Where Do I Even Begin?

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Honestly, I don't even know how to remotely approach the crazy ride that I took a front seat on for my first semester of law school. There were so many twists and turns, successes, failures and lessons learned that will definitely shape my approach to tackling the spring semester. Over these next 4 weeks, I plan to dump it all on you so be ready because there's a lotttttt - && because I don't plan on doing much over break other than netflix, blogging and hibernating.

"So how's law school?"

you'll get this question so many times within your first semester that you can pretty much count on it being the first thing you're asked. I can't tell you how many times I lied and said it was great or I was doing well when in fact I could barely remember if / what I ate for breakfast that morning yet alone sort my life out while figuring out how to do this whole "law school" thing. 

It wasn't completely horrible though, I did have a few break downs.. questioned whether this was really for me but thanks to my lovely best friends, I got through it. I can finally say that the first semester is over and I made it - now grade wise... I don't even know. Its hard to guess where I am at because of the curve and I find that I always beat myself up over exams. I did not feel confident with my last exam though that is for sure, I was drained. I should have studied more than I did, covered more ground because I sat in this exam thinking over and over again "WTF am I being asked" and shunning myself for not being more prepared. So before I go into all the topics I have planned, here are a few tips to consider before going into the next semester whether you're in law school, grad school or undergrad:

Tips.. I got lots of them.

If You Don't Like Coffee, You'll Learn to Love It. 
its really that simple. I could not have made it through this semester without my DD every morning and most after noons. 

OUTLINE 

&& stay on top of it. This was my number one mistake was not staying on top of outlining. But I only have myself to blame. I will admit, my lack of outlining came from my stubbornness to admit I didn't know how to. My 4 years of undergrad was spent outlining papers for english papers. I never had to outline for an exam let alone take a cumulative one. I thought I knew what I was doing but once midterms had gone well I thought I was doing it all correctly... come finals I realized how completely wrong I was and how far behind I was. It was a struggle. 

Manage your time

seriously outline your day's to the minute. It was so easy for me to be like "eh I have all weekend to do this" and before I knew it, it was Sunday and the work piled up. I shot myself in the foot with this quite often because of a lack of organization and motivation. 

Organize. Organize. Organize. 

You know what does and does not work for you. I've learned a lot about myself as a student this semester and have already begun to make a list of things that need to be tweaked for the spring semester. I'm usually a fairly organized person but this roller coster ride threw me for a loop when it comes to staying organized when it comes to notes for class, readings, etc. 

Study Group

Find a group that isn't made entirely up of your friend group. Pick a time to meet at the very least one time a week. STICK TO IT. I was in a group made up entirely of my friend group, and don't get me wrong I loved knowing the people in my group, BUT it was entirely too easy to push back the studying and lose focus. I know that next semester it needs to be a bit different when it comes to study groups because they're important. you need to be talking about the material - if you can explain it to someone else, you're one the right path. 

Take time for yourself. 

If you don't, you're going to burn yourself out. That's exactly what I did. I expunged all my energy on midterms when I should have saved that turbo boost for my finals. After midterms I was drained, unmotivated, lacking focus. I needed a break and instead of taking a personal day I pushed myself for another three weeks before I had a melt down. While the melt down was needed... I should have taken that needed me time wayyyyyyy before and things would have been okay. I wouldn't have burnt myself out like did. The other thing I regret was letting my gym time go. I enjoy staying active, it relieves stress and keeps me feeling energized, focused and on track. I let it go way too easily blaming it on not having time when I actually did. 

Upcoming Posts

Finals Crunch Time 

Notes/Organization

Midterm Madeness

BREAK = BREAK

Preparing for the Legal Interview