Is it seriously already December?! 4 months has absolutely flown by! I just moved back home from D.C. on Monday & I still cannot believe that my semester is already over. So how was it? Hectic. Stressful. Totally worth it. Hectic & stressful because I had a lot of issues with financial aide this semester that caused a TONNNNNN of unnecessary stress and left me with less $$ than I had planned for. It wasn't fun and definitely put a damper on my time. Don't get me wrong, working was stressful at times but for a majority of it, I loved my internship.
Externship Overview
When I originally decided that I was going to go to D.C. this fall, I really really wanted to land a externship with a firm that practiced commercial or residential real estate as well as wills, trusts, estate planning or something in sports law because those are my main areas of interest at this point. That didn't end up working out, so my next option was clerking for a judge and let me tell you I am so happy that I did it. The judge I clerked for was phenomenal. He provided so many great opportunities for me while I was in D.C. from observing both the Supreme Court and District Court to going to trials and settlement conferences to luncheons and judicial conferences. I enjoyed each and everyone opportunity that came about. On top of it, the entire semester I spent on improving my research and writing skills through drafting decisions and various orders.
The ONLY thing I wish I focused a bit more on was networking. This is definitely something I need to work on, I’m not the greatest at it and I really need to be. I’m actually intimidated by networking, I get anxious about meeting new people in a professional setting. I am constantly worried about how I present myself and if I am saying the right thing (or sounding like a complete blonde)
What exactly do I mean by networking? Meeting other attorneys – a lot of the time people will focus on networking within the area of law they are interested in. How do you network? Email, phone, coffee / lunch dates, etc. etc. Why do you need to network? Well mainly because you need to build a strong network to help you find employment for your summers and then eventually post-graduation. It also helps to network to build relationships with people who can be good mentors, provide recommendations, etc. etc. You want people to turn to, people that will look out for you, for example “hey, I saw XYZ job posting, or there’s an opening with X, I think you should apply / would be a good candidate.” Networking helps you gain the people you want to have in your corner.
Overall, D.C was COMPLETELY WORTH IT. if you ever get the opportunity, whether during your undergrad or graduate program, to do an externship / study abroad, DO IT. I promise you won't regret it. In fact, I loved D.C. so much that it is definitely some place I am considering for post-grad employment.
My One & Only Final
As you may have read, or maybe you haven't, I was required to take one course this semester on top of my externship. The course was PR (professional responsibility -- basically prep for the MPRE, an exam you have to take & pass in order to sit for the bar exam). I took it virtually by skyping in twice a week. Honestly, it wasn't my favorite class. I'm really not a huge fan of online courses because I get so easily distracted and I don't feel like I get the same learning experience as I do when I'm physically in class. Overall the class was EH. Preparing for the final was dreadful -- thank god for Barbri.
The exam was 4 hours... and 117 multiple choice & true/false questions. KILL ME. I really thought i wasn't going to need the entire 4 hours, but all six of us (who took the exam virtually in DC) needed the whole block (i really thought someone was going to finish way before). This honestly made me feel better for some reason.
I actually prepared for the final as if I was preparing for the MPRE which was helpful because when it came to the exam, the first half of the questions were "easier" than the practice questions I was doing so hopefully that works out in my favor. The second half were long fact patterns that you could tell were trying to break the curve. It was dreadful and my fingers are crossed that I did well.
Winter Break Plans?
Work – && I wish I was kidding. But I’m so broke it's not even funny (D.C. is EXPENSIVE ) Actually today was supposed to be my first day – I am going back into retail as a sales associate – but because the weather in NY is crazy, I got called off. Thank you Snow. So tomorrow is actually my first day. I do plan on keeping this position once the semester starts up again (along with returning to the firm I worked for this past summer) which brings up some good things to keep in mind when considering whether or not to work while in school. I am all about working while in school – this goes for both undergrad or graduate students– so long as it doesn't make your grades suffer. There were two major things that I needed answers to when I was contemplating this position:
How flexible they will be with my class and exam schedules?
How many hours will I be required to work each week?
I didn't want to take on a position that was only going to be seasonal, I wanted to continue working once classes start up again in January. BUT the only way that was going to be an option was if the position would be flexible with my schedule and understand that law school comes FIRST. Additionally, I don't need to be working 20 hours a week during the semester. My focus needs to be on my studies so figuring out how many hours will be doable will be something I will have to do a trial and error once the semester starts.
Aside from working though my winter plans are first and foremost figure out my 2L summer job, and then to just spend time with the family, learn to snow board (hopefully), get back into my fitness routine, read for FUN, and just relax. For all you 1L’s that just completed your first semester of law school, CONGRATS! You did it. You should feel accomplished even though you’re probably sitting there thinking why in the hell you voluntarily just put yourself through all the stress, tears and frustration. I promise in the long run it will be worth it. My tips for you this winter are to RELAX. Press that reset button. But do start to think about where you would like to try and intern this coming up summer. You don't need to know right this second but you should start planning ahead because spring semester goes by quickly. I’ll talk more on this a bit later and be sure to post about my progress in securing summer employment.
