kicking puppies is bad

I found out yesterday I got a free ride to law school, even though I applied on a whim and used my personal ad profile as my personal statement (I was having an impulsive moment on a bad day).  Anyways, apparently it didn’t matter that much.  Yay for me!  I am so smart.  I go for free.  Yay for me!  I am a rockstar </end happy dance>. 

When I told my mother-in-law, she said (paraphrased of course), “You’re a rockstar ballerina-princess-astronaut!”.  When I told my actual mom she said (again paraphrased), “Oh.  I didn’t know law school scholarships were commonplace.  I guess I was wrong.”  She then also asked if this was to the crummy school that I wasn’t really seriously considering.  *Sigh*.  I love how supportive my mom is.  (Actually, she occasionally is really supportive.  and I DO love her). 

Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t like I got a free ride at Stanford (or even Santa Clara).  I’m aware that Golden Gate is a 4th tier school.  But a free law degree is a free law degree (even if the school did almost lose their accreditation a few years ago because students couldn’t pass the bar exam).  I’m a firm believer that you get out of your education what you put into it.   And I believe that the professors at most schools are competent, and if I want to learn I can (even if I’m not at Stanford).  When I pass the bar exam (even if I don’t get my degree from Stanford), I still get to put J.D. after my name on my business card.   Since I don’t want to become an evil-puppy-kicking-corporate-lawyer, I don’t need to make fancy connections with smarmy Ivy-League trust-fund douches (who are probably a lot smarter than me).  Ok, so I wouldn’t turn Harvard down if they offered me a free ride or even if they just let me in – and made me pay for it (or if they asked for me to pay full tuition and give them one of my kidneys).  But they didn’t let me in (well, I didn’t bother to apply because I *am* smart enough to know they wouldn’t have).   

Being the slight over-acheiver that I am, one of the first things I did after finding out that I had a full scholarship was look at the recommended reading list.  I also took some time to drool over sexy laptops like the new tiny sony vaio.  Squee!    Even though I’m not *that* concerned about the 4th tier ranking of my law school, the suggested reading list for prospective students has me a little worried.  The titles include: World’s Wackiest Lawsuits by K.R. Hobbie,  Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Loony Laws and Silly Statutes by Sheryl Lindsell-Roberts…  What have I gotten myself into?