I have officially attended law school for two months.
I know I have so much more to learn and experience, but I truly feel like I have learned a colassal amount since I first walked into class in August. Here are a few things about law school, myself, and life in general that I learned from my very limited time as a law student.
1. I know nothing about law school.
Going into orientation, I was more excited than nervous. I was pumped to begin a new portion of life, challenge myself, and learn.
That quickly changed as orientation week went on. I had the horrifying realization that I knew… nothing. I knew nothing about law school or exams or internships or anything! I felt so underprepared.
Anxiety from other law students just compounded my nerves. All of us were freaking. out. Other students asked me what supplements I was going to buy, how I was planning on taking notes and briefing cases, if I had any outlines from previous years or had taken any prep classes…
What the hell is an outline and why is it over 60 pages long?
Also – one exam at the end of the semester determines our entire grade? That seems a bit extreme, don’t you think?
Then there’s the dreaded 1L curve. All the students, many of them seemingly geniuses, pitted against each other, fighting to set that curve.
On top of it all, the University kept reiterating that law school will be the most stressful, busiest time of our lives. “You have to take at least a half an hour to relax during the day”, they said during their “mental health panels”.
… a half an hour? That’s it? (what about all my NYC adventures I was dreaming of having while I was here?)
Okay, but here’s the good news – after a few weeks of classes, it got better. There’s a steep learning curve, but it seems like all the 1Ls catch on sooner or later. The exams and the curve – that quickly just becomes a part of life. It’s going to happen whether I stress about it or not, so might as well try not to stress. Also, l have more than a half an hour to myself a day. Don’t get me wrong, I am reading alot, especially on weekdays. But, I think the first week of law school is characterized by administrators using scare tactics to prepare students for the high work load and high-anxiety law students that don’t know how to balance school and life. Balance is good, and time management will allow me to do things I want to do – at least for the first few months (Once outlining starts, that a whole other story).
2. People love to intimidate you. (Law school flex culture is real)
Another truth I learned pretty quickly: Law school is all about flex culture. Students love to name drop their prestigious undergraduate school or their fancy post-grad jobs.
Don’t get me wrong – I noticed myself making annoying comments too after a few days of orientation. I found myself over-explaining my previous legal experience or name-dropping high-ranked schools that I got accepted to or waitlisted at.
As soon I realized I was doing this, I felt… yucky. Why did I feel the need to prove myself to other students?
I think some people flex their undergrad school and old jobs because they genuinely want to intimate others, just for the sake of being competitive (and I think it’s more prevalent in a city like New York). But I think the more typical reason for the flex culture phenomenon is that most students are so insecure about starting law school that they feel pressured to explain why they deserve to be there.
It’s a cycle. One especially accomplished student mentions an impressive job they had, and so the other student feels the need to prove they are accomplished too by name-dropping their Ivy League undergrad. Suddenly there’s a passive aggressive battle of who has more accomplishments, who received a higher LSAT score, etc.
I have a feeling this is just a part of the law community, or the New York community, or the professional world in general. It’s inescapable.
But, I promised myself that the next time I felt intimated by another one of the 1Ls because they attended Columbia for undergrad or because they previously worked for a big firm for three years, I would remember this: we are all starting our first year of law school. Not one of us had more experience in law school than another. We are all so stupidly inexperienced in regards to law school… it’s freeing! Sure, some of us have more life experience than others, but we are all undertaking something completely new. We all got into Law School for a reason, and we are all starting at the same spot. Everything that came before this makes us uniquely qualified in different ways, but we are all qualified.
3. Camaraderie helps you get through it.
At the risk of sounding pretentious, my friends and family can’t truly understand or appreciate what law school is like, and it is a little bit difficult to describe.
So, law students have to turn to their classmates for solace. They get it, and it’s a relief to not be alone in this massive new life challenge I am taking on. I can complain to them about a stupid memo I have to write, joke about an absurd case I am reading, review topics I are learning in class, or turn to them for distractions when I’ve just had enough of law school. The camaraderie that comes with experiencing the first year of law school together is very different than your undergrad classmates.
