It's definitely been a hot second since I have posted last. The last week or so was absolutely crazy due to my parents surprise 30th anniversary party that my sister and I hosted.. it went very well though so it was COMPLETELY worth all the stress && was a really great way to say thank you to my family & friends for all of their support.
But enough with that, if you happened to check out my post on Some Much Needed Time Off you'll remember that I mentioned the "Recommended Reading List" that my school released for incoming 1L's (if you haven't, check it out fast!) I picked a total of 4 books off of that list and then found another one on my own. With only two weeks let until I start my Orange Edge Program, I am disappointed to say that I have only completed one of the recommended reading books. Although what I loved about this book is that I was completely pulled into it, I just couldn't set it down so I actually finished the book in 24 hours and then basically needed a break because I had just blew through a 130 page book in a heart beat...
One thing I highly suggest before I get into the details of why I enjoyed this book so much, TAKE NOTES ON WHAT YOU READ. This book provided so many great tips that I know I want to use in school that writing them down was the only way to save me the time from flipping back through the book to find whatever it is I'll be looking for.
Coming To Law School - How to Prepare Yourself for the Next Three Years is so COMPLETELY WORTH THE READ & YOUR TIME. I decided on this book mainly because it is actually written by one of the professors at my law school. I figured it would be a smart idea for me to read it because it is actually written by one of the professors at my law school and at a first glance it looked as if it could really give some useful information for the upcoming semester and year to follow. I was right - Gallacher covers the basics and when I mean basics I mean BASICS. His book doesn't talk about life as a 1L, instead his book is focused around how to on properly study
When I first was going through the table of contents I was a little surprised to find that the book focuses on reading, writing, note taking, outlining, etc etc. But as I started to really think about all these things I realized that I was slightly freaked out about simple things like..
Will I read properly and get all the information I need? Will I take notes in a way that helps me rather than hinders me? Should I use a laptop to take notes or should I just do pen & paper? Am I going to outline in a way that I can really study from? My mind has been moving closer and closer to completely frazzled as my start date gets approaches but Gallacher's book has really helped calm a lot of the nerves that I really didn't realize I had.
Aside from all the great topics and information that he gives, I LOVE that he includes 10+ exercises that you can do to help prepare you for what is to come. It allows you to really give what he is saying a try before you have to actually sit down and take notes while reading, briefing a case, preparing an outline. One example would be the exercise he gave for writing. He starts by saying:
"Try to write every day, even if you write a journal recording the events of you day. Imagine that a future biographer wants to know about you, and think about how what you are writing would convert information to that person. Would your reader think of you as a technically skilled writer? Would your reader like you? Does that matter to you, as long as the events are accurately recorded? Try different drafts to vary your tone, compare different drafts to each other, and think carefully about every word, phrase, and sentence in your journal entry....." Gallacher 89 (did I seriously just cite a book on a blog...... sureeeeeee did)
The purpose of that exercise revolves around his chapter on Writing and that writing is reader centered, with little errors, structured, uses the appropriate voice/tone etc etc. This exercise is simple, and honestly does not take long to do. Its his way of bringing it all together and providing his readers with something to actually do in order to get something from what he is saying.
Besides the fact that he discusses the basics like active reading and writing in law school, I really enjoyed the chance to do a sample case brief. It was a great "preview" of what briefing will be like. Whats great is that he included a sample of his own case brief to compare mine too and that really helped get my wheels turning because it showed me what MORE I could be doing; What more I could be asking, commenting, thinking as I read; it showed me all that I could get out of a case brief and how completing them will benefit me in the long run. I actually briefed a case before my senior year of undergrad and i think that helped me a bit but where i struggled was looking beyond what lies in front of me, thinking about the things that aren't being said, what's in between the lines. I think realizing this now and completely some of his exercises will help me strengthen my active reading and note taking skills.
Long Story Short - Read the book if you get the chance. There's a lot of little things that I didn't think I would be concerned about like note taking and reading because I mean we all did it for undergrad. But I was nervous about it and if I'm going to be completely honest I'm nervous about law school in general. But this book took away a lot of the fears I was having and that was because his book is like an ongoing, casual conversation filled with great tips and exercises all that will only HELP you along this journey. Hopefully over these next two weeks I can knock out the last couple books and give some feed back! If you have any questions feel free to contact me!
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