As I began applying to law schools, I was continually reminded by peers, attorneys, and others that law school was hard. Unfortunately, you don’t have the opportunity to grasp the true nature and difficulty of law school until you are drowning in reading assignments your first semester. When I reached this particular point, I asked myself, “Why didn’t anyone tell me how to manage the stress, intensity and overwhelming nature of this education? If they knew it was coming, as they warned, why didn’t they offer any advice or guidance?”

Honestly, I still don’t have an answer to those questions. Maybe those individuals felt as if I would figure it out on my own. Luckily for me, I did. For anyone reading this, I intend to provide the highlights of the tips and tricks I have gathered throughout my years at Widener. These tips helped me make the “bear” that is law school a little more manageable.

Remember to always take time for yourself and your well-being. For me, that meant going to the gym once a day and heading home on weekends to spend time with my family. Maintaining your mental and physical health is as important as completing your school work. You will not be able to adequately perform or provide level headed advice for your future clients if you don’t take care of yourself first.

When you stop being productive, PUT THE BOOK DOWN. You will reach a point where you find yourself re-reading the same sentence over and over without being able to grasp an understanding. This is a sign that you need a break. When you return, that paragraph or concept that seemed incomprehensible will no longer pose the same problem. Sometimes all you need is to step away from the assignment to get a clearer picture.

As hard as this may be, DO NOT compare yourself to others. Everyone learns differently. It is very easy to compare yourself to other students, but that is a waste of precious time and energy. Focus on yourself.

Don’t forget your “why?” When you are feeling defeated by the weight and pressures of law school, remember why you chose this path and the future goals and aspirations you have been working toward thus far. The satisfaction is worth it. When you put in the time and the work, you WILL succeed.

Yes, law school is hard, but it is not impossible. Remember these tips and create new ones as you begin your own journey. I wish you all the best of luck. Cheers!

Practical experience is essential to bridge the gap from law student to practicing attorney. Participating in a law clinic provides students with the tools to bridge that gap.

Central Pennsylvania Law Clinics is a civil law clinic affiliated with Widener Commonwealth. The clinic provides legal assistance to elderly and indigent clients regarding various civil matters though certified student interns. Students who have completed three semesters of law school may enroll in the law clinic as Certified Legal Interns. Certified Legal Interns are permitted to represent clients in state and federal courts while under the supervision of licensed attorneys. Students are involved in all stages of the representation, from conducting the client interviews to appearing in court. 

Before beginning at the clinic, I previously interned with a Federal Magistrate Judge and a personal injury firm. I planned to intern with a clinic for a semester, as a way to further differentiate my practical experience. However, I valued my time at the clinic so much, I returned for a second semester as Lead Certified Intern and a third semester as a volunteer. 

While at the clinic, I have worked on numerous cases involving various areas of law. Some of which include: contract disputes; guardianships; custody; estate planning; bankruptcy; landlord tenant; divorce; and unemployment compensation. Although COVID-19 has generally hindered our ability to develop professional relationships and interpersonal skills, the clinic has remained opened and allowed for a point of access to these intangibles.^[1]

The clinic has been rewarding far beyond my professional growth. My time with the clinic has allowed me to use my education to give back to the local community. 

I am thankful for my time with Central Pennsylvania Law Clinics and the great relationships I have built with clients and staff. My one piece of advice is that if you have the opportunity to participate in a pro-bono clinic take advantage of that opportunity, give back and develop your skills! Your community, career, and future self will thank you. 

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^[1] While abiding by social distancing guidelines and restrictions provided by the CDC. 

For law students across the country that choose to join Moot Court or Trial Team, spring semester is competition season. As I write this post, I await the start of the preliminary round for my Moot Court competition, which begins in…. t-minus two hours. In a normal world, I would be in Washington D.C., waiting with my team in a federal courthouse to argue our little hearts out before a judicial panel. That’s typically one of the cool perks about doing these competitions, you get to travel to a cool city, argue, and test out your new baby lawyer skills.

