In Green Hall, you’ll meet people from various walks of life and with different experiences with — and exposure to — the legal world. If you’re like me, that exposure was strictly confined to negative experiences with the criminal justice system and the countless barriers to accessing legal resources. If you are like many at the law school, then you may have family or friends who are attorneys or work closely with attorneys. Or maybe you fall somewhere in between or outside these categories. Whatever the case may be, your own journey through law school will be affected by your past experiences.
Now, this isn’t to say that your law school journey will be negatively or positively impacted one way or the other, but you will come in with different perspectives that influence how you navigate law school. For me, my past experiences have led me to two conclusions: 1) I would never (ever) work as a prosecutor or in big law, and 2) I wanted to become a tool and resource for my community. And, being a first-generation college and law school student, has also meant that much of my law school journey has been filled with confusion, solitude and dread. In an environment where your 1L year classes are chosen for you and where you will be placed on a grading curve, it is easy to be sucked into the idea that there is only one way to do law school. But my hope with this blog is to tell you there is no ‘right’ way and that finding/having community, purpose and grounding experiences could make all the difference.
Community
During my Admitted Students Weekend, I sat in the very back of room 104 with my uncle, aunt and mom. That morning, we had left my hometown early for the three-hour drive, but, as is typical with my family, we arrived a little late and slipped in as Dean Freedman introduced the schedule for the day. During the small moments of break and transition, I would turn to my family and give a brief synopsis in Spanish so that they could follow along. During one of our conversations, a student in front of us turned around and introduced herself in Spanish. Excited to meet other Hispanics, my family immediately bombarded her with questions: where are you from? What’s your name? Where is your family from? I was mortified, but my family was so excited for me, telling me that we had to stick together and help each other out. Funnily enough, we became friends and anytime I go home, they always ask about her and how she is doing.
At Green Hall, I was able to create a strong community filled with people with all different types of backgrounds. Through clubs like the Hispanic American Law Students Association (HALSA), the Public Interest Law Society (PILS) and the First-Generation Professionals (FGP), I found others that I could relate to and go to with all my questions. If you take anything from this blog let it be this: you need a community to get through law school. It’s long and arduous, but trust me, a group of people that care for and love you will make all the difference.
Purpose
Although the first couple weeks of law school can be daunting and overwhelming, I quickly leaned on my community for support. But with the fast-paced and never-ending nature of my 1L year, I often found myself lost in the ‘law school trance.’ I started thinking that I absolutely needed to do everything everyone else was doing. Namely, Law Review/Journal, Moot Court and On Campus Interviews (OCIs) became my narrowly focused goals. Had I heard about them before law school? No! But did I need them to be successful in law school? Of course!
After my first-ever finals season at law school, I found myself burnt out and exhausted. But instead of relaxing during winter break, I started stressing out about summer internships and preparing for OCIs. One night, as my sister and I drank hot chocolate at my aunt’s house, my uncle asked what I was working on. “Getting a job, for the summer,” I explained. My uncle was confused. “But, shouldn’t you be studying in the summer?” He took a moment, “Oh! Is rent expensive? You shouldn’t worry about that! We will figure it out, you need to study!” I tried explaining that usually, summers were meant to be used to gain experience in the legal field, but he would not hear it. “No, no, no. Those are distractions, you need to study!” (To this day he insists that I should not be pursuing internships/summer jobs). Although my uncle’s reasoning wasn’t necessarily to take a break, being with my family that winter allowed me to step back and assess what I truly wanted to do, and — though a very hard decision — I decided OCIs were not for me. I closed my OCI applications and instead decided to only apply for the Judicial Field Placement. I don’t recommend ‘putting all your eggs in one basket’ but I also don’t think applying to everything helps either!
This long-winded story is to say one thing: don’t lose sight of your ‘why.’ And maybe you don’t necessarily know what your ‘why’ is, but you also shouldn’t mindlessly follow what others are saying you should be coveting. I didn’t end up doing review/journal, moot court or OCIs, but have found success in other ways. I have especially focused on volunteering with local grassroots and advocacy organizations and giving back to communities I hope to one day work with.
Grounding Experiences
This last section ties very closely with my previous section. I would say my grounding experiences involve going home and being with my family — even though I often tell myself I will do work when at home, I never do — and doing things outside of the law school that center my hobbies. It can be tempting to spend every minute outside of classes and club meetings to study (my uncle would be very proud of you!), but you will burn yourself out with that mentality. It’s important then to consciously make time for yourself.
Although not exhaustive, here is a list of things I do that have helped me ground myself and take my mind off law school:
- Reading for fun (currently: Circe)
- Journaling (love my Hobonichi)
- Writing postcards to strangers (I use Postcrossing!) and friends
- Going home
- Shopping at Wonderfair on Mass
- Going to a cute cafe
- Crocheting (currently: a star-shaped blanket)
- Playing video games (Minecraft, Legend of Zelda games, Pikmin)
- Sending long voice messages to my friends and sister
– Rossiel Reyes Enriquez is a 2L KU Law Student Ambassador from Great Bend, Kansas