Law Schools

Tales From An Unsuspecting T14 1L: Forgotten Lessons

Never forget: Don't let the law school drama of others disturb your own peace.

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As the first term winds down, I find myself remembering the lessons I was told along the way. Some of them were internalized into my consciousness. Some were remembered when it mattered most. And a few lessons were regretfully not used in time for this term. Here are a few of my forgotten lessons.

“Do not forget why you came here.”

It was easy to entangle myself in the opinions of others this Fall. I did not want to be wasting my degree or taking the wrong steps. There were goals that I wanted because everyone else seemed to want them. Thankfully, at times a courageous professor saved me from myself. Telling me that X should not be important to me unless I really wanted to do it. But this was rare. I continued to follow many a crowd.

More troubling, I allowed the drama of others to disturb my own peace. Frankly, they were not issues worth my time. Still, my better half allowed the negative energies of others to consume me.

Instead, I should have kept my focus on why I came to law school.

“Start preparing for the final exam early.”

            I did not actually forget this lesson. I just did not know how to accomplish it. I do not believe I really had an idea of what I wanted to have done in my classes until I took my first exam. Not my first hypothetical, nor fact pattern, nor actual official exam. But rather, the first few past exams of professors that I took made me realize what I wish I had done in my classes.

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Yet I do not think this would have worked if I had not learned some of the material first. At least for this year, I needed to know what I should have been doing in comparison to what I did. So perhaps this was a lesson that could not have been effectively applied until later in law school.

“I am here if you need me.”

More people reach out than you think even if they do not say these words. Being alone with any issue I was having this term never helped.

“Do not forget how you got here.”

            This lesson was most necessary when studying for finals. I had spent the entire term feeling torn down. Many times, I felt stupid, degraded, embarrassed, and more. There were people with more money. There were people with more privilege. There were people who just had a look as if they were handling life better.

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I had almost accepted a status in law school that I had imagined others felt I was in: Mediocre. And all I wanted to do was prove these people wrong. So I began all of the study tips and strategies that I saw the majority of my classmates doing. I sat in the library for hours attempting to prepare for an exam in a way that was unfamiliar to me. It hurt my brain to process the methods that others had prescribed.

Although I will never get those days back, I now will never forget that the brain, the personality, and the work ethic that got me to law school is the one I should be proud to use every day.

But despite the drawbacks, I had an amazing time so far.

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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