Tip #1 It is important to stop working at the end of the day. To figure out when I should stop working I would try to recognize when nothing was going into my head. When the words you read are not going in your head or you stop understanding or have to read the same sentance ten times, that means it is time to stop and go to bed. At this point your body is telling you to stop for the night and sleep.

Tip #2 Take one day of the weekend off completely. I would get my school work done for the upcoming Monday and Tuesday and half of Wednesday’s work done on Saturday. Then I would spend all day on Sunday relaxing. I would use this time to eat out or sleep in or watch tv. Just do anything that is not law school related. For me it was incredibly helpful to have a day off so I could come to school Monday and do my best.

Tip #3 When briefing cases try to summarize the facts into your own words. If you get cold called the professor will not just want you to read the facts of the case straight to them. They want to make sure you gave it your best shot at understanding the case. So, do your best to summarize the facts of the case. This helped me understand what was going on in the case and it will probably help your understanding as well. But if the professor says to do something else then make sure to do what they say.

Tip #4 Remember that no matter what it looks like none of the students around you know what they are doing so it is ok to not know what your are doing. No matter what class you take everyone in that class is taking it for the first time. So no one knows what is happening. Everyone is learning new information at the same time.

Tip #5 Ask questions in class if you are confused because if you are confused then other people are probably confused too. When I started law school I would not ask question becasue I was scared to ask a dumb question. But I realized my questions were not dumb, I was just confused. But if you are sitting in class and really do not want to ask the question in front of everyone or really think no one else has that question then write the question down and ask the professor after class. Just make sure to ask your questions.

Tip #6 Try to outline after each section of material. Once a professor moves onto a new topic then outline the material. This is something I did in my second semester and it helped me feel less overwhelmed when it came to finals. Then once you outline take it to the professor to make sure you did not miss anything. You could also meet with some friends to compare outlines.

Tip #7 Try to start studying as soon as possible. So, after you outline a section try to start memorizing that information. This also helped me feel less overwhelmed when it came to finals.

Tip #8 Go to the professors office and ask questions. They understand this is hard and will not give you a hard time for asking questions. It is there job to help you and they want to make sure you understand. Even if it is one question or ten, go ask your professor sooner then later.

Tip #9 Take an hour or two at the end of the week to write down when next weeks assignments are due. Then take those assignments and try to plan out when you will do those assignments. This helped me keep track of everything and helped me make sure I got everything done.

The last tip I have for you is to breathe becasue this will be very very very hard. Give yourself grace to mess up or not understand.

Moving to Harrisburg can be its own education with a learning curve like law school. Harrisburg is more than the capital city of our commonwealth; it will be your home for the next three to four years. Whether you are moving only an hour away from your hometown, like myself, or across the country, Harrisburg is full of connections. 

The highways are not the only connections that Harrisburg has to offer. The capital city is full of opportunities for internships and professional network building. Throughout law school, you will face opportunities to meet practicing professionals. Law school comes with a lot of questions: who should I network with, how do I meet attorneys in my desired practice area, what do I wear to interviews and networking events? 

While some of those questions may be more difficult to answer, the Phi Alpha Delta Professional Closet can answer the last question. The PAD Professional Closet, known affectionately as the PPC, is a free resource available to all students located right in the student organizations building. The PPC began as a thought over the summer and has grown into a large room full of professional clothing available to students at no cost. 

The PPC is not only stocked by members of the Widener Law Commonwealth community, but the Dauphin County Bar Association, greater legal community, and greater Harrisburg community have answered the call for donations. 

If you need to expand your legal education outside of the classroom but do not know what clothing you need for your alumni event, internship, or interview, I suggest checking out the PPC; it can help alleviate some of the financial burden of dressing professional as well as the knowing what is appropriate for networking events. 

When we begin law school, we know that we are in for a challenge. What most of us do not realize is just how challenging it is to maintain the relationships and friendships we have in our lives while also attending law school.

When the stress of reading, note taking, outlining and taking exams take over it is easy to slowly start paying less and less attention to everything else in our lives. By everything else, I sadly mean our family, friends and significant others. I had to learn how to maintain my long-distance relationships with my friends, family, and boyfriend while also managing the stress of a full law school course load. Here are a few tips I learned to help me from becoming too overwhelmed.   

As for family, I try to reach out to at least one family member per day. Whether it be a simple text saying “hi!”, or an hour-long phone call catching up if I have more time that day. For example, my grandmother and I talk every Sunday for at least 20 minutes. This is something that is very important to both her and I. Although I try to reach out to at least one family member per day, I also acknowledge that it is not always possible with my schedule. I let my family know at the start of law school (and I remind them quite often) that law school is very emotionally draining and requires a lot of my time, so if they do not hear from me for a little while, it is not because I do not love or care for them. It is simply because I am busy! Your family WILL understand this!  

As for friends, I have lost many friends that I thought I would have forever due to us growing apart. As I have gotten older, I realized that people just grow apart when they are at different stages of life. Some of my lifelong friends are married and having children, still single and in a party phase, or like me pursuing a higher education. When people are at different stages of life, it is another added strain on keeping a friendship going. This was a very hard realization for me at first, but I found it easier to accept this than to pour liquid into a bottomless cup. As for the friends I have remained close with while still in law school, I try to make sure that I check in with them at least twice a month. Even if it is just a funny video on Instagram or Tiktok, I just like them to know I am thinking of them.

As for relationships you are in, although my boyfriend is not a law school student, he understands how stressful law school is for me. He does little things to make law school less stressful for me, like making the 1.5 hour trip to visit me so I do not have to drive home to see him. He knew that the three hours spent driving to and from him could be spent reading or taking notes, and that if I had that extra time, I would be a little less stressed. Another thing I found sometimes challenging about my relationship was not taking my law school stress out on my boyfriend. After a long, stressful day of school and feeling like everything went wrong, all I wanted to do was take it out on the person I am closest to and unfortunately for my boyfriend – that is him. However, I learned that I need to find better ways to manage my stress than taking it out on my loved ones.

If you take anything from this post, I hope it is that maintaining our long-distance relationship and friendships with loved ones may be challenging at times but at the end of the day will always be worth it. Law school is stressful, but we need all the love and support we can get.