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Summer Series: Reconnecting with your Purpose
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 Krystlen, a rising 2L from Florida, who is re-connecting with her community after feeling disconnected from her classmates during her 1L year at Hofstra: I always get asked what my plans are after law school, which is understandable, but absolutely absurd to me considering that a year ago,…
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The Importance of Diversity (and I’m not talking about Race)
If I have not scared you enough into preparing for your summer job then rest assured I will keep trying. Appointments with career services will be here soon and deadlines will be fast approaching, and one of the things you have to decide soon is where you’re planning to apply. Perhaps you had a really good experience with an agency your 1L summer. Or you’ve been interning during the fall semester with a new agency that you really are enjoying. It’s natural to want to keep working for a place you enjoy. However, if you’re dealing with a legal market where offers are not certain, or you’re working public interest where…
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The Question to Ask during Mid-Terms: Am I doing Ok?
One of the most common problems with law school is that we barrel past every week without thinking much about what you just learned. This makes sense because who has time to sit down and think about past topics when you have so many new ones to learn, on top of papers, job applications, life… But it’s a big misstep to not stop and ask yourself during mid-terms: am I doing ok? And I’m not referring to mental health (though do stop occasionally to think about that). Rather, are you understanding the material? Do you get what the professors are trying to teach you? Are you forming and flexing the…
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Start Hustling Now: Preparing for your Summer Legal Job Search
It may seem too soon to start looking for summer jobs, but before you know it you’ll be frantically writing outlines, cramming for finals, trying to keep up with readings, and –oh yeah—apply for jobs. Knowing that there’s a huge time-crunch coming down the pike means you should what you can now so that you don’t half-ass your job search. I’ve mentioned before, but the end of October during my first semester in law school was one family issue after another. I, unfortunately, got distracted and suddenly it was second semester and I still didn’t have anything lined up. I got really lucky, but you shouldn’t depend on luck! While you’re…
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Law School Study Groups: Help or Hinder?
One of the good & bad things about law school is the push for everyone to study a certain way. It’s good because it may open up new avenues of learning information that you hadn’t used before but it can also work against you because you may feel pressured to do what everyone else is doing—even if that doesn’t work for you. A big part of studying in law school is Study Groups, now obviously study groups happen anywhere but they are a different beast in law school. In many schools, study groups take on a weird, competitive nature of resume collecting, secretive note-sharing, and other weird behavior. That’s not…
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Reacting to Inappropriate & Privileged Comments in Class.
One of the great things about law school is that you’re interacting with a lot of smart people and most of them have specialized interest for justice. It can really broaden your horizons and expose you to knew causes and pursuits. That was very much the case for me. On the flip side, you will also encounter some of the most close-minded and culturally bereft people in your life. Meaning that you may have classmates who have lived in such sheltered, privileged way of life that they make comments without thinking (or caring) about the implications. Case in point, when I was a 2L we had to take a class…
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Mastering Law School Classes
Law School classes are like no other because aside from reading often arcane cases and trying to figure out just exactly what’s happening in those crazy fact patterns, you also go into class with terror in your gut that you’ll be the one called on today and omg, what happens if I freeze?! It’s really quite stressful. The fear gets easier overtime, but what you really need to cultivate during the early part of the semester is paying attention so that you actually understand. I know it seems like a no-brainer, but law school is tricky. It tricks you into thinking you can listen and browse the internet at the…
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Competition in Law School
I mentioned last week how intimidating my law school orientation was partly because I heard about so many accomplished students who were part of my year, and it was intimidating to compete against them. What I wish I had known then was that almost everyone—even the very accomplished—were just in the dark as I was. For the most part, we were all new to reading case law, briefing cases, the Socratic Method, and thinking like a lawyer. Now, of course, it wasn’t a completely even playing field. There were students that seemed to magically understand the concepts the professors were presenting; they knew which supplementals to use; they knew how…
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Overcoming Law School Anxiety
I remember the first few weeks before law school started and being really excited I was finally–finally–starting the last leg of my educational goals. But I also remember feeling lost and confused. I have homework before classes start? But I don’t understand what I’m reading… I’m not supposed to buy used books? But I can’t afford new books… You don’t recommend that I work during school? But I can’t afford my books! It was stress-inducing to say the least. For many people, the beginning of law school is exciting (and it should be!), but within the first few days, a lot of confusion and anxiety can creep in and turn…
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School Supplies for Law School
This week we’ve focused on pre-law work—and because so many are starting law school in a few weeks (!) we want to discuss some vital supplies to stock up on during the back to school sales. While almost all the work is digital, it’s still a paper-based industry in that you’ll be using real books, printing cases, and briefing cases. So what are somethings that will be super useful? Highlighters and tabs. If you’re not a highlighter person, you’ll likely become one so you may as well stock up now. Likewise, tabs are great for statutes so that you can find what you’re looking for immediately. I like the thicker…