Tag: mental health

Academics

First Steps for First Gens: Finding Your Way to Law School (Even When the Path is Foggy)

By the time I left the arts education organization I founded in the early 2010s, I had spent the better part of a decade incorporating a business, writing and negotiating service contracts, and working with creative intellectual property. I enjoyed the nitty-gritty, down-to-details aspect of the law-related work I was doing, and I imagined I’d like to explore the other side of it—as an attorney. … Continue reading First Steps for First Gens: Finding Your Way to Law School (Even When the Path is Foggy)

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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

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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Academics

10 Ways to Ace Law School Classes

One of the first “law school-isms” that you hear is that a law school semester is “a marathon, not a sprint. ” It’s supposed to be an encouraging message—that there’s a long road ahead but there’s time to work your way to the front of the pack. If you just keep running, you’ll make it to the end. But don’t people spend months training for marathons? You … Continue reading 10 Ways to Ace Law School Classes

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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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