mind you, I tried to prepare. I think my total prep time was about 2 hours of reading cases and 1/2 hour of pulling quotes out of my brief and my opponent's brief. And all of that was scattered and unfocused due to my lack of interest in in vitro fertilization. Yes, in vitro fertilization. That's the topic. I just couldn't care less, but I have to feign an impassioned response.

So I stepped up to the podium, signalled the timekeeper, and jumped in. And promptly turned red. I hate that. I always turn red, unless I completely have everything prepared and I'm comfortable. Heck, I turn red for thinking. Much less standing up in front of my professor and peers and give a crappily prepared speech. Thank goodness for all that media training.

Lo and behold, I get through 10 minutes of presenting with a reasonable amount of coherence. My opponent goes and I remember all the things I could have said. And then the evaluation. Apparently I looked competent and sharp. I was told "I'd hire you". Teehee... That is good, as I kind of need to get hired eventually. Hmm, perhaps this whole trial thing isn't so terrible. Especially now that I've managed to write a coherent brief or two. What a concept.

Hey, whaddya know - I was kinda lawyerly last night! One class down, two more to finish. Thank goodness I'm taking the summer off...