The Girl's Guide to Law School®
Get In, Get Through, Stay You
This week we welcome back new 1L Stephanie Gregoire to discuss what it’s been like transitioning from a career to starting law school.
The first few weeks of 1L can be a lot. If you’re someone who, like me, had a career before law school and wonder what those first few weeks are like from that perspective, look no further!
This 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:
This 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…]
This week we welcome back guest writer Zoila Sanchez to discuss what she would have done the month before she started law school, if she had known then what she knows now!
Congratulations on committing to a law school program that you will start very soon! It may feel like a crazy time, with many logistics that need to get done before you begin school.
Aside from the to-do list, here are some potential things to consider—which I personally wish I knew—before law school officially begins:
Julia Gourary, incoming 1L, discusses some ideas for managing test anxiety on any exam.
For me, tests have always been accompanied by anxiety: sweaty palms, racing heart, shallow breathing, stomachaches, you name it. It was a rare occurrence if I didn’t feel slightly ill before a big test. Over the years, from high school AP exams to the SAT to college midterms and finals, I’ve learned, if not to eliminate test anxiety, to better manage it.
When it came to the LSAT, which would have a big impact on my law school admissions chances, I knew I had to put all the strategies in my arsenal to work and maybe even develop some new ones. During my first attempt at the test, though, things went sideways in a way I never would have predicted (I was affected by the Great October 2021 Outage). Paradoxically, that experience helped my test anxiety: the worst had already happened, and I had come out the other side. [Read more…]
This week we welcome guest writer and incoming 1L Julia Gourary to discuss how she’s preparing to start law school soon.
As you prepare to start law school, everyone will give you different advice on how to spend your pre-1L summer, from going on a relaxing vacation and not thinking about school at all to taking a weeks long prep course and doing lots of advance reading. It’s hard to know what the “right” way to prepare for 1L year is, but the truth is that there is no one one-size-fits-all approach.
After listening to advice from current and past law students, I’ve decided the best way for me personally to spend these months is a mix of the fun and the practical. Read on to find out what I’m doing now to prepare for 1L year. [Read more…]
This week we welcome back guest writer Hannah Myers to talk about navigating friendships in law school.
Perhaps one of the best, yet worst, aspects of law school is the social component. Suddenly, you feel like you’re back in high school at times, with all of the friend politics and occasional drama that rivals that of Homecoming, Sadie Hawkins, and the prom. In fact, there actually is a prom.
During orientation and that first grueling semester of 1L, everyone seems to be in the same boat. Finding their footing academically, bonding over how little everyone knows, making small talk between classes and in the library. But once those first few weeks (or months) pass, it’s natural for everyone to settle into something of a groove. You start to develop real friendships outside of class, seeing people on the weekends and during school breaks. But as friendships form, it is inevitable that some may drift apart as well. [Read more…]
This week we welcome back guest writer Tiffany Lo to discuss some ways to celebrate all you have done in law school!
My law school classmates have done amazing things: publish a student note, achieve a victory for their client in a clinic, argue in front of a court, finish an extensive research paper, present at a conference, organize guest speaker events, advocate with the school administration or local governments, put together student mixers, compete in moot court, ace a job interview, incorporate feedback and so much more. Whether you are about to (finally!) obtain your J.D. or simply want to reflect on your work in law school so far, it’s always a good time to celebrate your achievements. During the inevitable moments of stress and self-doubt, it helps to remind ourselves that we are on the right track.
Here are some ideas that you can use to celebrate all the cool things you’ve done in law school: [Read more…]
This week we welcome back guest writer and tutor Sara Beller to discuss what she’s learned as a prosecutor.
I’ll never forget my first day as a brand-new prosecutor. My new boss showed me around the office and made introductions along the way. I shook hands, tried to remember everyone’s name and role within the office, and repeatedly questioned what in the world gave me the confidence to think I could flawlessly walk around in 4-inch heels.
The last stop on the grand tour was my very own office. That’s when it hit me. This was the moment I’d been waiting for. I was officially a prosecutor and all my hard work paid off. [Read more…]
This week we welcome back guest writer Zoila Sanchez to discuss how to keep yourself informed about what’s going on in the legal field.
If you are interested in going to law school, you have likely learned about the various steps you need to take to successfully get there. For example, you must take the Law School Admissions Test (“LSAT”), write a personal statement, and obtain letters of recommendation.
While you are in the pre-law process of exploring the possibility of attending law school and familiarizing yourself with the requirements to be a successful applicant, it can sometimes feel like you are not engaging with the reason why you wanted to attend in the first place. For example, in my own personal experience, I spent so much time carving out hours to study for the LSAT aside from my full-time job and other commitments, that I did not have the time to connect with the social justice issues that inspired me to attend law school. I discovered through an incredible pre-law program that there are easy ways to quickly plug into legal issues in the world today. [Read more…]
