Tag: anxiety

Personal Life

“Sleep is a Distant Memory, and There’s Nothing But Caffeine in My Veins”: Self Care for Law Students

My 1L Orientation was filled with stories of students who spent their first year munching Snickers bars for dinner and gulping Red Bulls between all-nighters. It was all heavily doused with advice we absolutely should not follow their example, of course— that we have to eat and sleep and be functional humans and all— but the message I really heard was that there is an … Continue reading “Sleep is a Distant Memory, and There’s Nothing But Caffeine in My Veins”: Self Care for Law Students

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Personal Life

When You Need an Adult But You Are an Adult

I started law school a few months before I turned 28. I was independent. I was my own pillar, trying to hold up my world single-handedly. I always thought I was an “adult” but, truthfully, I wasn’t. In law school I was challenged in ways I never imagined. I didn’t know who or what my support group was. I want to go back to simpler … Continue reading When You Need an Adult But You Are an Adult

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Personal Life

What Does a Lawyer Look Like? Reflections on Representation in the Law

I raise my hand a lot in class. The unwritten rule of law school is to avoid being called on at all costs— and here I am voluntarily subjecting myself to scrutiny— so it earns me a lot of strange looks. But it’s actually immensely important to me because it’s important to me to take up space— not physical space, but metaphorical space. I will … Continue reading What Does a Lawyer Look Like? Reflections on Representation in the Law

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Personal Life

From Layman to Lawyer

Some days, the law feels like a world of its own, complete with a “No non-lawyers allowed” sign. And on those days, I both feel like I haven’t earned my place in that posh, exclusive “lawyers” club but also feel like I’ve definitively left where I came from behind just to get this far. It’s a strange limbo where I don’t belong wholeheartedly in either … Continue reading From Layman to Lawyer

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Personal Life

Blackness in White Spaces

Being black in predominantly white spaces can feel like drowning. Not only do we feel isolated because of our status as a minority, but we feel erased by the persistent and often ambiguous use of “people of color” to address so many struggles that it addresses none. The relationship Black people have with the world is anything but vague. The systems that oppress back people all over … Continue reading Blackness in White Spaces

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Personal Life

No, They Didn’t Admit You on Accident: Conquering Impostor Syndrome

im·pos·tor syn·drome (noun) — the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills  When I got the email my 1L year that first semester grades were posted, my hands were quite literally shaking, and my pulse was beating so rapidly that I couldn’t catch my breath. I couldn’t decide if I … Continue reading No, They Didn’t Admit You on Accident: Conquering Impostor Syndrome

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Personal Life

To Law Students From Nontraditional Backgrounds: You Belong Here

Here’s to law students who are the first in their family to go to college. To law students who have long since grown tired of checking the box that says their parents don’t have degrees as if they aren’t the most brilliant people you’ll ever meet. To law students whose lingering guilt at leaving home has now become a familiar shadow that wars with their … Continue reading To Law Students From Nontraditional Backgrounds: You Belong Here

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Personal Life

Alcoholism and the Law

You have probably seen your share of parties. You may have gone (or still go to) to happy hour with some friends, or even have a nightcap to help you sleep.  In law school, alcohol is a staple. Many events hinge on the use of alcohol; and some lawyers and judges may even avoid events without alcohol. On top of that, there is pressure to drink– peer pressure from your friends and the larger social pressure that all lawyers drink.   … Continue reading Alcoholism and the Law

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Personal Life

Anxiety: A Common Attorney Affliction

Welcome to your new life– law school. Law school is, for lack of a better word, hard.  It is an entirely new experience. You probably still can’t comprehend the journey you are embarking on. And while it will be incredible, and you will create strong bonds and learn amazing new things and grow as a person… it will also probably feel like an uphill battle. Chances are you will be over-worked, sleep-deprived, … Continue reading Anxiety: A Common Attorney Affliction

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Academics

How to Survive Reading Period

It’s the last day of classes. There are 5 days until your first law school final exam. You know you  aren’t prepared to take the exam but you don’t know how to be. Those 5 days are stretching out in front of you— daunting. You’re used to schedules just being decided for you by classes, but now you have five unstructured, terrifyingly empty days in front of you to figure … Continue reading How to Survive Reading Period

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