Law School
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How Can You Study In Times Like These?
Everything can feel so overwhelming right now with what’s happening in the news. It can feel like a useless endeavor to study for the bar when so much chaos is happening at that border and in our communities. Even still, it’s so vital for you to keep going, to focus on the bar (or whatever goal you have this summer). Use what’s happening as motivation to get to your next chapter. But I really want to volunteer! I remember the travel ban last year and how people swarmed the airport. So many students participated in that as well. So, yes, you can certainly volunteer in whatever capacity you can. But…
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Summer Series: Learning from the Past
Our Summer Series continues! This series highlights different Latina students and law grads as they embark in their summer jobs and/or bar prep all across the country. We hope to provide a variety of work experiences, options for a healthy work-life balance, and general motivation through different guest contributors to help you to take charge of your summer and professional goals! Today, Linette, a rising 2L in California, describes how she’s using lessons learned from her internship last summer to start her current children’s rights focused internship on the right foot! Before starting law school, I had a lot of fears and insecurities about my abilities. I had heard “horror” stories of people having…
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Summer Series: Be Prepared for the Sticker Shock
Our Summer Series continues! This series highlights different Latina students and law grads as they embark in their summer jobs and/or bar prep all across the country. We hope to provide a variety of work experiences, options for a healthy work-life balance, and general motivation through different guest contributors to help you to take charge of your summer and professional goals! Today we hear from Alexandra, a Florida law school graduate prepping for the bar exam right now! Alexandra discusses the need to prepare for the Bar Exam–not mentally or emotionally–but financially! And good luck Alexandra!! Becoming a lawyer is expensive. It’s one of those things that I think we all know, but it…
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Bar Exam: Maintaining Focus
So, all you bar preppers, you’re really in it now. A full week in, I remember feeling like I didn’t know anything and getting scared sh*tless, just knowing that I wouldn’t pass. The entire summer, other than studying, my main thing was keeping my anxiety at bay. And I didn’t always succeed. It was rough. For some, this will be the big barrier you face this summer. The emotional toll studying for the Bar takes on you. There’s a constant barrage of thoughts: what if I don’t pass; how will I earn a living; am I wasting my time; how can I overcome the pain if I fail? It really…
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Why is Law School Terrible?
In college I attended a conference where a student discussed how he was finishing his 1L year. And he made the joke almost all law students have made since the invention of law school, which was DON’T GO! And everyone laughed, but I remember the guy’s eyes flashing with a glint of a little desperation, but then he smiled again and said he was joking. But was he? Are we just joking when we tell people not to go? Why is law school so horrible that we dissuade others from attending? I’ve covered before why the advice for most people to not attend law school doesn’t really apply to Latinas.…
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When You Can’t Afford College
First, big ups to Latino USA who discussed navigating higher Ed last week and inspired this post. I recommend everyone to give the episode a quick listen. The story talks to different Latinx students finishing up their college degrees and the problems, mostly financial, that they face. Memories came flooding back as I remembered my Junior year in college and how a ton of missteps and bad luck made it so financially difficult that it looked like I wouldn’t be able to finish school. I never connected the dots that this may be a common theme many of us experience, but the fact that Latinx students struggle to graduate proves…
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Eye on the Prize: What to Focus on During Law School Finals
While most of us are impatiently waiting for spring to get here, most law students are gearing up for finals and I do not envy you. I remember how overwhelming spring semester can be because not only do you have finals and other normal life responsibilities, but you also are prepping for the summer, and probably are dealing with oral arguments, maybe for the first time if you’re a 1L. It can just feel like too much. It’s normal to feel beyond stressed and overwhelmed, but it is also possible to manage everything that you have to do—very difficult, but possible. Here is what you need to keep your focus…
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Pick your Passion: Big Law or Public Interest?
I have noticed a trend that I want to help stop. Recently, I have met with multiple people interested in public interest jobs, but have no public interest background. The thing with public interest is that we really like seeing people “committed” to the cause. As in, experience, and rightfully so because this work isn’t easy. Yes, all lawyering is difficult, but in PI you are dealing with the most vulnerable, marginalized groups and we need to know you’re capable and have an interest in advocating for these groups. So when I ask people with no PI background why they’re interested in legal aid–imagine my anger when they tell me…
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Is Law School Right for Me?
Going into law school means starting the journey with eyes open. It means coming to terms with debt, finding ways to finance it, and really understanding whether you want to commit three years of your life to this. Three years isn’t a long time, but it’s long enough to do damage to your self-esteem, your bank account, your relationships, and you end up questioning your intelligence, talents, etc etc. It’s a mind-F. So you naturally are asking yourself, is law school for me? Honestly? No. Law school isn’t really for anybody–unless you’re one of those rare birds that really enjoys law school (no judgement, but I kind of am lol).…
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Your Goals Matter
First, sorry not sorry, but I can’t get off the Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter train–it was just such a good book! But it definitely has kept me thinking–in the novel, the imperfect daughter, Julia, struggles with meeting the standards her family sets and is more focused on creating a life for herself that’s different than what her small neighborhood has to offer–she wants to be a writer, go to college, see the world. Her parents don’t get why she can’t be happy to have a steady job and stay at home with her family. There were so many scenes where I was rooting for Julia and became just as…