So yesterday the final 1L law school grade came in, and I was not terribly pleased, but content with my scores. What's more important is that it provides closure, final confirmation that my first year of law school is over, and I haven't failed out or dropped out, 2 scenarios that had about a .001% chance of happening but I'm happy didn't happen anyway.
In many ways, law school was a labyrinth. It was a constant battle between the vast expanse of law school, the intricacies of the law, and the whole morass of the law school process and me, and many times, "I fought the law and the law won."
However, through the mass confusion, I was able to decipher some clarities in my one year there.
1.) Law school is AMAZINGLY like high school. Wouldn't you know it, when you have the same classes with the same people all the time, you get along with them and become friends with some. Add to that our personal lockers and limitation to one building, and it's high school all over again, which for me was not very long ago. Along with the physical stuff was the social, psychological, and emotional: Because the stakes were so high with grades, it was inevitable that people with view each other with some sort of competitive flair, no matter how much emphasis everyone put on NOT being competitve.
2.) Law school has some SMART people. I thought I was smart before coming to law school and was in the top echelon of people in the country, at least among incoming law students (scored in the 97th percentile of LSAT scores). Not anymore. Problem is, everyone at USC got around the same LSAT score, and everyone took a long and arduous route to get there. So not only were they smart, they had worked hard. Usually in high school or undergrad you see one or other other; in law school most were both: Everyone knew they had to work hard, so the "work hard, play hard" playbook wen't out the window, or at least was simply amended to "work hard."
2b.) Law school professors are SMART. I'm glad to know them. Not all the teachers were known as great teachers, and many arguments between students ensued as to general effectiveness, but students NEVER griped about a teacher not being bright enough to teach....these were smart cookies, and everyone knew it. Sometimes, they were even TOO SMART for their own good, assuming students knew the material already and talking about stuff that was too high level.
3.) There's a LOT of law out there. After 3 weeks of legal research, I figured that I could do just legal research for the rest of my life and not be able to get to all the legal sources and authorities out there. It's just not possible. Law school is a nice condensation of the major introductory law subjects (contracts, torts, civ pro), but even in those classes we get a professor-selected abbreviation of those topics into a well-confined class where there are limits to what is taught and what is expected of us on the test; there's worlds of stuff out there that we haven't even touched, and it's very humbling, considering some of the stuff we DID learn I haven't even grasped yet.
4.) Law school can be fun. With the downs often came the ups. I lived in a law dorm with 40 other 1L's the first year, so that helped. I have good memories of SBA Beer Pong Tournaments, LAAB Spring Break trips to New Orleans, USC football games/ basketball games, Lost parties, fantasy football rivalries, and general hanging out, plopped down in the couches at the law school. I'm not sure if the activities were more fun because it was had in the midst of "hard times," but time was not completely lost in the library or buried in supplements: some fun was had.
5.) The actual case book is not that important. Incoming 1L's, take note: don't spend all your time in the casebooks. In fact, I spent very little time in the casebook 2nd semester. It was almost to the point I regretted spending hundreds of dollars on them, when I could go the library, check it out occasionally, get what I needed, and study mostly out of supplements/old outlines. Coming from academic environments where textbooks were king (people made undergrad legacies out of just reading the textbook the night before the exam and doing fine), this was definitely unexpected. Isn't law school all about the cases? those unfamiliar with law school will inquire. Nope, it has something to do with cases, but it's the law behind those cases that is the real heart and soul, the real blood and tears behind it all. You gotta grasp that; before you do so, the casebooks are a mirage.
6.) Law school is not everything. Beyond all those stories about law school consuming one's life, changing your perspective, becoming the "be all and end all," I am still who I am, I have not lost my identify, and from time to time I remind myself, I'm still who I am. I'm proud of myself for being in law school, but I keep it in perspective: My life will only partially be defined by what I do in law school or even what I do in my law career: I am much more defined by being a good son to my parents, a good brother, a decent human being towards others, doing good deeds, and generally living life to its fullest. I will always remember to do those things, and I'm happy to say I still did them during 1L year and will continue to do so afterwards.
That all said, I am SO glad 1L year is FINALLY over!!!!!!!
(o and I'm looking forward to being on Moot Court or any of the journals, I just want to do something! )(crosses fingers)
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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