Everyone knows the struggle from summer to the first day of class. It is typically a mix of anxiety, nervousness, and happiness. You’re happy to see friends, meet new people, and return to a schedule. On the other hand, you have new classes and professors that you haven’t quite figured out yet.

My best advice? Take each day one day at a time. Every first week of school can be chaotic. You may have a class schedule, but you have not yet figured out your personal schedule. Take the first two weeks to figure out what works best for you.

A second piece of advice: focus on yourself. Going back to school means adjusting to what works for you. Every student will do what works best for them–so do what works best for you! Don’t let other people mess with your head.

My final words? Everyone feels the way you do. Whether you are a 1L and feeling anxious due to a new school, or a 3L or 4L freaking out about jobs after graduation and the Bar. Everyone goes through the same emotions, even if they are good at hiding it. You are not alone in how you’re feeling!

With that, I hope everyone has an easy transition away from summer and back into the academic year!

It’s often tempting to dive headfirst into everything during your initial semester of law school. While getting involved is beneficial, prioritizing yourself is key. Your primary focus should be on your coursework and adjusting to the demands of law school. Your study habits from undergrad likely won’t suffice here; thorough reading and active class participation are essential. While involvement in extracurricular activities is valuable, it should be approached gradually. Sign up for club emails but prioritize classes and your well-being above all else. Remember, prioritizing yourself is crucial for navigating the demanding three-year journey of law school while maintaining a healthy balance. Take care of your mental and physical health—it’s vital for long-term success.

Once you’ve completed your first semester triumphantly and laid the groundwork for a prosperous journey through law school, it’s time to dedicate some effort to clubs, honor societies, and internships that pique your interest. It’s common to feel the urge to rush through law school due to its rapid pace, but occasionally, you must deliberately slow down. My top tip for success in this endeavor is organization. I rely on various lists scattered throughout my life—daily to-dos, monthly tasks, and even long-term reminders for important but less urgent matters. Amidst it all, strive to relish the experience, forge lifelong connections, and create lasting memories. When you are in it, law school feels like the longest three years you will go through, but like most things in life, the days and weeks are long but the years fly by.

Understanding the importance of school-life balance is crucial for academic success and well-being. Striking a harmonious balance allows students to excel in their studies while enjoying personal growth. As a non-traditional law student, successfully navigating through the demands of law school can be particularly challenging due to the additional responsibilities outside of academia. Balancing family obligations or work commitments alongside rigorous coursework and extracurricular activities requires careful planning and determination.

This past fall was my first semester back at Widener after having my daughter. It was challenging and exhausting, yet more rewarding than any previous semester. At first, the eternal struggle of balancing my workload with the responsibilities of being a wife, mother, and homeowner led me to become overwhelmed. However, I overcame these challenges and had my best semester yet by establishing a support system, prioritizing time management, and incorporating time for myself.

After I had my daughter, I was concerned about juggling motherhood and my academic schedule. I didn’t want to give up on my dream of becoming an attorney, and I couldn’t imagine missing out on important milestones in my daughter’s life. Luckily, Widener offers an extended division program to students. This is the only part-time program available in Central Pennsylvania, and students enrolled in this program do not have any work restrictions, making it more appealing to non-traditional students who work full-time or have families. I decided to switch to the extended division program, and I’m so glad I did. I have more time at home with my family and I can still be involved at school because students enrolled in the part-time program can participate in the full range of curricular and extracurricular options available to full-time students. 

It truly is incredible how much a mother can accomplish after she puts her child(ren) to sleep. Becoming a mother in law school has made me value time more than ever before. There are only so many hours in a day, and effective time management is crucial for law school success. I suggest using a planner and sticking to it. Prioritize tasks based on urgency and importance, and remember to be realistic when setting goals for what you plan to accomplish for the week. Writing out your schedule and intentions for the week helps clarify what you need to do and can ultimately enhance your mindset. Having a planner also allows you to create boundaries. You become more comfortable telling people ‘No’ if a plan or invitation does not fit your schedule. 

Whether a full-time or part-time student, being a law student is time-consuming, leaving little downtime for hobbies or a social life, but making time for yourself is imperative. I would not be able to mentally or emotionally balance school and my family if I did not carve out some time for myself. For me, regular exercise is my self-care. I feel my best mentally, emotionally, and physically when I am consistent with my workouts. I know many law students feel guilty about taking time for themselves but understanding the importance of self-care is essential for law students who experience stress and burnout far too often. Self-care is more than indulgence; it is about recognizing and addressing our needs to maintain a balanced and healthy life. Self-care is deeply personal and what works for others may not work for you. Identifying your individual self-care needs is a journey of introspection and awareness. Pay attention to activities that bring genuine joy and peace to your life, and remember to incorporate your self-care into your schedule. 

Most importantly, remember to give yourself grace as you navigate law school. If you find yourself struggling personally or academically, seek help. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness but rather a display of strength and self-awareness. 

