If you had told me when I was going into law school that I would have been involved in eleven different activities with various board positions, I would have said, “You are crazy! There is no way there would be any time to do it all and still be successful in school.” However, with the fall semester of my second year coming to a close, I can confidently say that it is extremely possible and has even made me a stronger student.

To give an insight into what is on my plate, my activities include being an academic success fellow for Torts I and II, the President of the Animal Legal Defense Fund (ALDF), the marketing chair of both the Federal Bar Association (FBA) and the Women’s Law Caucus, a LexisNexis student ambassador, a Barbri Bar Review student representative, the 2L Class Representative of Phi Alpha Delta, a Student Ambassador, and a member of the Trial Advocacy Honor Society, Appellate Court Honor Society, Business Law Society, and Spirit of Service. Of course, that is all on top of my full fifteen-credit semester, but I will be truthful in that all of my activities are not demanding or overwhelming, especially not on purpose!

With that being said, each day is very full, and I am very active on weekends, seeing my friends and family. But, I have found ways to stay on top of my schoolwork and not get behind. My biggest tip is TIME MANAGEMENT! Creating a schedule for myself in my planner each week, getting my schoolwork done ahead of time, and sticking to it have made it all possible. Typically, I like to have my schoolwork done at least a day or two ahead of when the class is so that during my more full days when I might not have much time for work, I will not be stressed when I come home and can spend some time taking a break from it all. Regardless of your schedule, I highly recommend this practice.

Additionally, staying busy and following a tighter schedule helps me to perform better in school! Comparing my midterm scores from this fall semester to last year’s semesters, I have improved dramatically. Also, with the classes I picked, I unfortunately had four midterms within three days, all back to back. But this did not deter me. I planned out when I could study and got my schoolwork done the week before to ensure I would have time to study. In fact, my studying habits changed in that I focused on what was important instead of trying to memorize every little detail. Taking a step back and looking at the class’s big picture was more beneficial as I could see how everything worked together to understand concepts in a much shorter time period.

Overall, being a very involved student is possible and beneficial in many ways. If you want to be active, do not let your fears stop you!