I guess it's just the craze of beginning 1L, but I am seriously finding it so hard to make time for my blog posts. I hope you all forgive me for my lack of attentiveness! In a few months I'm sure things will slow down. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.
I basically spend every second of my life either reading, in class, eating, sleeping, or wondering why I came to law school in the first place. I have no social life, other than the maybe one night a week I go out to the bars. When I do get a chance to go out to the bars, I just find myself in awe at how lame law students can be. I guess I just have to find a fun group of friends to party with during my down time. At least I have C here with me! We make sure to have dinner together every night so we can wind down at least for a little while and have some normalcy in our lives.
For those of you in law school, do you feel as though it's normal for me to be totally confused right now? I never thought I'd have trouble grasping concepts in law school because I have always done so well in school. But sometimes I seriously find myself sitting there in class wondering how all the other students are coming up with such in depth questions to ask the professor, when I can hardly even follow the reading and not be totally confused. Ahhhhh. I just keep having these feelings that I'm not cut out for this.
Right now I'm off to Target to clear my mind/find retail therapy with my friend E : ) I'll post updates if I find anything cute at Target! Until then, please forgive my lack of fun and interesting post topics. I hardly even have time to watch the news or even read headlines on Yahoo in the morning.
Just gotta get through this one year, then it gets easier, right? TELL ME I'M RIGHT.
2 years ago
11 comments:
The work load doesn't get easier-- but everything else does.
I spent all of 1L, especially the fall, calling my dad once a week telling him I was the stupiest person in calls...that I didn't get it...that I wasn't going to do well. First semester I ended up in the top 1/3 and (even though my grades went down after my mom passed away in the spring) I made law review b/c of the write on competition. Even with this success I STILL have times where I think I'm not as smart as other people or that they made a mistake in choosing me. It's just the nature of being in an environment surrounded by type-a, smart, motivated people.
This was the hardest part for me too--since I came from a school where I did exceedingly well. Just remember that class participation/what people say does NOT correlate to how they will do on finals. I NEVER speak in class and do better than many who do. It takes a lot of time to get the hang of it-- it is a totally new way of thinking---but you WILL get it!
I promise you- I went through this SAME thing! You will get faster at reading and you won't have to spend every waking hour doing it. Yes, the work load will grow, but you will get better at managing it. Just keep at it and remember that if we all can do it, you can too!!!!!
You DO deserve to be there and you CAN do it! I swear!
xoxox
It's the nature of the beast, but ditto everything PP said.
Law school is just one big roller coaster. The work load doesn't load up, but you will become more efficient and things will seem easier. You can do this!
Hold onto your panties girlfriend. It doesn't get any better. The workload actually increases (its possible) but the subject matter (although harder) gets easier to grasp as you spend more and more time in school. I swear, law school switch your brain over to this entirely new way of thinking - and once that happens, the material feels easier to grasp.
It's normal to feel confused. Just keep up with the reading at all costs - and get some good study aids to explain things in plain english.
You can do it. It is a lot of work (A LOT) but if you put the time and effort in, things will eventually "click" - best of luck and please email me if you want to chat more about it!
*...apparently law school also takes away your typing skills...whoops!
I think retail therapy is a good choice for you right now! I remember those feelings, and it is totally, absolutely normal to feel utterly lost and confused. This feeling will go away, be patient. And to be honest, it doesn't necessarily get easier... it just becomes different. There will ALWAYS be an overwhelming amount of reading and work, but you get used to it, and you learn to read in a way that makes it easier to wrap your head around all of these crazy concepts. You will just become better at knowing exactly what to look for, what to skim, what to read a few times, and how to ask questions in class. My best advice: review your notes as you go, and start to put outlines together early on. If you wait until the end to cram before your tests, you will be unhappy. And I didn't have a social life at all my first year... but that's the way it goes, I suppose. So glad you have C there with you. Don't forget to find time, like it sounds that you, to enjoy him and his company.
YES! do not worry-the more confused you are the better!! They told us our first year that if you're not confused, then you're probably missing alot of really important issues. It's all about training your brain to think in a different way.
Take assurance in the fact that those that seem to know what is going on may or may not actually have a clue. There were QUITE A FEW people in my first semester class that I thought were really really smart, and was really intimidated by them. They all ended up with C's.
and yes. your life will be lame. it's really sad that law students do not have a sense of humor. you start to argue about the most ridiculous things, and NOTHING is more important than making sure you stay on your study schedule. [well, this is how I was, and still am. I pretty much always study on saturday nights, and when i do go the bar, I can't have more than 2 drinks, because I don't want to feel terrible the next day when I have to study and read 300 pages].
oh, btw. my confusion put me in the top 10% of my class. so I am telling you: confusion is good. that means you're really forcing yourself to think about the issues. :)
I was SO confused all first semester of 1L year so it's totally normal. The work will also slow down once you get the hang of things. I also totally agree that most people in law school are pretty lame. I remember the first night I went out with law school people three people got so drunk they threw up IN THE BAR...I mean come on, by this age we should all know our limits! Hang in there!
You know how every person has that one thing they would love to do, but God knows they aren't capable of? Well I would love to become a lawyer if I actually had the brains to do it, but unfortunately I don't! But if you find later that you don't like it, then maybe change is better. I'm sure you'll be successful in whatever you do! Good luck!
i definitely felt that way first semester of 1L. i felt like it actually took me a semester to sort of hit my stride in law school - you will get the hang of it and it will get better, i swear!
My husband is a 1L too and he reads all the time... sometimes he studies with others and they'll talk about what they read. Is there anyone you can read with who you might be able to bounce ideas off of before going into class? I'm sure you're not the only one who is confused sometimes!
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