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Summer Series: Taking Control of 1L Year
Our Summer Series is a wrap! We conclude with Domonique, an incoming 1L, who describes what she’s doing to take control of her law school experience before it even begins! Special thanks to all the contributors for this series! It was invigorating to read about all the different paths taken to become lawyers. Hola mujeres! My name is Domonique and I will be starting law school in exactly 3 weeks. I am a Chicana born and raised in Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles, CA. My family is originally from Michoacan, Mexico. For the past six years I have been away from home completing my undergrad in Oregon, giving a year of…
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Law School like High School: Overcoming the Unhealthy, Competitive Environment
One of the rumors regarding law school is that it’s a lot like high school. Think about it—you have lockers, you have the same schedule as other classmates, you have prom—add high stress, fear, and competitiveness and it’s basically adolescence all over again. Ok, not really but kind of. The reality is that the environment of law school can create a breeding ground for petty behavior. It may seem surreal—you’re working with adults, how can this be?! But human nature is a pretty predictable thing: put a group of people together that have to stop being polite and start fighting for limited good grades and it can get testy. I…
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Law Student & the Power Suit: Picking the Right Business Suit for Law School
So no one gets too happy at the thought of a new school year, but for those that are starting law school this year it can actually feel a little exciting! Plus, it’s the start of school supplies season and that’s always a good thing (I seriously have a planner problem, in that I constantly am buying new planners)! Aside from the general items you’ll need for the academic year (a post for another day), there is one item that you should consider purchasing now so that you’re ready to participate in all the professional events schools tend to set-up at the beginning of the year: your basic suit. Having…
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Summer Series: Finding Your Voice After 1L Year
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 Maria Celina, a rising 2L practicing hands-on lawyering at Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, who shows us what’s it’s like to re-discover your passion in law & justice after surviving 1L Year. My name is Maria Celina Márquez and I am a rising 2L at The George Washington University Law…
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Three Harsh Truths to Remember the Last Two Weeks Before the Bar Exam
The last two weeks of Bar prep oscillate between wishing the Bar exam were tomorrow so you can get it over with versus freaking out that you’ll never learn everything by the day of the test. The last two weeks are grueling, high paced, yet filled with hours that don’t seem to end. It really sucks. There’s not much you can do at the moment to alleviate the stress and anxiety. During this time, even I don’t recommend taking large chunks of time off to exercise or cook or to relax. Why? Because all the time you spend not studying will be mostly time stressed about the fact you’re not…
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Summer Series: The Work Before Law School
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 Briana, an incoming 1L who describes her path to law school and what it took to get her to this new phase in her life. Hi Ladies! My name is Briana and I’m starting William S. Boyd School of Law in the fall. I’m a Cuban-American born and…
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Summer Series: Delicate Balance of Family, Bar, and Sleep.
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 Bertha, a law school graduate studying for the Bar, and her advice on staying motivated to study while living with family (in beautiful Nicaragua no less!). I’m Bertha and I just graduated law school this past May after completing the four-year part-time J.D. program at…
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Mid-Summer Self-Review
Many internship/summer associate positions undergo a mid-summer review to get an assessment of your summer experience. While these reviews can provide important feedback and opportunities for different experiences, it is also important that you do an honest self-review of your own work. Sometimes, as interns, we go through the motions and just live for the weekend, or at most, the end of your internship where you’ll get to have a little bit of summer vacation before the academic year begins. It’s easy to forget the forest for the trees. The forest being your first job post-law school/professional reputation. Even if you don’t like the agency, or are convinced that this…
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Summer Series: What Art can Teach Us about the Law
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 Roxanne, a rising 3L who is studying in Europe, and describes the intersection between Art and the Law. I’m Roxanne, rising 3L at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. I decided to study law because I realized that many people who are being taken advantage of don’t realize they…
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Brain Food and the Bar
Ok so it’s almost impossible to balance a healthy lifestyle while you study for the Bar. I mean you can try, but more often than not you’re going to opt for comfort and ease during these times. Your best bet is it try as much as you can at the beginning of bar prep to maintain some form of healthiness so that when you’re in the last few weeks of prep hell you haven’t yet completely spiraled out of control. With that in mind, you can’t ignore how the food you eat affects how you feel and your level of energy. And while you don’t have the luxury of time to…