Do all your readings (yes, all of them!) even if you don’t understand them or only have time for a quick skim.
This is the #1 tip I give to all incoming 1Ls, and it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. Making sure that you do all your readings — even if just as a half-effort skim — ensures that you’re as prepared for class as you can be. It means that even on the most boring day of class, you’ll be able to pick out details from your reading and make connections with the material. It also ensures that you’ll get an A for effort if you’re cold-called.
Book brief — don’t take notes on paper.
Taking notes in a notebook as you read for class is a waste of time. Book brief instead! Book briefing entails underlining, highlighting, circling and writing important terms and guideposts in the margin of your textbook. It saves time and effort, and if you’re trying to do all your readings for class (see tip #1 above), that time and effort is precious. Book briefing also allows you to point out the important points in each case and reading so that you can remember them during cold calls and during outlining. It’s a win-win-win!
Do things that make you uncomfortable.
Sign up for Moot Court, write on for Law Review, argue in traffic court, sign up for VITA — do anything you can to experience new and scary things in law school. Each provides a new and unique opportunity to explore a new area of law. By experimenting with new experiences, you’ll learn the most important lesson of all: what you like.
Take on a leadership role in at least one organization.
KU law has all kinds of interest groups, clubs and co-curricular organizations. Volunteer as a leader in at least one. Leadership roles allow you to practice different kinds of soft skills that employers love. They also allow you to engage with your law school community while taking a break from your studies.
Apply for supplemental scholarships and on-campus opportunities that provide stipends.
It’s no secret that law school is expensive. But KU and the surrounding community have lots of ways to get some extra cash. Opportunities like Law Review, Journal, Moot Court, Ambassadors, Dean’s Fellows and Research Assistants all include scholarships, stipends or paychecks to help you afford your legal education. And KU’s Admissions Office will do a great job of connecting you to outside scholarships if you let them; Kansas Bar Association (KBA) scholarships and Federal Bar Association (FBA) scholarships are two great options, but other more local scholarships come about pretty often, too.
Lean into the busy.
The reality of law school is that everyone is busy. Everyone’s planner is booked. And no one likes a whiner. If you can find it in yourself to lean into your busy-ness, you’ll be all the better for it. Law school is only three years long, you can do it!
Attend law school events.
With the Diversity in Law Banquet, Women in Law Pub Night and Law Prom all occurring in March, I have banquets on the brain. Each of these events is a great opportunity to engage with your classmates and professors, and you should attend all of them. Remember that the connections you make in law school are the referrals you get in practice — and, more importantly, the friendships you make here will last a lifetime.
Spend time outside of class with your classmates.
Every class has a few instigators — people who organize social events, invite everyone out for those events and forge connections between classmates. Either become one of those people yourself or find those people and get close to them. Those are the people you’ll get close to in law school, and they’ll be the ones you lean on in the future.
– Karen Campbell is a 3L KU Law Student Ambassador from Lawrence, Kansas