Law Schools

Tales From An Unsuspecting T14 1L: Gearing Up For Law School

Get ready to read the unfiltered experiences of a T14 student of color in real time.

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Ed. note: Please welcome Earl Grey (not his real name) to our pages. He’s a first-year student of color at a T14 law school, and he’ll be sharing his experiences with us.

The first year of law school can be a transformational time, or so I’ve heard. Since the day I was accepted to law school, all I have heard from actual lawyers and law students is the importance and rigor of my first year. But, conversations exploring life as a 1L tend to stop there. Perhaps this period becomes a blur to most. Or, stating that 1L is hard is just a component of that “small talk” thing lawyers are apparently bad at. Nonetheless, if the 1L experience is so transformative to one’s life and determinative of one’s early career path, it would help to know what some 1Ls think and experience in real time.

Meet your friendly entering 1L.

My background will inform how I will navigate 1L. I am a man of color attending what pretentious people revere as a “top 14 law school,” which should already narrow my secret identity down given current diversity in the legal profession. And, although I have not been out of college for long, I do have jobs to compare my law school experience to. Lastly, I was the first to go to a highly selective undergraduate college in my family and none of my close family members are lawyers. Yes, my relatives have all made the “help for future legal trouble” joke. And no, it will probably not end up being just a joke.

I am remaining anonymous not only to keep an internship once the “Tales from a T14 Summer Associate” series comes out, but to also receive unfiltered experiences from fellow colleagues in legal academia.

This series should not be taken as advice.

Though this series will be among the many ATL articles that help others figure out if they should go to law school, I will not be another millennial attempting to give advice on something I read about on the internet. I will mainly discuss raw experiences from myself and others I know in my law school and peer law schools.

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I am reacting to law school in real time. Whether I struggle or succeed, find love or become a hermit, or just witness a lot of embarrassing moments, I would have written everything shortly after it happened. What is certain though, is that we will learn more about law school together.

Gearing up for law school has been great, by the way.

            “Are you excited for law school?!” is another phrase I always hear. Of course I’m excited! I have spent the summer relaxing, following the T14 meme page, reconnecting with people who thought I would not amount to anything, and Google searching every famous lawyer I have heard of. My law school sends a lot of emails, and I really should have read them thoroughly because I have missed at least two deadlines already. One of those emails did say not to read 1L materials ahead of time, but I did work on some weaknesses I remembered having from college.

Given tuition for this school, I expect an orientation with dancing, ethically treated elephants. But other than that, all I want is to work hard and excel. I’ll let you know how that goes.

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Earl Grey (not his real name) is currently a 1L at a T14 law school. You can reach him by email at HotTeaForEveryone@gmail.com.

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