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Life After Law School Finals
This is re-post from last year, but it still holds true! Enjoy your break! And for those of us practicing, take advantage of the season to indulge in self-care! Seven years ago, my husband (then boyfriend) and I celebrated our first Christmas together after finishing my first semester of law school. I recently stumbled across a picture of our tree: I have to smile at the sparseness of the apartment; the newspaper wrapping paper; and the window treatments because the apartment was always freezing! The struggle was real! Aside from upping my decoration game, this picture reminds of the difficulties of that first semester. During the midst of my first…
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Creating Good Habits in Law School
I’ve never felt a constantly physical ill feeling until I started law school and neared finals. It felt like such a do or die period and I was so 1) completely ignorant of the process and 2) incredibly nervous. I started having a lot of physical symptoms (b/c that’s how I manifest stress) that resulted in making a lot of bad choices because those brought instant-gratification and would quell my stress. But of course, that became a vicious cycle because often that bad choice would eventually make me feel worse–and did little to help my stress. I’m sure many of you who are starting finals are beginning to feel that…
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Stress and the New Lawyer
When you start a new job as an attorney it’s super exciting. Not only are you working at a job that likely pays more than what you’re used to; you are also working as an attorney–hello?! a major goal you’ve accomplished. It’s normal to be excited. But it seems that soon enough that excitement fades and it turns into stress. Yes, you’re being paid more but you’ve got student loans. Yes, you get to be an attorney, but maybe it’s not exactly how you envisioned; plus you’re working hard cases, long hours, in possibly tough atmospheres. How do we handle the realities of the day to day mental stresses? The…
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When Family Emergencies Impact Law School
The unfortunate thing about law school is that you don’t go through it in a vacuum. Other people keep living their lives and experience milestones and setbacks while you’re trying to make it to the next semester. If big emergencies arise it can really affect your grades and law school trajectory in big ways. In my case, the morning we were supposed to register for our spring semester 1L courses–I spent the day sobbing because my father had been diagnosed with cancer (he’s healthy now, thank God). I was just an emotional wreck, and while I needed to let it all out emotionally, I ended up missing out on registering…
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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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The Importance of Self-Care for Attorneys
Today is a perfect day to talk about trauma and self-care. Vicarious trauma occurs from exposure to other people’s trauma. We usually think of ER doctors, counselors, police, and other first responders as professions that are likely to experience this, but lawyers are also susceptible and do experience vicarious trauma as well. And how could we not when we help clients almost always in their darkest time of need. If you practice in an area that has a real human component, then you generally are exposed to sad, traumatic stories. But it’s the dirty secret in this profession, and we’re supposed to act like nothing affects us. Those that admit…
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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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Rules and Limits as you Practice Law
It’s no secret being an attorney is tough. Most often, clients need you at their most worst: accused of crimes; financially destitute; dealing with divorce; scared of immigration; angry with neighbors, employers, former friends. The list goes on and on. For most Latina lawyers, we practice in these emotionally heavy areas, and all attorneys working in these high stress areas experience what’s called vicarious trauma–a sort of second-hand stress from these stories and interactions. It’s a dirty secret that we don’t talk about for fear of seeming weak or unable to advocate like all the other attorneys who seem to be cool with what they’re hearing. But other attorneys experience vicarious…
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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…