Some people train for marathons – spending every day building their endurance, improving their time, and practicing so they will be able to cross the finish line. I’ve been spending the last five months doing all of the above, but I’m definitely not running a marathon anytime soon. Instead, I’m taking the LSAT … this coming Saturday.

I never thought this day would come. I’ve spent countless hours taking prep classes, practice tests, doing timed sections, going over my mistakes, cranking out logic games, reasoning with myself over logical reasoning, and reading about some of the most obscene topics for the reading comprehension section, all in preparation for this day. A day I’m not sure I’m mentally prepared for; practice vs. the real deal … well, it seems so much different.

However, I have to say – I’m relieved it’s here. In fact, you could almost say that I’m pumped and ready to go. I’ve worked my ass off, and I’m ready to see the fruits of my post-grad labor. Over the last few months, there have been a million other things I rather do than answer assumption and inference questions, but I’ve sucked it up and knocked it out.

Although I’m one of those Nervous Nancy’s when it comes to test taking, I’m trying to not let my nerves get in the way of everything I’ve accomplished since July. When I first started studying for the LSAT, I never dreamed that I could do as well as I have been doing. In fact, I never anticipated that I would spend as much time as I have. But the process has been rewarding, and it’s made me want to go to law school even more. If anything, I feel like this process has taught me that I really can do anything I want, if I just dedicate the right amount of time and effort into it.

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[We're following one post-grad as she grabs that diploma, packs up her college life and heads on out to the big, bad world. There's a lot of change comin' her way and one big challenge: The LSAT.]

So, it’s crunch time. From this point on until October 9^th, my life is really about one thing and one thing only – the LSAT. Of course, I will still have everyday life to live, but from this point on my post-grad life really is going to be dictated by what I am convinced to be as one of the most evil tests in all of existence.

And I’ll be the first to admit – I am terrified. I’m absolutely shaking in my Rainbow flip flops at the thought of one test having so much power over my life.

You gotta do what you gotta do though, right? And what I have to do is do well enough on the test in October, so I don’t have to take it again in December, and come out with a score that satisfies me enough to get into a good law school for Fall 2011 admissions.

A lot is riding upon this exam. If you aren’t familiar with the whole “getting into law school business of admissions,” the LSAT is the end-all-be-all factor in admissions. According to Top Law Schools.com, “Your undergraduate GPA and LSAT score are the two most significant factors that admissions committees look at. The fact that a four hour standardized test carries as much, if not more, weight than four years of classes should tell you how important the LSAT is.” Yikes! Read More »

The building looked like any other corporate office building in America. As I pulled into the parking lot, my eyes scanned the area and I prayed I was at the right place. The innocuous sign on the door said “Prometric Learning Center, Suite 100,” as though it were any other suite in any building in corporate America. I parked my car, took a deep breath to prepare myself, and walked inside. A sign informed me that everything on the premises was video monitored and that by stepping inside I was giving my consent to appear on the footage.

Stepping inside, I couldn’t tell whether I was in a doctor’s waiting room or the locker area of a gym. To the right were chairs arranged in a tight circle, magazines scattered about the area; on the opposing wall there stood a row of rusted lockers.

A sign directed me to the front desk where a young man asked for my ID, and upon being certain that I was who I claimed to be, offered me a clipboard. I signed the honor code, promising that I would not use any forbidden study materials or divulge the contents of any question on the test. The specific rules for the GRE and testing in the center were stated on a piece of paper behind the one I’d signed, reminding me that nothing was allowed into the testing room with me, that study materials could not be used at any time after the test began, and that during my 10 minute break (if I wished to take said break) I could not leave the facility. Read More »

Making sure a guy wears a condom can sometimes be a bit of an uphill battle, but asking him to plug up his sperm and/or take a birth control pill might be just a tiny bit harder.

Although nothing like the aforementioned methods are on the market yet, scientists are busily researching ways to make men more active in pregnancy prevention.

At the second annual “Future of Male Contraception” conference held in Seattle this week (seriously, they have those?) sponsors such as the National Institute of Health and World Health Organization eagerly watched as new guy-based contraception inventions were unveiled.

Some of the new developments revealed were:

• The Intra Vas Device, “a set of removable plugs [which] block sperm in the vas deferens, the tube that’s cut in a vasectomy”.

Oh, I’m sure the guys will be lining up for this little procedure! Plugging up tubes in the body doesn’t sound comfortable, either. It kinda sounds like your balls would be constipated, no? Lovely, I’m sure.

• SARM (Selective Androgen receptor modulator), a “Testosterone-like pill” recently used as a muscle-wasting treatment that may also lower sperm count.

Awesome! So basically this is going to turn your man into a testicle-less non-man? Please tell me no. Read More »

For the two of you still reading past that headline, I’m sorry to say that the disturbing image is in fact a reality—as I unfortunately found out when my grandmother confided details of her sex life that confirmed that everyone is indeed having more sex than me.

Well, it seems that the elderly are having so much sex, that the New York City Health Department has been targeting the older age group for condom giveaways and free HIV testing. The City Council has even budgeted $1 million toward HIV education for older people—money well-spent, considering that a study by the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America projected that within the next decade, the majority of HIV-infected New Yorkers will be over 50. Read More »