But it’s not a normal world, so instead of Washington D.C., I’m once again face to face with my constant companion: my laptop. My moot court competition is over Zoom, and my trial team competition that finished in mid-February was completed virtually as well. I can’t help but reflect on the fact that almost a year ago today, I was preparing for this exact same moot court competition when the world came to a screeching halt. My neatly color-coded planner that organized my entire life of class, trial team, and moot court practice was rendered, well, moot. We worked so hard for months only to never see that hard work pay off, so I’ll admit it’s hard not to feel the familiar feeling of frustration bubbling up as I prepare to argue my case to a computer screen and not in a federal courtroom. The initial reaction is to feel like everything you accomplished had no purpose, no pay off, and was merely a moot point.

But the legal research I had to conduct to write my brief wasn’t moot. The time management skills I had to sharpen to manage both competitions and class weren’t moot. Gaining a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the Rules of Evidence for trial team wasn’t moot. Improving my ability to think on my feet while simultaneously navigating the technical elements over Zoom wasn’t moot. Understanding how to best conduct oneself professionally during a virtual hearing wasn’t moot. Learning the location of the mute button on Zoom was DEFINITELY not moot.

Competing against other law students is daunting, but it also gave me skills I never would have acquired in class. While the last year was nothing like I ever could have expected and certainly nothing that any of us ever wanted, it was instrumental in my growth as a student and an advocate. When you get to law school, seriously consider joining Moot Court or Trial Team to sharpen skills you don’t yet know you have. Everything you do in law school becomes a part of who you are and the advocate you’ll become, so regardless of whether you advocate in person or over Zoom, you can rest assured it won’t be moot.

On a Friday during the Spring of 2019 instead of going to my classes at Penn State I left for Harrisburg to attend Accepted Students Day at Widener Commonwealth Law School. Upon first arriving at Widener Commonwealth I was struck by the stark difference in the size of the campus as opposed to the one which I had become accustomed to during my time at Penn State. At first, I was leery of the small size of Widener but by day’s end after listening to various students, professors and administrators speak of their fond regard for their small close-knit community, I realized the size and scale of the law school might be a welcome change. In fact, that brush with the Widener Community was the primary reason I chose to attend Widener Commonwealth. In particular I found what several Widener students had to say about their personal experiences most impactful. The students spoke of the relationships they had fostered with their professors and how influential those relationships had been in the early stages of their legal careers. On average I talk to a professor (one-on-one) at least once a week to discuss class material, ask for guidance with moot court, seek insight about internships and the list continues.

In addition, when I was a 1L the upperclassmen were willing to help in whatever way they could. They were not intimidating and were cognizant of the challenges of adjusting to law school. They inspired me to do the same. As a 2L I became an Academic Success Fellow for Contracts I and II. I hold weekly office hours to meet with 1L students. It has been a pleasure to provide whatever support they might need in a particularly challenging 1L year.

I am happy to say I have experienced all the benefits of Widener Commonwealth described at Accepted Students Day despite the pandemic restrictions. I feel the nature of our close-knit community that was so apparent to me at Accepted Students Day has been a true blessing during this pandemic. I believe our law school community’s already tight-knit nature allowed it to adapt as seamlessly as possible to a virtual format. The administration and staff provided all of its students with the flexibility and support needed. In addition, the Widener Commonwealth professors continued to impress me and went above and beyond to make sure we received the same legal education we would have if we were attending in person. Although I was no longer able to walk down the hallway and stop into a professor’s office, I could still meet with the professors just as frequently and with relatively the same ease. In some way the professors became more available. All you have to do is send an email and they are willing to jump on zoom to discuss something.

The relationships I have developed with the professors at Widener are something I never experienced during my undergraduate career. I can already sense the impact these relationships have had on my legal education and I am certain when I graduate their value will come into an even sharper focus. I will always be grateful for the support and direction from these dedicated professors. I only hope that they will not change their email or phone numbers because I suspect I may still have a few questions after my time at Widener is over.

Law School was a foreign concept to me. I knew I always wanted to go, but it is much different in saying you want to do something then actually doing it. Once you sit in that classroom, this is it, you are a law student. Mic…drop. It is hard to believe that I, the same woman that sat in that law school classroom as a 1L am now entering my last semester. When I look back on my law school career there are two things that as a 3L, I wish I knew when I was a 1L.

