I truly cannot believe that I have made it through my 1L year! Finishing this year has been so hectic and emotional, because there were so many times when I questioned myself and was so stressed that I didn’t think there was any way I would be able to make it through the year. Because I started this blog and write law school advice posts, I realized that it may seem like my life is much more together than it actually is. I wanted to get a bit more real and personal in this post and recap my 1L year. I hope you all are staying safe and healthy, and just remember that no one really has all aspects of their life together all the time. Social media makes it so easy to make your life seem perfect, whether it be intentional or not. I know that a few people reading this blog are planning on attending law school, so I just wanted to be raw and real and not sugar coat what this year has been like. Law school is the hardest thing I’ve ever done and I feel like I’m a completely different person than I was the day I walked into orientation last August. I hope you guys enjoy this post!

Last August, I moved from Arizona to Colorado a week before starting law school. I remember showing up to the first day of orientation so nervous that it took my 20 minutes to hype myself up in my car before going inside. Being really young in law school has caused so many insecurities for me, but that could be a whole separate post. At my school, we wear business clothes during orientation, and I felt so out of place sitting in a sea of all of these people that seemed so mature and professional. We quickly split up into groups which were comprised of the people in our Legal Research and Writing Class. I met Maddie on the first day, who ended up being my best law school friend. I quickly realized that everyone was overwhelmed and nervous, and nobody knew what was going on, despite where they went to college, what prior career they had, whether their parents were attorneys etc. My orientation ended up being exhausting but very helpful. We learned how to brief cases, tips for succeeding in classes, how to study, how to access career services, and so much more. I wish I could go back in time and tell myself on that first morning that everything would be okay, everyone is so nervous, and orientation is a very helpful and essential week for 1L’s.

Before I started law school I was under the impression that all of my professors would be intense and mean. This was not the case at all. I can honestly say that every single one of my professors this year were great. They were all very kind, accessible for questions and help, and not at all as intimidating as they seem in movies about law school. However, similar to college, if you need help you need to ask for it.

One of the biggest adjustments for me was learning how to study in law school. It takes time to figure out how to change your study habits from college and adapt them to work in law school. I remember for the first few months of law school taking so long to do readings because reading a casebook is an entirely new skill. I would also spend an unnecessarily long time adding details to my case briefs and reviewing before class because I was so terrified of getting cold called. But this all got better over time, and from what I’ve heard from my classmates is this is pretty common and everyone takes time to adjust, even if that might look a bit different for someone else.

First semester finals were just about the death of me. I had heard the phrase that law school finals are a marathon not a sprint, and you can’t study like you did in college. Being the stubborn person I am, I did not listen. I barely slept for the entire two-week duration of finals, and by the end I was so emotionally and physically exhausted that I barely left my bed for the following weeks. Law school finals are a whole new monster, and sleep, eating healthy and maintaining your mental health are so crucial.

Winter break was hard. I realized that I had changed my career aspirations without even realizing it. I had started law school thinking I wanted to pursue a career in corporate/ business law. But I realized that the reason I wanted to attend law school in the first place was that I wanted to help people and I wanted to find an area of the law that I was passionate about. I’m still not exactly sure what that will look like, but I have realized that I want to do something related to public policy, and Colorado wasn’t the right location for that. My first semester was really tough. Not only was it incredibly challenging academically, but I had been going through several personal challenges that I suppressed because I felt like I was too busy with school to deal with my emotions. Not only was this unhealthy, but it all hit me at once over winter break, and it hit me hard. I realized that my current school wasn’t the right fit for me, and I didn’t know what to do. I started contemplating whether I should transfer or drop out, which felt too overwhelming to think about. I went to one of my favorite professor’s office hours the first week of spring semester and completely broke down. He told me that not only is it really common for 1L’s to struggle during winter break and January, but he had gone through similar feelings back when he was a 1L. He urged me not to make the rash decision to drop out and I am so glad I listened. This was a great lesson for me because I realized that if you are struggling you have to ask for help because otherwise people will assume you’re fine. Not only was my professor there for me when I needed academic help, but he was able to help me figure out how I could be happier in law school and how to figure out what next steps were right for me. I started my transfer applications and applied for summer jobs in the city where I wanted to transfer to. I worked my ass off for the next few months. I would wake up insanely early to spend time on my transfer and job applications. This was a lot on top of my normal school work, but the hard work eventually paid off!

I ended up being accepted to my dream law school as a transfer student for the fall semester, after thinking there was NO WAY I would get in. I also got a summer job that I was so excited about, and tomorrow is my first day. I’ve moved across the country, and I’m so excited to begin this new chapter of my law school experience. The rest of the semester ended up being remote because of COVID, which was an adjustment to say the least. But I finished out the semester, and left Colorado the day after my last final. The biggest piece of advice I would like you to takeaway from this is that it is okay to not be okay. It is okay to realize your plan didn’t work out, and making a change when it is in your best interest is the right thing to do. During college it always seemed like I had my plan all figured out. I took all the steps to get into law school and I chose the school I attended and thought everything would be great. It wasn’t, and it took me so long to admit it because I didn’t want to admit to myself that I chose the wrong school and location and needed to make some changes. You are in charge of your own happiness, and if you’re unhappy you shouldn’t stay that way because you’re scared to admit that what you thought you wanted didn’t work out.