The beginning of your law school journey will feel like one of the most daunting experiences in your life. However, that does not have to be your reality. Transitioning to managing the workload in law school is difficult, but it is doable. While the workload is much heavier than in undergraduate programs, you can handle it by being intentional with your time and maintaining a balanced life. As a student who just finished their first year, I hope to provide you with some helpful tips to make it through your first year without burning out.

Going into orientation, I had no idea what to expect from law school. I knew nothing about what the experience would be like other than what I had seen in Suits and Legally Blonde; I am also a first-generation law student, so no one in my family could prepare me. I was scared that I would not be able to handle the workload or being cold-called, and I worried that my study skills were not where they needed to be to succeed. Feeling overwhelmed, I created one goal at the start of the school year: stay on top of my work to avoid falling behind. I knew if I did this, I would at least put myself in a good position to do well. After orientation and the first week or so of school, I quickly discovered that I could keep up with the assignments, but I would not be able to actually understand them or do well in class if I was doing work 24/7. I knew that I needed to take time away from schoolwork so that I could focus completely when I went back to it.

As a student-athlete in undergrad, I had experience with managing my schoolwork along with practices, team lifts, and games. I found that when I was playing or working out, I was able to clear my head and forget about school for a while. So, I decided to use this experience and apply it to law school; I scheduled time after the school day was over to either run or go to the gym. This has proved to be very valuable time for me when school gets more stressful than normal. Taking an hour or so to move my body is so beneficial for my mental and physical health. For incoming 1Ls, I can’t stress enough the importance of taking care of yourself first; this will ensure that you can put your best foot forward at school!

In addition to exercise, I make sure to balance my time in other ways. It may be harder to spend as much quality time with important people in your life, but you can still make it happen as long as you intentionally set aside time to do so. I try to see my friends regularly, and I still spend time with my family. I always try to make some sort of plan on the weekends so that I don’t get stuck doing work all day; if I did that, my brain would feel like mush and I would have no motivation. I love to get outside, maybe go for a hike, try out a new restaurant, get coffee, go shopping, or play board/card games. Doing any of these things allows me to get away from school for a while so that I can reset. What you choose to do to get away from school does not have to be complicated! Keep it simple, and do things that you enjoy.

It is so important to continue to do things that make you happy or excited during law school; it can get overwhelming at times, and having something to ground yourself will help tremendously in relieving stress. Law school will be a huge part of your life for the next three years, but it doesn’t have to consume it entirely. In order to perform your best and actually enjoy what you are doing, you have to find things that don’t involve school! Taking care of yourself comes first, and doing this will put you in a great position to succeed in law school. To the incoming 1Ls that are reading: Good luck! You can do hard things!