First, do not fear the cold call. The elusive cold call – if you have seen Legally Blonde you may recall Elle Woods’ first day of school when her Professor tosses her out of class for not being prepared – in the real world it is not that dramatic. You may be marked absent if you are unprepared and you will undoubtably be embarrassed, but you will survive. Cold Calling is there for a reason. It’s to make sure you are paying attention to what the professor is teaching. More importantly it functions to help you think like an attorney. Depending on your career you may be forced to think on your feet and quickly respond, cold calling helps you prepare for this in the future. Be nervous but do not fear, law school is the time to make mistakes, to ensure you learn from them and can apply your knowledge in your future legal career.

Second, apply to intern/externships early on. The transition from undergrad to law school or from career woman to student can be difficult. Maybe you did not get the best grades your first year and frankly you are questioning whether anyone would ever hire you. Personally, I did pretty fair my first year and even better my second. But there was always that voice in the back of my mind that had me question my worth in applying for internships and later jobs. Do not listen to this voice! You made it this far in law school, you have some skillset that can be applied in multiple areas of law, to law firms, or to judicial clerkships.

As someone who received their first legal experience the Fall of their third year (granted COVID did play a role here) I regret not looking for opportunities during the summer of my 1L year. While I had been able to flourish fine in my perspective legal opportunities, I wish I had more experience and received it sooner. In every legal position I have had since there has always been some type of training, so you are never going into anything blindly. You also must recognize that you have one year of law school under your belt, and you are working with attorneys who may have decades of experience, you will not know everything, and you do not need to know everything! So, I highly recommend to apply to intern/externships early on.

Law School has been a wild ride, it has had its ups and downs but it is definitely worth it!

The spring before I started at Widener, I received an email that my law school application had been updated. When I checked the update, the only thing I saw next to my name was “TAP packet mailed.” I had no idea what this meant, or for that matter, whether I had been accepted. To make my anxiety worse, it was a Saturday morning so there was no one to even call to clarify. It puzzled me so much that I frantically began a google search on law school “TAP packets.” Nothing came up. I searched for hours until I suddenly stumbled across a news article of a woman from New Jersey who was accepted through her law school’s TAP program and recently had passed the bar exam. I thought to myself, “there’s no way!” I headed over to Widener’s website, searched TAP, and sure enough it was a thing! A few days later I received my packet and was offered an invitation to participate in Widener’s TAP program. TAP stands for Trial Admissions Program and it is how I got accepted into Widener Law Commonwealth.

TAP here at Widener is a six-week summer program where three nights a week you take three real first-year courses to gauge whether you will succeed in law school. It was a bit competitive and rigorous, but all-in- all it better prepared me for what to actually expect if I were to be accepted. You can take all the pre-law courses offered in undergrad, attend webinars, google “what is law school like,” and search many random Instagram pages attractive to future law students. But nothing—nothing prepares you more for law school than TAP.

Throughout my first year at Widener, I constantly looked back on my experience at TAP as a reminder that I could get through the semesters. TAP has taught me so much from how to read cases properly to how to write out timed final exam essays. The cold calling in TAP prepared me for the actual cold calling in law school (although as a 2L I still dread the sound of my name being called). The TAP professors prepared me for what my professors would actually be like in law school, and for that I am forever grateful. It is no secret that law school is intimidating and challenging but it is also really rewarding. My time here at Widener would not be possible had I not been given the opportunity to participate in TAP. So, if you’re like me stumbling for answers on what a “TAP packet” is, this blog post is for you. If you’re not like me and are just curious about what the law school experience is like for a TAP-ee, this post is also for you!

I used to be scared to tell my colleagues that I came through TAP. I didn’t want the judgement and at the time I didn’t want anyone to know I had to go through extra hoops just to sit with them. But in reality, TAP isn’t a bad thing. In fact, TAP gave me a strong head start and helped me become the successful second-year law student and student leader that I am today.