Law Schools

Millennial Law Students: Play To Your Strengths

The next time you hear a derogatory comment about millennial students, you can just smile and nod because now you know exactly how to prove them wrong.

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Maybe you’ve heard your professors make some kind of snide comment about millenials and our short attention spans or something about how we’re all obsessed with technology. On the one hand, rude. On the other hand, let’s face it: whether it’s kids, teens, or adults, teaching can be pretty frustrating and maybe some of their points are actually valid.

You could get mad, give up, and prove them right. Or you could flip the script and use your generational “weaknesses” to exceed their wildest expectations. The choice is ultimately yours. However, if you choose to go the exceeding expectations route, here are some suggestions on how to leverage a few typical millennial traits to your advantage.

Create Your Own Variety

Millennials tend to like variety in their learning. Give us PowerPoint presentations, videos, visual aids, group work, simulations, etc. all day, every day over plain old, boring lectures. Unfortunately, most law school learning is in fact plain old, boring lectures! Not to mention the heavy emphasis on reading dense texts and extensive writing requirements. Sometimes, a student’s need for variety can be misinterpreted and cause a professor to feel like it is their job to entertain their students. As you can imagine, that doesn’t go over very well.

So, if you aren’t getting the variety you need from your professors, create some for yourself. Start by taking a learning styles quiz to see the way your brain most effectively intakes and processes information. Next, try out different learning techniques!  Make flow charts, flashcards, mind maps, or anything else that you think may help you get a handle on the information.

Get Connected

But not in the way you might think! Millennials love to be connected online (and we’ll get to leveraging that in a second), but we also have a deep need and want for mentoring and coaching. While some law professors are highly available and engaged with their students, many of them are not. If connectedness and mentorship is something you need to learn, there are ways for you to get it.

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Start with your professors’ office hours. Chances are there are not that many students attending them in the first place, and you will be able to score some quality one-on-one time with your prof just by showing up. If your professors aren’t making themselves available, meet with their Teaching Assistant or schedule an appointment to meet with your Academic Success department.

Understand The “Why” Behind The What

Millennials need to understand why something is important or relevant to them before they fully buy into the idea that they need to do it. Unfortunately, law professors usually don’t spend very much time, if any at all, explaining why what you’re learning matters. They have a syllabus to stick to and a schedule to keep, and that generally doesn’t leave very much time for anything else.

The only remedy for this is to ask questions. Find out as early as possible exactly the format of your final exam and the scope of what will be tested. Understanding how your class is set up to give you the information you need for your final exam, or even the bar exam, will increase the likelihood that you will learn and retain the information.

Utilize Your Social Network

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There is no getting around the fact that millennials are the internet generation. Sure, when we first got the internet, we had to pick between using our landline or going online. And it took a solid 45 minutes to log into AOL so we could hang out in a chatroom (don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about). But, nonetheless, many of us grew up with computers in our home and the entire world at our fingertips. With the rise of social media, we are even more connected than ever.

Now, this generally gets construed as a bad thing in the context of education. Professors complain that their students spend too much time online and not enough time reading. And to some extent, this is true. But what if you could use your social network to help you succeed in law school and your career? Join your class Facebook group (or create one), so you can connect with potential study partners or more easily ask questions about deadlines, notes, etc. Use LinkedIn to connect with alumni from your school and form a mentor relationship. (Bonus points if they’ve had some of your professors!) I’m still looking for an educational defense of Snapchat, but I keep coming up short. If you’ve got one, hit me up on LinkedIn.

Play Games

Millennials like to have fun. It is one of our more endearing qualities. And, honestly, law school generally isn’t a barrel of laughs. Furthermore, it isn’t your professor’s job to make sure you’re having a blast in law school. But that doesn’t mean you can’t inject some fun into the process. Study groups are a great place to infuse some fun into your law school experience. Come up with different challenges and games you can play to help you learn the law, complete practice questions, work on your outline, or anything else you can think of!

Get A Handle On Your Attention Span

Millennials have notoriously short attention spans. There is no real strength in not being able to focus, and it is probably one of the things that law professors find most annoying. However, there are some great work arounds for a short attention span that you can try. One is the concept of microlearning, which is a way to deliver information in small, specific chunks. Now, it would be great if your professors actually taught this way, but that is still pretty uncommon these days.

The good news is that you can replicate the benefits of microlearning for yourself by setting up your study schedule to focus on one bite sized topic at a time. Instead of scheduling one four-hour outlining session for Torts, give yourself 20 minutes to work through assault.

So, the next time you hear a derogatory comment about millennial students, you can just smile and nod because now you know exactly how to prove them wrong.

Kerriann Stout is a millennial law school professor and founder of Vinco (a bar exam coaching company) who is generationally trapped between her students and colleagues. Kerriann has helped hundreds of students survive law school and the bar exam with less stress and more confidence. She lives, works, and writes in the northeast. You can reach her by email at info@vincoprep.com.

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