There have been many days recently when the path from law school hopeful to law student has been littered with a barrage of questions that, at that moment, seem impossible to answer. Perhaps these questions began years ago with the childhood standard: "What do you want to be when you grow up?"

More recently, the questions have ranged from the mundane (date of birth, permanent address, mailing address, address at which you may be reached over the summer - how many addresses can we have?) to the introspective ("Why do you want to go to law school?"). Some of the questions have been head-scratchers ("If Paul cannot be ahead of Robert in line and Trish has to be somewhere before Quincy and after Oliver, but only if Ulga is first, all of the following could be the meaning of life EXCEPT"); others have been agonizingly vague (two pages, double spaced, size 11 or 12 font ... go).

One of the many trips to the post box (I admit occasionally checking several times in one day - and by "occasionally" I mean I'd skip some Sundays) changed the questions. Finding a thick envelope in the mail brings a unique excitement, and demands new answers to new questions. We all found our way through the "which law school are you going to attend" minefield and landed on GW.

Once that decision was made, in my experience at least, the questions being asked of me have faded into the background as the questions I myself desperately want answered have amplified. I still hear a fair amount of "what type of law do you want to study?" which I assiduously avoid answering. While I have my leanings, there are so many areas of law about which I know nothing, and I have a underlying suspicion that the areas I do think I know something about will reveal themselves differently.

But now, after a long process through which I myself had done much of the answering, I have been left with a summer of anticipation, and the questions I want answered have been my constant companions. What subjects will immediately pique my interest? What will my new classmates be like? Is [insert-your-most-dreaded-class-here] really as bad as they say? How long into the semester will I survive before the Socratic method catches up with me?

The good news is that these questions will likely be answered in short order. After a few days of mandatory bonding, mixed in with the requisite panel discussions, followed by several nervous moments trying to determine the most strategic route to the next class, we'll settle into our new lives. After those initial exhilarating days, (and after reading 462 pages of background material in size 10 font), we'll be ready to confront the next round of questions flying at us.

Maybe more importantly, we'll be ready to seek out the answers to whatever questions form in our own minds. We all bring a record of accomplishment and myriad experiences and perspectives from around the world that will both create and help answer questions in our studies. Hopefully our shared experiences will help answer others' questions as well (or, at very least, generate obscure inside jokes).

So, to all my new classmates, best of luck (and to all the 2-, 3- and 4Ls, please help!), and I hope that a year from now, when we're more stressed and frazzled, we can all remember the excitement that comes with the anticipation of and expectations for our next great experience. Until then, here's hoping you find a good locker-mate (likely), your first case briefing is only mildly painful (probable) and that the Nats can win a game for us during orientation (well ... we'll see).