1L Perspective at the Mid-Semester Point

Summer ended and fall came to the law school in full swing. To say that I have been a law student for so long already is exciting. With the coming months come new challenges and adventures, but each is a step closer to becoming a lawyer. This second half of the semester is going to be stressful and much different than the last, but I will have to get through it just as I did this one.

Check-in Since Last Time

I cannot believe that I am already more than halfway through my first semester at law school. When I started class, I was nervous and anxious about what was to come. Now this is just my everyday life. I go to class Monday-Friday in the morning and I return home to study for the rest of the night. The weekends are reserved for more studying, but I still make time my significant other, my family, and my friends. The stress has lessened in some ways though; it is easier to make connections and get through the cases. However, the stress has increased in other ways – exams are going to be here soon, getting back grades, and looking for summer jobs.

Exam Anxiety

It is the end of October so that means that exams are right around the corner. The last day of classes is the last day of November and then exams start at the beginning of December. I have been preparing for the exams based on my knowledge of the class and what format the exam will be. I have also been working hard on my outlines so I understand the overview of the class and prepare further by connecting dots and filling in blanks that were left empty in class. Nevertheless, I am still nervous about exam time because my grades have always been important to me, and I am concerned about being successful.

Career Advising Appointment

For my law school, 1Ls are not allowed access to the Career Services Department until late October/early November. We finally had our orientation for Career Services and were able to sign up for an advising appointment. Since I am a futurist, I signed up right away to talk about my future. I feel more at ease and have a better direction of my next few years in law school. One big tip I got was to network, network, network!

Winter (Break) Is Coming

While I am enjoying my time at law school, I am very excited for winter break. Not only will I able to turn the “lawyer brain” off, I will get to relax and spend time with loved ones. However, I also have some law school work to do. I need to work on my resume and cover letter, start looking at applications for summer positions, and prepare for the next semester. Although I will be doing some work, it will be nice to finally have a little mental break before the semester rush starts up again.

I Understand (I Think)

After being more than two months in, I feel like I am connecting dots more and understanding the law better. Reading cases does not take nearly as long, and I believe I understand what the point of the case is in our understanding of the specific branch of law. I have a research memo due in November and, at first, it took some time to figure out what specifically I needed to focus on and how my memo would be structured. However, I had a meeting with my writing professor who told me that my organization and research are on point, which was a huge sigh of relief. Overall, I feel more prepared for what is to come and feel in the groove of law school.

Study, Study, Study!

From now until the end of the semester, my life is centered around studying. I still have a month of classes and new information to process, on top of still figuring out what topics are important for the purposes of the exam. Studying takes a lot of time, but is beneficial to overall success in law school. I have gotten many different tips from my mentors and classmates about what to do and what not to do, so I hope I have this in the bag. Overall, law school is still stressful and hard work, but each class becomes a little easier than the last. Now, back to studying!