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Throwback–Posts You May Have Missed in Our First Year
For those new followers (or just for those that would like a refresher), here are some of the earlier posts from Latinas Uprising that are worth a revisit–especially as a new school year starts and many others will begin new jobs in the weeks to come! How would you/do you react when you’re mistaken (sometimes on purpose) as the interpreter? Different shoe options when working in conservative law offices (side note: wedges forever!) The best way to study in law school is to Study How You Study! The importance of being an active alumna, even if (or especially if) you didn’t feel very welcomed at your educational institution. How to…
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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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Summer Series: Overcoming the Fear of Failure
Our Summer Series is winding down and we thought we’d end the Law Grad stories with Fulvia–not only is she a recent law school graduate, but she passed the New York bar this February and is newly licensed! Fulvia describes the fear and added stress many of us face(d) when studying for the Bar and how to push past it to meet your goals. My name is Fulvia and I am a recent graduate of Syracuse University College of Law as well as a newly admitted attorney (as of June 22, 2015!). I am originally from New York City and recently moved to Binghamton, NY after accepting a staff attorney…
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Summer Series: Holding Yourself Accountable During the Bar.
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 Gaby, a law school grad ready to take on the New York Bar and what she’s done to stay the course this summer. My name is Gaby. Originally from Nevada, I graduated from law school in Washington, DC. I’ve decided to study for the New York bar from…
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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: 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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Stress Relief while Studying for the Bar
When I say that studying for the Bar is stressful–I am not joking. It’s not just the anxiety of the unknown, or because so much is riding on the exam. Most people never experience this type of environment, where you’re memorizing and learning so much information in such large chunks of time; where suddenly you’re putting your mind through a horrible obstacle course of vague terms and complex legal theories. And closer to the exam you’re studying 12 to 14 hour days. That is crazy-pants. I don’t even work for 12 hours a day! I say all this, not to freak people out, but to acknowledge the high stress you’re feeling.…
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How to Study for the Bar
So–I wrote this post a million years ago in a different forum but thought I’d share here rather than create new material on how to study for the bar since this was written when the Bar was still fresh in my mind. For those that have started your bar prep course, you’ve likely found that you don’t remember much from 1L year and aren’t scoring very high on the tests and essays. That is completely normal. It takes a while to remember the basics, but what happens is that everyone starts to freak out and then it’s hard to handle the stress. So first, regardless of how you’re doing on…
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Replace This with That: stress reduction while studying for finals
Ok so, I know that it’s easy to push the importance of healthy habits when I’m not in the middle of a stress storm. I totally get that in the heat of the moment most people will be inclined to pick what makes them feel good right now–I know that was almost always my default behavior. During school, I opted to eat whatever junk food I wanted because I was so miserable studying that a little treat like soda was, I thought, well deserved. Except–the treat became a daily habit and that was not good for my body or mind. My last year of law school I decided to give…
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Bend Don’t Break: Yoga
There are obviously cycles during school and work when things are very busy. I remember that in my last semester of law school I didn’t have a free Saturday until the end of March. That meant I was going full steam for 6 days a week and then having to do all my readings on Sunday. It was intense and stressful, which lead to stress-eating. But really, I was stress-eating from the moment orientation started. During law school, I gained probably around 40 pounds. It was not good; not just for my self-esteem, but for my actual health. Diabetes and heart disease run in my family–like in many Latino families,…