Law school is definitely what I expected and but also a bit more.
I read a lot. I knew I was going to read a lot, but not as much as I actually did. If you don’t like to read, law school is not the place for you. I have to say, Wake Forest prepared me really well for law school. I think the workload is very comparable from my undergrad to law school, even though the workload is different. In undergrad, I had a lot of assignments and homework to be turned in. And in law school the only assignment you have is the final test. This was a hard adjustment for me. All of the reading is important for the end of the semester test. I don’t think any school could have prepared me for law school exams.
I cried a lot. I normally am a “cry alone” kind of person, up until this year. Maybe the pandemic did that to me, or maybe law school did. But I have cried in my friends arms too many times this year.
My dark circles have never looked darker especially during finals. Thank goodness for undereye patches.
I learned so much, more than I can fathom. I am so proud of my brain for retaining all this legal information. I feel smart, and being smart is sexy!
I also laughed a lot. My friends are some of the funniest and smartest people I know.
I met an amazing group of lifelong friends in the fall. Alex and Trish were people I met on the first day of class. Law school is definitely a bit “cliquey.” The social scene is a bit like high school with everyone having a set group of friends, but there is no reason you can’t be nice to everyone!
I was happy when I was laughing and succeeding but I also struggled. I was so stressed most of the time. I had so many knots in my neck and shoulders by the end of the semester. Ask my family and friends, but I was a completely different person during finals. I was definitely not the nicest or happiest person around. 1L is a lot of work, for not a whole lot of time to do it.
I had bad test anxiety and it was only the test to blame! I had been preparing for months for my finals, but when the final counts for all of your grade and the grade is on a bell curve, I don’t know one person that didn’t have test anxiety.
Law school is competitive, but I never let the competition get to me. My friends and I don’t discuss grades or gpa’s or rankings, we are a very collaborative group, and I am so thankful for them. But I know others who are very competitive, and I bet the competition adds a lot to the stress. So, if you can avoid sharing grades, I would.
I am really proud of myself that I was able to complete the hardest year of my academic career during a pandemic. First semester I was in person every day, wearing a mask, and adjusting to law school. But then in the spring, I took some of my classes in person and some online.
I have loved learning for the past 17 years, and especially this past year in law school, but I am looking forward to the day law school is over. I wouldn’t suggest being a 1L to anyone. Honestly, that’s how hard it was.
But I have heard that after your first year, it gets better, so here’s to hoping.
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