After making it through the stressful first semester of law school, many students find it is time to start looking for summer externships. I was one of those students, and I was contemplating whether or not I wanted to do a summer externship, take a class, have a regular job where I could earn money, or if I wanted to take the summer off. These can all be great options, depending on what you want or need out of your summer. A summer externship is a great decision if you want experience or if there is a particular area of law that you are interested in or are unsure of and want experience in. It is also beneficial to make connections for after law school. Another option is to take a class. Our law school offers a few summer courses, usually consisting of Professional Responsibility, which is a beneficial course because it is how lawyers conduct themselves in practice. Additionally, after taking Professional Responsibility you will be in a good place to take the MPRE (Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam) at the end of summer. The list of classes changes every year but there is always a good list of courses offered and taking a class could be a good option if you want to still have a good summer, but also don’t want to let yourself be unproductive. Another option is working at a non-law related job just to save up money for the summer. Law school and student loans are expensive so this could be something that some people have or want to do. Lastly, this is the summer after 1L year. If you want to take the summer off, that is also a completely reasonable option. Most people end up getting externships during spring of their 2L year or 2L summer, so there is nothing wrong with taking your first summer off to reset your mind after a long and stressful first year of law school. Besides, being a lawyer is stressful and we will spend the rest of our lives working. 

So, what did I end up doing? Although I made it sound like it is an easy decision, I ended up going back and forth for months about what I wanted to do during summer. I weighed the pros and cons of each decision and realized that although I could go back to my serving job for summer, that doing an externship in the law related field would be more beneficial in the long run for me. As of spring of 1L year, I was torn between family law and criminal law, so I applied to a few different externships and ended up getting an externship at the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office. It was a great experience and I learned so much from all of the attorneys there. My externship taught me a lot, but it also made me realize that a career in criminal law was not for me. At that point I realized that I was extremely grateful that I did an externship because I always thought I wanted to work at a District Attorney’s Office, just to find out that it was not for me. Externships are learning experiences, it is our time to learn, ask questions, make mistakes, shadow exceptional attorneys, etc. While I did my externship, I also took Professional Responsibility because it is a requirement that it be taken prior to or with any externship taken at Commonwealth Law School. So as a 1L, if you are taking an externship during your 1L summer, you will have to take Professional Responsibility and the Externship course along with the externship. Although it can be a busy and sometimes overwhelming summer, it really is worth it. All of the classes in law school are important, but the rules we learned in Professional Responsibility are really important to understand for when we become practicing lawyers. It was also nice to be able to focus on just one class during summer and not have to focus on four or five other classes as well. If I remember one course from law school, I hope its Professional Responsibility. After taking Professional Responsibility, I also took the MPRE (Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam) at the end of summer, because it is basically a refresh of the Professional Responsibility rules, and it is a requirement for the bar. It was nice to cross all of those things off the to do list during summer and to not have to worry about them during 2L year, when courses start to get more challenging. However, the MPRE is offered multiple times a year, so it does not have to be taken at the end of summer. It can be taken in November, or even the following summer. Each decision needs to be made based on each individual person’s preference. 

Whatever you decide to do, make sure it is what is best for YOU. It does not matter what our classmates are doing or what I decided to do, it is what is best for each individual person. Everyone is different, we all have different learning paths and there is nothing wrong with that. Make the decision that is best for you at the end of the day, and you will succeed. No choice is a bad choice, and as the time to start stressing for summer plans starts to come up, don’t forget, we all have been there, we all are still there, and we all will figure it out. Myself included!  

As an incoming 1L, I think the hardest thing about law school is not knowing anything about law school. Before starting at your new law school, you can go to all the open houses, read all the prep books, and do everything to get ready for this journey. These things give you the general gist of what law school will be like, but it’s not everything. The truth is, you will never really know what you are getting into before you go because everyone’s experience is different. I know that probably doesn’t come across as very soothing, but it’s not as bad as you think. We all eventually figure it out!

When you get to law school, you are going to be put in a room with a bunch of people who are all accomplished somehow, and who all have the same goal: to get through law school. Despite the end goal being the same, the path to getting to this goal is rarely the same. I urge you to keep this in mind before you start comparing yourself to others. The first semester there’s a million thing that goes through your mind:

“How many clubs should I join?”

“What GPA is considered good?”

“When do I need to get an externship?”

“What classes should I take next semester?”

Hopefully by the time you are getting to law school, you know a little bit about yourself. What works for you… what doesn’t work for you… Trust yourself! Just because someone else is doing something does not mean you have to be doing it. Remember your first priority is just passing your classes. Everyone struggles with knowing if they are doing the “right thing”. So we tend to look to our peers. I remember always being stressed over hearing how late people were working in the library the night before. Meanwhile, I finished up around 8 p.m. and went to bed at a reasonable time. I would get a pit in my stomach thinking I’m not doing enough and would fail. But I would fail to account for the fact I just start studying others where as they would not start studying until much later in the day. But that’s just what worked for me, and that’s what worked for them. When grades came around, I did fine because I didn’t switch up what I knew what wouldn’t fail me. It’s easy to think that you don’t belong because your routine is not exactly the same as your friends, but that is the farthest thing from the truth!

This doesn’t mean you can’t take advice from people and maybe learn useful tools to succeed from others. It just means that it does not matter if someone is in three clubs and you are in none. As your law school career goes on, you will figure out what you can handle, join clubs, get internships, and figure out what classes you want to take. You will learn what works for you, how to study, how to brief, and how to be a successful law student on your own. Most importantly, you will be okay, just trust yourself!