On another note – I was extremely nervous about making friends in NYC and it went much more smoothly than expected. So if you are nervous about moving to a new place, I can say from experience that you’ll most likely be okay.
4. My voice is valid.
I am not one to keep quiet. I like raising my hand in class, and I like expressing my opinion.
I have a lot to say in my Property class specifically (Who knew I would feel passionate about property owner rights??). During one of my first Property classes, I found myself raising my hand often to give my perspective or ask questions. By the end of class, I realized I had talked alot. Maybe more than I should have… did I say anything stupid? Did I even add anything of value to the conversation? Were my professor and classmates annoyed with how much I spoke?
I turned to one of my friends as we walked out of the classroom and asked, “did I talk too much during that class?”
Another girl in my class overheard me say this. She looked me straight in the eyes and said, “You did not talk too much. You had important things to say and whenever you raised your hand you added to the conversation”.
Her words were loud in my brain. I think about them often. She probably was just trying to be nice and doesn’t even remember saying that to me. But I think her comment was just the reminder I needed: a reminder that I have to continually give myself.
In law school, I often feel like my opinions are not as important as my classmates. I feel like other students are more qualified to give their viewpoint and can articulate their points more intelligently. It can be difficult, especially as a woman, to believe my thoughts are just as worthy of being heard as everyone else’s.
My voice is valid (and so is yours).
(thank you unnamed law classmate, I appreciate you!)
5. I don’t know how to read or write.
Every law professor tells you that even if you’re confident in your reading and writing abilities, law school reading and writing is so different that you will have to relearn everything. So, I knew I would have to alter my reading and writing tactics slightly, but I thought my Journalism experience would put me ahead of at least the students that didn’t have to read or write much during undergrad. I thought everyone was exaggerating…
I was very wrong. I am used to skimming when I read. Turns out, when you’re reading cases for law school, skimming won’t cut it. My average reading pace for my casebooks is about ten pages per hour, and that’s on a good day. And don’t even get me started on legal writing. I have a lot of work to do, to say the least.
So if you ever decide to go to law school ever and the profs tell you this, believe them!
6. It’s good to remind yourself why you’re doing this.
I like law school so far. But sometimes after my fourth hour of reading a torts assignment or rereading my short memo for the 18th time, I wonder why I am doing this to myself. In order to combat this, I hung a white board above my desk and wrote all of the reasons why I am torturing myself by reading case law. It is incredibly cheesy, but it really does help.
My main reasons for being a law student are:
- to grow and learn
- to ensure I have the future I want
- to gain perspective
- to move towards a meaningful career
- to gain experience
- to make friends with like-minded people
- to feel achieved
I like to add an inspirational quote on the board too, just to make it extra cheesy. My favorite one right now is: “I am trusting the uncertainty and believe I will end up somewhere right and good”.
7. Law students love to drink.
There’s not much to this one. Yeah, we have to read a lot. But then we get to go to a happy hour and get drunk together, which is pretty fun.
8. Law students won’t shut up about law school.
This one is also simple. At least in my experience, once you start law school, all you can think about is law. I find myself walking down the street and seeing possibly negligence torts everywhere. Suddenly I am thinking about property law on my way to the grocery store and criminal law on the way back. It consumes your entire mind, and you just can’t escape it.
My friends and I will be at bar for two minutes before we start talking about something law-school related. Even if we try to focus on something else, we just can’t shut up about law school. It’s very annoying, so I apologize to my non-law school friends in advance for only talking about law.
9. There’s so much to learn!
Okay, this one is going to be extra cheesy.
I am so lucky to be in law school. I get to learn something new every day at school from genius professors. And what I learn matters – it has real life implications. I get to discuss important issues and listen to different perspectives about those issues. My ideas are constantly challenged, and I am continuously contemplating my values and philosophies. I feel more connected with the world around me, and I feel like I am equipping myself to make a difference, eventually. I feel like what I am doing matters, which I haven’t felt in a long time. All this is to say that I realized just how much there is to learn in law school, and I couldn’t feel any luckier to be here.
Maybe this feeling will wear off in a few more months (I am sure by exams I won’t feel this optimistic), but I do think it’s important to remember that I have so much opportunity here, and I am so lucky to have it.
Grace in the City 