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Grateful for the Struggle
Around this time, I think it’s important to recognize the struggle one has overcome in order to to be where they are in their life. I know you’re thinking, “bih that’s all you do!” and you’re right lol. I do talk about our struggle a lot. A lot. And I do it because it’s easy to think this career trajectory is easy. It’s not. It’s hard becoming an attorney. For women of color, it’s even more difficult. It shouldn’t be this hard and I don’t condone that the system is this way– like I’m encouraging some weird hazing ritual. It shouldn’t be this way, especially when the reason why it’s…
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Put in the Work: Preparing for Finals
We talk a lot about stress in law school, especially during finals time because guuuurrrl it is stressful! Beyond anything you experience in college. It is a mental mind melt and it can feel confusing as to why it feels so rough. Trust that you’re not alone in feeling frustrated and that it’s very normal to feel like you’re at a loss during finals. You’re about to go into exams without any real idea of how well you understand the concepts you’ve been learning. It’s all riding on these grades and not only is it curved, but you also have to worry about format. Issa lot. But it’s not impossible.…
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Grit is not Enough
Are you gritty? Do you persevere above all obstacles to reach your goal? Chances are, if you are heading to law school, the answer is yes. We are so full of grit, y’all! Grit (perseverance and passion) is a quality characteristic–and students of color, living in poverty have it by the boatload. Yet, we place too heavy a burden on students of color when we focus on grit as the sole reason of why they succeed. Because when we only focus on the individual, we take away the responsibility schools and other systems of power have to help our communities. And grit isn’t enough for students to overcome those barriers.…
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Why is Law School Such a Trip?
Everyone knows that law school is hard. You know that going in, but for many of us, halfway into our first semester there’s a shift from difficult to seemingly impossible. Why is law school so mentally difficult? Why does it make us question our intelligence, our choices, and capacity? Law school is tough for practical reasons. Mostly, they are retraining you to think objectively. Thinking objectively is difficult to do. It goes against our nature, which often wants to choose a side rather than view everything from all angles. It’s hard to master, and it’s frustrating when you don’t “get” it—especially when you’re used to doing well in school. It’s…
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Pre-Law Probs: Mastering Your Personal Statement
When I tell you that I never prepared and planned harder for my law school application than anything else in my life I am not joking. I was serious about getting admitted and knew I needed as much preparation and help as possible. The biggest obstacle for me was my personal statement. I knew I had a lot of convincing to do as my LSAT score was very average. So I did things I never, ever did with my writing (that in retrospect should have been a habit lol). I had multiple friends give edits and suggestions. I went to the writing center–hand to god, I had never stepped foot…
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Work With What You Got
This week the internet was down at my house and because I can’t get ready without background noise, I started playing my iTunes on my laptop (lol wut). A Laura Pausini song came on and suddenly summer 06 came flashing back. That summer, I took the June LSAT and spent the rest of time researching law schools and starting my personal statements. Our house had no AC so the family computer was in the basement so that we wouldn’t sweat to death while using the hot ass computer. It was a really out of date desktop–so out of date that the screen lagged behind the keyboard. Like, I would write…
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What Kind of Lawyer Will You Be?
Some of us know going into law school what we want to do, but many others just know we want to be a lawyer without a specific idea of the area or type of law we want to practice. And going through law school can make things even blurrier because suddenly we’re so overwhelmed with feeling miserable that we just want to get through it. But regardless of whether you’re in school with a laser-like focus about what you want to do or are just kind of going through the curriculum, hoping something sticks–there are two things you have to do to help form the lawyer you will be: 1)…
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Law School Culture Shock: Keep These Things in Mind
We talk a lot about how different law school feels once you start. It can all be so overwhelming that at times you may think that you’re the only struggling, when that’s not the case at all. I wanted to discuss culture shock and adjusting to your new law school reality. First, culture shock is real. Whenever you enter new environments with new social cues and norms, it can be difficult to get a handle of it. When I first started, I could NOT get over the idea that people actually wore suits. Like, it felt like a costume; not something I would actually wear for an entire day. It…
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Open Letter to “Mediocre” Latinx Students: Go Where You’re Not Wanted
Yesterday, I saw the article on WaPo about the University of Maryland professor who accidentally sent an email to his mock trial class that included a coach’s (the prof’s daughter) remarks on the students who had tried out and her concern about whether or not to include the Latino students for the sake of diversity even though she thought they all performed poorly and that the best one was “mediocre.” I read that article and it was gut-wrenching. So often students of color have a sense that some professors, admins, or people in power within academia don’t support us because they have a preconception of our “inferior” capabilities, but rarely…
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Pre-law Prep: Making the Most of your Senior Year
Since my anniversary is at the end of the month, my husband and I always reminisce about the beginning of our senior year, when we began dating. One of the things I remember was him sitting by my side as I hit send on most of my law school applications (aww! Lol). But seriously, I then started thinking about that time in my life and realized just how hectic the first months of senior year were because of those law school applications. If you’re about to embark in your senior year and/or are getting ready to apply within these next few months, I wish you luck! It’s so stressful! Exciting!…