“There were good times, there were bad times, there were worse times, but there were also some truly superb times.”

After starting and restarting this farewell letter about a dozen times, this line from a monologue I performed this past weekend is the one I think best captures my thoughts about my time at Duke Law. The monologue is from All of the Above, a show featuring monologues written by Duke women, performed by other Duke women. This was the second time I was involved with this production, and is only one of too many times I thought to myself, “Aw what the hell, surely I have time for one more thing…”

Of course, I didn’t have time, which is where the bad times came in. Stress, busy-ness beyond even the best time management (let alone my poor version) (“Ok, should I shower, eat, or prepare for the class that is starting in 15 minutes?”). I quickly got used to running on about four to six hours of sleep per night.

Worse, though, were the times of immense self-doubt that came out of the many decisions wise and poor that I made during my time here. Do I really want to be a lawyer? Is my answer to that question relevant at this point? Did I really just run, panting and sweating and late to an OCI interview with my blazer off, tattoos out in the open for all to disapprove of? What happens if I’m that person who is so outside the realm of what a lawyer is supposed to be that she just doesn’t get a job?

It took me barely a couple months of law school to realize how many other things I wanted to put my heart into that had little to do with law. It was a lot longer before I really understood that this was ok. While here, I found time for four musicals, (as cast member, piano, drums, and bass, respectively), two plays, two monologues shows, and a band … and it has been awesome. I haven’t grown this much, musically or artistically, since the days mom was standing over my shoulder by the piano bench with a rolling pin. “Two hours down, two to go!” (Just kidding, I was never that disciplined).

However distracting a person’s other passions may be, they’re still part of who they are. I can’t possibly express in words how fortunate I’ve been to have found the opportunities I did here, both law-related and completely-not, and to have met the people that taught me, inspired me and encouraged me to do my thing and be happy. To those I’ve been lucky enough to spend some time with here: Thank you for the awesome times. Best of luck for the future. Stay in touch, kick ass, take names, and don’t Nifong.

Anyway, now that I’m three years older and three years less-foolish, here’s my top five “stuff I learned here.”

1. OCI is not the only way.

2. The Academic Handbook/planner is really important.

3. Do it. There really is always time.

4. If you’re going to use your computer to take class notes, you better be darned sure you wouldn’t rather read thesuperficial.com and perezhilton instead of take notes.

5. 3L year is not really that much less busy or stressful. So, pace yourself and enjoy the whole ride instead of banking on a breezy third year.

Ok, that’s it. In the immortal words of Cartman, “Screw you guys, I’m goin’ home.”