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Coping with Divorce in Law School

September 13, 2022 by Leave a Comment

Coping with Divorce in Law SchoolThis week we welcome law tutor Sara Beller to talk about what it was like getting divorced in law school.

I started my 1L year newly engaged and ready to conquer law school. I could already see it – I was going to finish the year with a Law Review invitation and one of the top rankings in my class, all while planning the wedding of my dreams. Check, check, and check!

Next it was time to master being a 2L. No big deal, right? I mean my “to-do” list for the year was relatively short … just finish the year in the top 10%, make Law Review editor, land a summer internship, oh and did I mention get married?!

I crushed my 2L “to-do” list and was ready to tackle my last year of law school as a newlywed and newly minted Law Review editor. I had 3L year in the bag, or so I thought. Right before midterms of my Fall semester, life happened. I got divorced. Instead of studying for midterms, I was moving out of the apartment I shared with my now-ex-husband, figuring out where I was going to live, and getting further and further behind in my classes.

That year, I went from wondering if I would even pass my classes to *spoiler alert* graduating with honors. Here’s how I survived getting divorced in law school and the lessons I learned along the way:

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The Six Best Pieces of Advice I’ve Received as a 0L

August 30, 2022 by Leave a Comment

The Six Best Pieces of Advice I’ve Received as a 0LThis week we welcome back Julia Gourary to discuss the best advice she’s been given before starting law school.

For incoming 1L students, or “0Ls”, the summer before school starts can be full of nervous excitement and anticipation. As a 0L, I’ve been making an effort to talk to current and recent law students for advice on everything from preparation to academics to social life. If you know anyone in law school, especially the law school you’re planning on attending, it’s definitely worth reaching out before you start. Everyone I’ve talked to has a unique perspective, emphasizing different things, including aspects of law school life I had not previously considered. In this post, I’m passing on some of the best pieces of advice I’ve received. [Read more…]

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Misconceptions About Law School: What Law School Is Really About

January 4, 2022 by 1 Comment

Misconceptions About Law School: What Law School Is Really AboutThis week we hear from law student Justine Huang about what she’s learned in her first semester of law school about what law school really is.

The main expectation I had going into law school was that it was going to be a lot of reading. While that turned out to be true, life as a law school student wasn’t exactly as I had imagined. Having been through one semester of law school, I hope to give you a sense of what 1L year is like.

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Ideas For Staying In Touch With Summer Supervisors and Mentors

November 23, 2021 by Leave a Comment

Ideas For Staying In Touch With Summer Supervisors And MentorsThis week we welcome back guest writer Tiffany Lo to talk about how to stay on top of your connections from your summer jobs.

You had a fantastic summer working at your judicial externship, law firm, nonprofit organization, or government office. You shadowed attorneys, observed meetings, wrote memoranda, pleadings, contracts, merger documents, whitepapers, maybe even argued in court or presented at a client conference, and much more. You made connections with attorneys at different stages of their careers and heard many war stories from practicing lawyers every day. You learned a lot from your supervising attorneys and summer mentors. You made an excellent impression. At the end of the summer, you wrote a note or email thanking everyone you met for a wonderful experience, and then returned to your busy life as a law student, as attorneys do to their normal, law-student-less schedule.

In the back of your head, you think, will they remember me one year later if I return full-time? How can I keep these relationships strong? What do I need to do and how much do I need to do it? I certainly asked myself these questions during and at the end of my summer jobs.

Whether you end up returning to that workplace or not, knowing your fellow attorneys in the profession will be helpful in many ways. So, here are some ideas for staying in touch with the attorneys from your summer.

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How to Pick Classes for 2L

March 17, 2020 by Leave a Comment

How to Pick Classes for 2LThis week we welcome back guest writer Alexandra Muskat to talk about the best way to go about choosing your 2L classes for next year.

