Best and worst of first year

It's funny, a lot of the law student blogs I've been reading have been doing posts along the lines of "Advice for new 1Ls starting this fall" (or in the next 2-3 weeks, really). I enjoy reading these (despite being done with 1L) because it's always interesting to see where my experiences match up with those of other students. Since I continue to feel like I'm not a "real" student, it's reassuring when I can see my own experience in what other people write, and strangely enough, it's also reassuring when their experiences are different. (Which I guess means I'm kind of invested in seeing myself as not your "typical" law student?)

Myself, though, when I think about writing an "Advice to OLs/1Ls" post, I can't really think of much to say. Mostly because everyone else has covered what I'd say. And also because there are various debates about how to do well in law school (take notes by hand or on computer? use supplements or not, or which ones, and when? etc.), and I've kind of decided where I stand on the issues for me, but what works for me may not work for everyone. So I kind of think everyone has to work these things out for themselves. My advice boils down to: do the reading, go to class, ask questions, study. Or, in other words: do the work. But I can't really say what the best way for other people to do that is.

I have no advice or insight about the social scene in law school. I'm sure my school has its own tensions, rivalries, jealousies, and dating-other-student drama, but I feel completely outside of that scene. Occasionally my more in-touch classmates pass stuff along to me, which I enjoy hearing about, but it generally sails by me unnoticed. I like to think I still know people through various activities and that I won't end up being that person that no one even realized was in their class, but we'll have to see.

Instead I thought I'd do another law student blog meme: What were the best and worst moments of your first year?

Hmmm. I'm going to make a rule for myself that my answer can't be about grades, because I'm way too caught up in external measures of success as it is. Yes, getting my lowest grade sucked, and yes, getting my highest grades in two of the classes I most enjoyed and which were taught by my favorite profs was pretty awesome. But I can't measure the experience purely by grades.

Worst: I just remember going to talk to my Legal Writing prof sometime in the fall, and coming out of there feeling utterly despondent about my choice to go to law school. I've no idea why, really, because this professor was extremely nice, and really, a very good instructor, and I don't recall hir saying anything particularly negative about me or my work. I think it was that the conversation was so damned awkward, I came out of it feeling completely out of place and stupid and convinced I would never fit in. (I have a tiny suspicion that some of this was the professor genuinely feeling uncomfortable, because I am older than hir, have more advanced degrees, and actually had taught longer than zie had, but I try to suppress that suspicion because really, it's unfair to the professor - who is, as I said, very good - and probably more about me being paranoid about being a non-trad than anything else.)

Best: Being done with exams - both semesters - was a pretty good feeling. When I was in undergrad (and even in grad school), my friends and I all had different schedules with different course requirements and therefore different final exam experiences. I ended up doing a lot of final papers and fewer final exams; my science friends had lots of final exams; that kind of thing. So we weren't all on the same schedule for finishing at all. But all 1Ls have the same exams at the same time. The euphoria that hits the class when EVERYONE is done TOGETHER is pretty neat.

Also, I had a few wonderful conversations with the prof I RAed for which totally made up for the awful awkward conversation with my Legal Writing prof. We just talked like normal people, and it was SO nice to find someone who talked to me like a grown up again. (It didn't hurt that zie loved the work I did for hir and volunteered to do whatever zie could to help me get a job/succeed/etc., but then, this isn't supposed to be about external validation!)

It is funny to me that the two moments I've picked both involved profs, because it probably betrays how much I still feel more like them than like most of my classmates. And I did have great times with my classmates, too - they're cool people. But these moments are what stick out.

Comments

[k73]

I have a tiny suspicion that some of this was the professor genuinely feeling uncomfortable, because I am older than hir, have more advanced degrees, and actually had taught longer than zie had

This is probably true, but not for the reason that you think.

[New Kid on the Hallway]

So, for what reason? (I'm very willing to be wrong on this.)

[loyal reader]

Maybe you were just thinking too much about it.