school – Student Ambassadors

As a rising 2L Evening Division student, I wanted to share some of the helpful tips that I wish I knew at the beginning of my 1L year…

Law school is a marathon, not a sprint. School should be your priority; however, burn out is very real. If you give 120% of yourself to school, and don’t make time for your mental and physical wellbeing, your law school education will suffer. It is important to find a balance! For some people, that means sticking to a very rigid calendar and scheduling time for classes/homework/studying, as well as some sort of time for family/friends/fun. For other people, that means taking one night “off” from school work most weeks. Find the balance that works best for you.
Comparison is the thief of joy. There is no need for constant comparison with your law school classmates. What works for others might not work for you, and that is okay. You will likely have different study habits (alone vs. in a group, flashcards vs. re-writing rules, etc.). As long as you are doing your readings, keeping up with all assignments, and studying/outlining in a way that works best for you, you will do great!
Your classmates are your friends and future colleagues. Bond with them and be kind to one another! These are the people who rant to you, laugh with you, cry on your shoulder, study with you, celebrate with you, and ultimately help you through this journey. Nobody truly understands the struggle of law school more than your classmates, so lean on them, and don’t burn any bridges!
Have fun! Law school is what you make it. Join a new group, become a student member of a local Bar Association, attend networking events, enjoy social events, and take the opportunities that come your way! You will meet amazing people, including attorneys who you might turn to for advice, refer a client to, or see in a job interview one day.

Endeavoring into law school can be completely overwhelming as it often requires a lifestyle change. Although this often includes having less free time to do the things we ordinarily would like to do and focusing more on the path in front of you, learning to appropriately manage the workload along with out-of-school challenges is something that won’t come naturally to most people. However, as I have learned from my three years here, what is most important is to find what works best for you and not base how you structure your time in law school off of what someone else does.

Everyone has different ways of learning and managing their time, and from my experience, even an individual’s strategies can change drastically from semester to semester. This can include changing where, how, or who you study with and that is perfectly okay as long as you are figuring it out as you go.

On a broader note than simply changing your study habits, implementing an entire lifestyle change while in law school may be required for you. An example of this stems from a personal anecdote of mine; before attending law school I was working full time as a paralegal, which I fully intended to continue doing while going through law school because I lived on my own and fully supported myself. Before law school, the idea of quitting my job, going to school full-time and taking loans to cover my living expenses seemed like the wrong personal choice for me.

I initiated my law school path at Widener Commonwealth in the extended (night-time/part-time) division and continued to work full-time as a paralegal during the day. As I quickly found out for myself at the end of the first semester, this was not going to work for me. The next semester, I let my job know I needed to focus on law school, switched into the regular (full-time/day-time) division, and took loans to cover my expenses. This was a huge lifestyle change that I went through, but it was what worked best for me and now I am flourishing in law school.

All of this to say, if something isn’t working for you, it’s totally acceptable to make changes as you go! When people say it’s a marathon and not a sprint they really mean it, so take it one day at a time and don’t feel bad about changing things as you go!