-
What Lin Manuel Miranda Can Teach Us About Law School
First, and foremost, I have been on the Lin Manuel bandwagon since 2010. It’s on record, people. So I saw his tweet today and was like aha! his work ethic is a great example of how to succeed in your educational pursuits. He tweeted: You will have to say no to things to say yes to your work. I mean, I know he’s an artist, but he was basically describing the path to a J.D. It’s not a newsflash to current law students or attorneys that getting to (and through) law school requires sacrificing many things in order to succeed. But in the midst of that sacrifice it…
-
Battling Isolation and Loneliness as a New College Student
Can I tell you how hyped I was to start college? I was so excited! I had the full “traditional” American experience at a four-year university and absolutely loved it. Yet, I would see some students around me who hated it and I just didn’t get it. What’s not to love? There’s so much freedom and new experiences and friends and parties and learning etc etc. I didn’t get how people could feel lonely or dislike college—and then I went to law school and was like oh. I get it. The loneliness and feelings of detachment that many students of color experience when they start college smacked me in the…
-
What To Do Your 1L Summer
For many 1Ls, you’re about a month away before you’re able to really start applying for summer jobs. I remember during my first 1L semester not really understanding the importance of looking for work that was still months away. I mean, how could I know the importance when I was still just a few months into law school and had no idea how the process really worked? I knew that people starting applying in the fall, but that seemed so silly to me—surely this could wait until spring, right? I totally didn’t know the ins and outs of summer jobs and how the “good” positions are offered before the year…
-
Breaking Barriers: Racism in College
Starting college can be a real trip if you’re not used to being in mostly White spaces. If you’re lucky to attend a diverse college where you don’t feel isolated, that’s fantastic (fr fr) but most of us attend incredibly homogenous schools where your awareness that there are few students of color is super acute. This situation can create feelings of loneliness, a sense that you don’t belong, and in turn, can make you believe you aren’t capable of succeeding in that environment because there are few like you. It can feel overwhelming. And at the time, you may not understand exactly, why it is your feel that way you…
-
What Did I Just Read? Mastering Your Law School Assignments
One of the biggest problems with being a new law school student is that you rarely have a chance to truly gage how you’re doing in your courses until the end. Of course, some professors offer midterms to help you understand what’s going on, but that’s not always a given. Additionally, you not only have to worry about mastering the topics, but more importantly you have to learn how to analyze, i.e. that elusive “thinking like a lawyer” thing. My 1L year, by midway through, I felt really confident in my classes. I thought I was understanding the topics and could follow along with the discussion—I thought things were great.…
-
Goals: Making your way to Law School as an Undocumented Student
We are so lucky to have a guest post today by Brenda, a current undergrad student with law school on the horizon. She is also undocumented and has overcome the obstacles many of us or our family members have experienced. It is always so inspiring to see people in our community working so hard on their goals in spite of these huge obstacles. It helps put things in perspective for me and motivates me to push harder for true immigration reform. Here is Brenda’s story on her journey through higher Ed: Hello my loves! My name is Brenda and I am 23 years old. I was born in Guanajuato but raised…
-
Journey to JD: When You Fail Law School
Law school is hard. Everyone knows that, but it’s not just hard academically, it’s difficult on an emotional level. Students are used to being the smartest in the room and we’re stripped down and re-structured so that we can think like a lawyer. This teaching model was very much created with one type of student in mind. When we are not like the “typical” law student we can struggle mightily to succeed. Today we have a guest post from J, a current law student, who wants to share that struggle with us. I think it’s important for us to see the grit, determination, and fight we often have to do as…
-
A Balancing Test: Managing Busy Schedules as a 2L/3L
When you’re a 2L or 3L, everything may seem like chaos—not because you’re new to school and anxious but because as the second and third years begin you’re suddenly thrust with a lot of work and responsibilities that didn’t necessarily exist when you were a 1L. You have a normal course load, plus most of time you have new duties on a journal, clinic, student org, internship during the semester to keep your skills strong, social life, responsibilities at home, and oh—you may also need a job to pay a little thing called rent. It’s a lot. The spring semester of my 3L year I remember flipping through the pages…
-
In It to Win It: Overcoming Competitive Law School Environments
How exciting for all of you starting your 1L year! The first few days are usually a good mixture of excitement and dread. The dread comes from many places—not knowing what’s happening, waiting to be called on, and dealing with the weird situation of making friends but also knowing these friends are also competitors. That sounds overly-dramatic. I mean, yes, you’re competing for rank and grades but it shouldn’t be as high-stress as some law school communities make it. But law school is horrible like that—it creates an environment where you have to be all about your self-interest and that leads to some really dick-ish experiences. We’ve all heard the…
-
Balancing Act: Dealing with the Guilt & Frustration Attached to your Finances
I was running out of data on my phone early this month and had to resort to reading during my commute. Usually I have a book, but this past week I decided to read my “guilty pleasure” magazines and I’m so glad I did! I’m a long-time subscriber to Glamour and was so impressed by this article on finances. The author focuses on helping young adults establish some financial standards for themselves, but through her writing she also revealed some struggles that first-generation professionals experience. I kept thinking, “omg, this is a struggle so many of us experience!” Yes, I said omg because somehow growing up in the Midwest I…