When you first start law school, you are required to take a specific set of classes – criminal law, contracts, civil procedure, legal writing and research, property law, constitutional law, and torts. But, towards the middle of your second semester 1L, you’ll be able to pick your own classes for the following year. [Read more…]

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How to Stay Resilient When a Professor Criticizes Your Efforts

December 24, 2019 by Leave a Comment

How to Stay Resilient When a Professor Criticizes Your EffortsThis week we welcome guest writer Alexandra Muskat to talk about handling criticism from a professor and bouncing back.

Early in my law school career, namely first year, first semester, about halfway through, we had a civil procedure midterm. Up until this point, I hated law school. I felt like everyday my schedule would shift, or swell. I felt overwhelmed by everything; I hated taking the train in and out of Boston, and my weekends were filled with a noxious amount of anxiety.

Then this midterm approached. I can still remember staring at the essay question and my blank page on Examsoft and thinking, “What the heck am I doing with my life?” [Read more…]

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Five Ways To Prepare For Fall Semester

August 13, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Five Ways To Prepare For Fall SemesterThis week we welcome guest writer Hillary Vaillancourt to talk about easing into fall semester after that summer off from law school.

Transitioning from summer break to fall classes has its challenges. For some, the summer was spent at a law clinic practicing one area of law or at an internship maybe touching on a few legal subjects. For some, especially incoming 1Ls, the summer may have been spent working a retail job or simply taking time off.

No matter how you spent your time this summer, law school will be a big change come fall. Even if you spent time practicing law in a clinic or internship, the type of cases you’ll read in law school and the subjects covered will likely be different than what you experienced over the last few months.

So how do you prepare for fall classes?

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Trigger Warnings: What Are They?

July 2, 2019 by Leave a Comment

Trigger Warnings: What Are They?This week we welcome guest writer Emma Case Beasley, a tutor with Law School Toolbox, to discuss what trigger warnings are and how you can navigate this issue in law school.

Unless you’ve been ignoring the news for the last few years, you’ve probably heard the phrase “trigger warning” or “content warning.” A trigger warning is defined as “a statement cautioning that content (such as an assigned text, video, or class discussion) may be disturbing or upsetting.” The original intent behind these warnings was to avoid triggering emotional or physical reactions (such as panic attacks) in people who suffer from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), although they are sometimes used more generally to label material that contains difficult or potentially offensive content.

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Advice from the Trenches for Incoming 1Ls: On Outlining and Exam Preparation

August 28, 2018 by Leave a Comment

Advice for Incoming 1Ls Part III (Studying and Exam Prep)This week we welcome back Kala Mueller to finish up her series offering advice to incoming 1Ls from those who have gone through it already. She’ll complete the series with a discussion about studying and exam prep.

Now that you’re all well-versed on the rigors of law school and the importance of self-care, we’ll round out the series with a discussion of study habits. It’s worth noting that of all the feedback I received from students on what they wish they had known before starting law school, very little of it pertained to studying. At the risk of stating the obvious, I think this is, perhaps, an indication that it’s not the most important thing for you to know as you embark on this journey.

As I said in the first post in this series, you’ve likely read or received a lot of different advice on what does and doesn’t work, how and when you should outline, the best way to approach exam preparation, etc. It can be overwhelming and hard to determine at this stage which strategies are actually going to be the most effective for you, so in one regard, I am hesitant to heap more advice of this nature on to the pile. However, I thought the feedback regarding outlining and exam preparation was relatively general (and good) advice that should be helpful for most students. And, of course, you have the ability to decide whether or not to use it.

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How to Prepare for Class as a 1L

August 21, 2018 by Leave a Comment

How to prepare for class as a 1LThis week we welcome back Shirlene Armstrong, rising 3L, to discuss some great advice for getting ready for class as a 1L.

Sharpen your pencils and get your notebooks ready, school is just around the corner. Starting law school is a daunting experience. In general, beginning something new can feel uncomfortable. However, law school is an entirely new experience that is unlike anything you have experienced before. Thus, you are probably feeling nervous and worried about what to expect, especially when it comes to classes. Fortunately, you are already being proactive and trying to prepare prior to classes. Here are some tips to help you prepare for class as a 1L. [Read more…]

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