Relaxing

I've been a law clerk in Alaska for one month as of today. During this time I've gotten a few crash courses in what my job will be in general and I've met a few people. Also, during this time I have made some serious changes to my routine and come to a few general conclusions.

As for the changes, the biggest one is my commute. For the past three weeks I have been biking to work and I'm really coming to enjoy it. Yesterday evening I realized how much I look forward to my morning commute, even though I ride my bike 7 miles before 8:30am, sometimes in the rain (and soon I suspect I will ride in the snow). This morning was particularly thrilling because I passed two other bikers on the trail who warned me of some moose ahead of me. The moose were supposedly on the left of the trail, but by the time I approached their trail location the two moose (one of them rather gigantic) crossed directly onto the trail. Not being an idiot, I came to a complete stop and just stared. My knees shook a little, my heart pounded, and I wondered what to do next. Luckily an older man on a bicycle approached from behind me and waited a moment with me. When the moose made their way across the path to graze on the right hand side he suggested we bike past them slowly and quietly. It was nice to have a more seasoned person there to take cues from.

As for relaxing, the first two weeks in my job I wore suits or suit-like combinations every day. I like dressing up for work sometimes, but generally speaking wearing a full suit five days per week is a bit much to ask. Don't get me wrong, I like wearing my cute heels, nice pants, skirts, and a scarf sometimes, but wearing nice clothes takes a tad more energy and thought than wearing casual clothes and sometimes I need a break. So now I've decided that, aside from Thursdays when I work directly with the public, as long as I'm not wearing jeans I'm doing just fine. Today is Friday, which is unofficially a casual day here at the courthouse so I'm wearing a pair of casual khakis from Anthropologie (love, love, love that store) and a Gap sweater that is slightly oversized (like everything else they're designing this year) and uber comfy. I'm wearing my kickass Steve Madden ankle cowboy boots. Loving this outfit today.

Another aspect of my job that is taking some getting used to is sharing my job and my office. My co-clerk and I share a large office. I have no problem sharing, in fact I generally enjoy it, but my co-clerk and I are very different. Aside from personality differences (don't get me wrong, she's really nice, we're just really different), we also work differently. I imagine that in law school she was a really intense student who dedicated a lot of time to studying. On the other hand, I've always been one to work fast, knock out assignments and then go live my life. My job is just my job. I want to be good at it, but more than that I want to be good at living my life. So she shows up to work super early and stays late sometimes. I am here 8 hours per day and I get my work done, but I have yet to have an assignment that creates a personal obsession or the desire to stay really late. Don't get me wrong, if I fall behind or have a lot of work to do one day I'm happy to put in more hours to get it done and do it well, but I have no plans to make this a habit.

On top of this I've spoken with some former clerks from courts throughout Alaska who have confessed to regularly coming to work at 10am or later, surfing the internet for entire days and then staying really late because they realize they've wasted the day, etc. Basically I'm finding that this is a research-based position. We receive a series of projects and have deadlines. If the deadlines are met and the work is of a high quality (and we dont' miss appointed times to be present in court) then we have fulfilled our duties. I don't think being here 30 minutes before the work day starts is necessary to "prove" myself because, quite frankly, nobody is keeping tabs on the hours I keep, just the work I turn in.

That being said, I should start making headway on my tasks today so I can really enjoy my weekend and not have anything looming for me on Monday.

Cheers.