Law school finals are quickly approaching, and the stress is quickly rising. For those of you that don’t know, law school is graded on a bell curve, with the final test being the only indicator of your grade. My school does mostly closed book exams. So, for every test, you have to cram 14 weeks’ worth of legal material and cases into your brain and be able to synthesize and analyze that material onto a sheet of paper or computer screen during a 4-hour time frame.
Clearly there are a lot of valid reasons to be stressed.
It is hard for an anyone who has never gone to law school to understand the stress and pressure us law students are under. In my opinion, an unhealthy amount of stress and pressure. Law school exams are really a test of how well students can work under a period of earth crushing pressure.
Sadly, during this time I am not the happiest of persons. Normally, I am a very happy and positive person, but law school brings me down. Don’t get me wrong: they’re great parts to law school; fun learning material, seeing my friends, interning, cool lectures, etc. But not the stress and pressure that comes with it.
Everyone handles stress differently. Personally, I get really quiet, and I get very tense in my neck and shoulders. And sometimes I forget to eat. Unfortunately, during that time I have a tendency to snap at friends and family as there is nothing else, I can focus on or think about but the stressor.
How I deal with stress: I like to take walks, workout, play on my phone, plan things out and get organized. I also prioritize and get focused on what the real task at hand is: succeeding on my finals.
Law school exams are unkind so please keep us law students in mind these next couple of weeks and if we snap at you, or aren’t the nicest, we’re sorry. Please bear with us. It will be over soon.
Here are some of my favorite NYC dates. These dates are perfect for a traditional date with your significant other or your friends in New York City! But they can also be reworked into a date in your hometown.
1.Broadway show and dinner- pick a 7:30/8pm show and book dinner at Becco (my all-time favorite all you can eat fresh pasta place) or Tito Murphy’s (for Mexican) or Le Rivage ($60 3-course pre-fixe menu) at 5/5:30 for a leisurely dinner before your show.
2.Comedy show- We love Comedy Cellar in the village! The later shows are the better ones. Make sure you reserve your tickets a couple of weeks in advance. You never know which famous SNL celeb or comedian might show up!
3.Walk all of Manhattan- I haven’t done this one yet, but it’s on my list! Start on the Upper West Side and walk down all of Manhattan until you hit Battery Park. Stop along the way at all the best restaurants in the neighborhoods you pass. Or just take a regular walk! One of my favorite things to do with Alex! We love to walk or bike along the East River in the park. We also love to walk the Brooklyn Bridge during all seasons. New York is a walking city. Sometimes we just walk loops around Manhattan unintentionally, but it’s a great way to explore and find new spots. Make sure you have comfortable walking shoes on!
4.Central Parkpicnic- a great way to spend time with friends: bring a big blanket, snacks, drinks and a football and hang out on Sheep Meadow. Or find a secluded spot under a tree for you and your boo for a romantic date where you feel like you have escaped NYC.
5.Governors Island- if you want to feel like your miles away from Manhattan head to Governors Island. It’s officially my favorite place in all of New York City. It’s a $3 ferry ride (book in advance online) from Battery Park and you can spend all day walking around and exploring this amazing NYC park. We usually bring food and have a picnic, but there are food trucks and food carts to grab a bite. There are lots of playground for kids too. You can rent CitiBikes or walk around. There are also two national monuments (with park rangers) on the island. Governors Island also has the best views of Manhattan and the Statute of Liberty and I’m obsessed. It’s also now open all year long! It really has it all and what’s more fun than exploring something new?!
6.Chelsea Market- pick four different restaurants/shops for each course: appetizer, main course, side and dessert. And add a drink if you want! Recently we did this and had dumplings to start, then tacos, a sushi bowl and donuts for dessert!
7.Farmers Market- 14th Street Union Square has a great one. Honestly, every neighborhood has one. So pick a neighborhood you want to visit and Google “farmers market.”
8.Wine Bar- The Immigrant is one of my favorites. It is a very intimate place, great for a romantic date.
10.Cook dinner together- This one is probably the most unNew York related date-idea, but, I am always going out to dinner in the city, and it gets old after a while. For someone that hates to cook, cooking as a team always is so much fun! Or if you don’t want to actually cook, make a charcuterie board and grab a bottle of wine.
In college I was an English and French double major. One of the English electives I took was a class called “Investigating Innocence,” where the Journalism department and Wake Forest School of Law worked to craft a story to help a criminal client who was wrongfully accused.
I talk about this class a lot because it really was the coolest class I have ever taken. It combined my love for writing and researching with my passion for the law. (I even wrote my personal statement for my law school applications about this class). This class helped me pinpoint exactly why I wanted to go to law school: to help tell stories. I have known from a young age that I wanted to go to law school, but I really couldn’t articulate it, until I took this class.
In my first year of law school, I didn’t tell many stories. I mostly read them in case briefs and I did write a couple in the form of memos for my legal writing class.
But I am currently in a class where I am circling back to the theme of storytelling and the importance of it in the field of law in my Foundational Lawyering class.
My friends aren’t big fans of the class. Personally, I like parts of it and think parts of it are important, others not so much. But pretty much this class makes you think and act like a lawyer.
It is reminding us how to tell stories and how to question clients and witnesses.
After a year of not being able to write anything but memos that are cut and dry in class (I’m thankful that I have T&P to continue to creatively write) we are now reminded the importance of storytelling to help clients get their points heard by the jury and the judge. We have been reminded of the importance of describing the setting, the characters, the who, what, where, when, why and the chronology.
It feels nice that I am being retaught and retold that stories are important in the legal field.
Besides that class, I am also writing a Note for my journal. The editors are stressing to the 2L staff that we have to tell a story to grab our reader’s attention in our introduction. It feels so nice to write something academic that is flowery and descriptive but at the same time argumentative and strong.
I am so happy that two of my favorite academic things: storytelling and the law are combined once again and are proved to be important. It is a good reminder, as the semester gets more stressful (and discouraging), why I wanted to go to law school in the first place.
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