3 years from the day I entered into this bittersweet life as a law student, I've been thinking about what works and what does not work when studying law. So I'll give 33 tips on how to survive law school and excel.
But really, proceed with caution because I am not an expert and maybe I just landed on top with it being attributable more on luck and not on strategy. (See? I don't even know how to construct my sentences well. Shame on me.)
1. Read, read, read. I wrote that three times because you have to read in three different timelines, before starting law school, during law school, and even during holidays.
Before law school -
You have to start reading anything, anything as long as you read. I believe that one of the basic things that helped me excel in law school was that I loved to read anything. I loved reading those mushy novels about love and high school dramas and Dan Brown books and basically anything that interests me in the first few pages that I've read them. Maybe I've read conservatively at least 30 books in my lifetime, excluding those they force you to read during high school and college. (It's not something to be really proud of I know). I read magazines and I say this with shame, stories about celebrities and their lifestyle and whirlwhind romances. What can I say? I've been trying to stop ever since I realized how pointless and how a waste time it is to care about other people's lives and not focusing on your own.
Anyway, the rationale for this is to improve your reading comprehension and just your general vocabulary and knowledge skills. Believe me, it helped me a lot in law school. I think subconsciously I really was inclined to study law even before I consciously decided to take it up because I read the novels To Kill a Mockingbird, John Grisham books and other books made into movies like the Lincoln Lawyer and I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed these.
Kudos to my significant other for pointing these out. I never really connected the dots on the speed on how I was able to read through my law books and my general love for reading until it was pointed it out to me.
And yes, read during class and during holidays is pretty self-explanatory.
And yes, read during class and during holidays is pretty self-explanatory.
2. Always think ahead.
I say this because a lot of times in law school, you will (without exception) experience humiliation, anger towards your professor for giving you an unfair grade or just being an unfair teacher.
You have to tell yourself that law school is not the end. Keep your head on the ultimate goal - the bar examinations. I mean, ultimately, it wont matter if you've finished first or last on your class. It just matters you understood the subject and that you will be a great lawyer someday.
Keep in mind that you will have unfair teachers. Some of them will inspire you but really, even the inspiring ones will haunt you and give you impossible reading assignments and homework just make you think of them as the devil coming to you to ruin your entire life.
Also, and more importantly, think ahead when you are studying. (WARNING: I am very prone into not following this because it's incredibly hard to do. Nobody likes studying. Nobody. It's the most boring thing to do but remember, the important things in life are always worth doing, no matter how hard it is) My point is, don't just follow the pace of your professor. Think in advance on how you will be able to cover the whole material before the semester ends. This is vital in order to ensure that you've finished your first reading thoroughly in preparation for the bar.
Of course, be conservative on your estimates and always account for contingencies like professors who cover the entire subject matter by midterms (I assure you, professors like those exist).
3. Rest and pray.
Being in law school is a very unique circumstance. You will feel all sorts of emotions from euphoria to depression and that can even happen in a single hour especially when you only have enough time to study for one subject and then of course, flunk the other.
When all these happen, and the stress does come to you (normal people feel this), just let it go and let God. Pray to Him. My favorite prayer, being a Catholic, is the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. I don't know but I feel complete and ready to take on the recitations and the exams whenever I pray this before I go to class. And really, it works wonders. I even shock myself sometimes. It is during those times that I know God intervenes.
Prayer to the Sacred Heart of JesusO most holy heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore you, I love you, and with lively sorrow for my sins I offer you this poor heart of mine. Make me humble, patient, pure and wholly obedient to your will. Grant, Good Jesus, that I may live in you and for you. Protect me in the midst of danger. Comfort me in my afflictions. Give me health of body, assistance in my temporal needs, your blessing on all that I do, and the grace of a holy death. Amen. (Source: catholic.org)
Wishing you the best of luck.
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