November Is Here, It's Time to Get Your Act Together

Dana Lake '23
Editor-in-Chief


There is no time of reckoning quite like November. The fall is a busy time for socializing and professional networking, but hard deadlines are few and far between. “Oh, I’ll deal with that in November” is a common refrain across class years. Outlining, bar registration, job apps, the MPRE… nothing you need to worry about happens early in the semester. All is calm in August and September, with only the vague gathering of dark clouds on the horizon. The chill of October air might bring up reminders of those future problems, but you are still comfortably on the right side of Halloween. 

Then comes November. 

Halloween weekend rolls directly into the last month to start getting your act together, with nary a buffer week to sleep off your hangover. November is here, and it’s finally time to reap what you’ve spent the last three months sowing. I’ve been feeling really overwhelmed thinking of everything I have left to do before finals and the sweet release of winter break, and writing it out feels enough like working on it to delay my annual autumnal panic. So, here are some key November events to both dread and look forward to.


Daylight Savings ends November 6. 

It’s going to get DARK. We’re talking 4:30 p.m. sunset time, right around the corner. Try to maximize your morning dose of sunshine. If you are someone who is susceptible to seasonal depression, the time to start taking your vitamin D supplements was back in August, since it takes about three months for the nutrient to build up in the body.[1] The second-best time is now! You can set yourself up for a marginally better January, and maybe get some placebo benefits while you’re at it.

 
The PILA Silent Auction is Saturday, November 12…

The Silent Auction is the last big party of the semester. It’s a fancier affair than the usual SBA event, so start thinking through your outfit options. This will give you enough time to decide that you don’t like any of your clothes and can’t possibly re-wear your dress from last year like you were planning after all, so you can then make a totally necessary online order without having to pay those pesky rush delivery fees.


…and the fall MPRE is Monday and Tuesday, November 14 and 15. 

PILA weekend is going to be a busy time. Don’t leave your MPRE prep to the last minute, or you’ll be cramming the model rules in between green tea shooters at Rapture. It’s certainly been done before, but it doesn’t have to be you doing it.[2]Both Barbri and Themis have free MPRE prep programs—work through the practice problems over the course of about a week and go into the exam feeling ethical enough to practice in California or Utah. 


Outlining

Maybe this will be the semester you don’t wait until Reading Weekend to start outlining. Pay your club dues and get access to the curated outline banks they offer now, so you can start Frankenstein’s process of pulling together all the best parts of different outlines and supplementing them with your own notes. Exams begin December 12—that’s six weeks away, including Thanksgiving. Imagine the guilt-free stuffing and Black Friday shopping you can indulge if you’re in decent shape with your finals prep by then. 


1Ls: Job Applications and Major Memos 

LRW is the definition of a back-burner class for every 1L except the select few of you who plan to actually be good at your jobs. If you don’t understand the nexus test, or you’re not sure what fair use is, schedule a meeting with your writing fellow or professor now. Take your revisions seriously and set yourself up for success next semester so that you don’t have to do all your research a second time.

Applications for summer positions start getting serious in November as well. If you want to be a summer associate, especially in the Texas market, you want to apply early. Hopefully, you’ve met with OPP or the Public Service Office at least once by now to work on your resume, but a practice interview session can really help settle your nerves. Plenty of people apply over winter break and get jobs throughout the spring, especially for public service positions. But the anxiety of being an unemployed 1L is real. Being the last person in a friend group to get an offer can feel pretty demoralizing, and it’s a huge distraction from your other work. Do yourself the favor of at least charting your course and prepping your cover letters so you are ready to hit the ground running.



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dl9uh@virginia.edu