1. You are better than you think.

“You will never influence the world by trying to be like it.” –Sean McCabe

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters…compared to what lies within us.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Welcome to what will soon be your new normal – days that feel long because of the hours of work you need to get done, but weeks that go quickly because you constantly feel like you run out of hours in the day. The good news is that you have already made the difficult decision to commit to this new and, albeit difficult, exciting and life-altering path. Take a deep breath and prepare to begin, even if you don’t feel you are ready. Know that you are among good company, for many of the best and most successful people began before they felt ready. They began anyway, and so will you.

Remember that you are already here – which means that not only are you good enough to be, but that you can handle whatever this year throws your way.

You are better than you think. Let those words sink in and repeat them to yourself until you believe them. Talk to yourself like you would talk to your best friend. Recognize that fear and insecurity don’t make you weak – they make you human. Recognize that every single one of us feels that way too – even the people who won’t admit it to you (and sometimes, especially those people). What makes you brave is feeling it but carrying on anyway.

2. But you must also be humble.

“Only the weak are cruel. Gentleness can only be expected from the strong.” –Leo Buscaglia 

“Don’t try to be different. Just be good. To be good is different enough.” –Arthur Freed

“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less.” –CS Lewis

Confidence does not equate with cockiness. Believing in yourself does not mean failing to believe in others. Confident, strong people know how to be themselves and carry themselves with an air of confidence without putting down others or making anyone else feel like any less than they are.

You have embarked on a new journey, but you have also joined a new community in the truest sense of the word. Think of those around you. Hold open the door for the person coming into class behind you. Introduce yourself to strangers. Say “Hi” to Carol when you swipe your ID card at the front desk. If you encounter people who do not afford you the same courtesy, pay them no mind and carry on in your kindness anyway. It is so simple, yet so often overlooked. Be nice to everyone.

3. One day, one class, one moment at a time.

“You need to be content with small steps. That’s all life is. Small steps that you take every day so when you look back down the road, it all adds up and you know you covered some distance. It took me a long time to accept that, but it’s true. You need to have patience.” –Katie Kacvinsky

If you are anything like I am, you may already feel overwhelmed. Last year around this time when I was seeking advice, a friend told me to simplify it in my mind. She said to just do my reading and go to class and focus on those two things in the beginning. It really helped me to constantly remind myself of this and turn my focus to these two things and, at the start, only these two things.

If you do this in the beginning, you will be taking the small steps every day that you need to take to be on your way to a successful semester. Any challenge in life can only be accomplished by breaking down a complex process into small, doable steps. Law school is no different.

4. You don’t have to be what other people expect you to be.

“You must begin to think of yourself as becoming the person you want to be.” –David Viscott

Each person has his or her own idea of what works the best, what will make you the most successful law student, what strategies you should use, what books you should read, whose example you should follow. Most of these ideas will be good, well-intentioned, and true. Most of these ideas will have worked for the person passing on the advice. And while it’s good to seek out and listen to this advice, you must also remember that you are none of these people.

Don’t lose yourself trying to be what other people think you should be. Or what you yourself think you should be. Listen to the advice, act on it, try different things, and then adjust accordingly. If you have always studied a certain way or learned best a certain way, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Law school is a unique academic model, different than any other you have encountered previously. But you know yourself better than anyone else.

Don’t be afraid to do what works for you. It’s okay not to follow through on someone’s suggestions if you realize it’s not conducive to how you learn. Forge your own path and take deliberate actions toward being the person who you want to be.     

5. Remember who you are.

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” –Theodore Roosevelt

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” –Aristotle

Remember why you came to law school. You must have had your own reasons, different and separate from every other student’s reasons. Don’t let them get lost in what can feel like the madness of the day-to-day work.

Remember what you love to do and don’t let those things go. Yes, you will need to prioritize school, but if what makes you feel alive is going to church, going to the gym, or going to live concerts in the city, keep going. Take care of yourself. Take deep breaths. Practice mindful living. Go outside, go for a run, volunteer locally. Keep things in perspective. Cultivate good habits. There are so many things outside of your control in law school, but what you choose to do is not one of them.

Prioritize your to-do list. If you are running out of hours in the day, stop watching TV. Become the master of your time. Keep your favorite things in your life because giving yourself those mental breaks and holding onto things that bring you joy will serve you well both inside and outside of the legal world.

6. But be open and willing to change.

“We’ve learned to fly the air like birds, we’ve learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we haven’t learned to walk the earth as brothers and sisters.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” –Stephen Covey

This school is full of so many smart, talented, diverse, and wonderful individuals, all who come from different backgrounds and all who now have both a common school and a common goal. Take advantage of this because it is such a wonderful gift.

Recognize that we will only ever truly move forward by embracing our differences, by listening (really listening) to others’ perspectives, by desiring to leave people better than we found them, and by knowing that we have something to learn from every single person we meet.

7. Don’t let a setback pull you too low.

“Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up.” –Alfred, The Dark Knight

“Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.” –Khalil Gibran

“I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” –Maya Angelou

I’m not sure if you’ve ever felt like this but there are times when one mistake can feel so overwhelming and so all-consuming that it seems insurmountable. Don’t let a setback pull you down too low. Take it for what it is, learn from it, create a plan to move forward, and begin to execute that plan. If you have faith, you will know that nothing is too bad that it takes away all hope.

This is a completely new environment and, sometimes, despite your best efforts, you might fall flat on your face (figuratively, or literally on campus, which happened to me so don’t feel bad if it happens to you). Know that you can only do the best that you can with what you have. Once you know better, like Angelou says, you can do better. And if you keep trying, you will.

8. Work hard.

“Opportunity is missed by people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” –Thomas Edison

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart.” –Colossians 3:23

You have already been told that nothing worth having comes easy. You have already read and, no doubt, heard from others that law school is very hard. To do well, you need to work hard. There is literally no substitute for putting your head down, putting in the (many) long hours, and doing the work. Even when you don’t feel like it. Even when you feel like you don’t know what you are doing. Even when you don’t understand what you are reading. Do the work anyway. Try anyway.

Plan ahead and learn how to be the most organized version of yourself. Recognize that this opportunity is here before you and it is yours for the taking, but that the only way you will get the most out of it is by working harder than you have ever worked before and giving your absolute best.

9. Ask for help.

“There is no such thing as a self-made man. You will reach your goals only with the help of others.” –George Shinn

You have to believe in yourself. This is so important. No one else can do it for you. But if you are struggling to believe in yourself or if you come to a point where you feel as if you can’t, even for a time, find someone who does. There are people who do and will believe in you with such conviction that you will begin to believe in yourself again.

Ask a professor, ask an administrator (start with the Student Services Office), ask another student, ask me. Seriously. You don’t have to worry because someone in the building knows how you feel and has been there before and has made it out the other side and wants to help you. Don’t be afraid to go to a professor’s office hours with your questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for another time to meet with a professor if you can’t make the scheduled office hours. Don’t be afraid to ask about something that isn’t directly aligned with the in-class material. Don’t be afraid if, for a while in the beginning, you feel like things aren’t coming together. Remember to bring it back to the basics – do your reading and go to class. Review after class and at the end of each week to understand and consolidate the material.

Know there are ACE counselors who are here to help you, too, with questions about the first-year experience, with any struggles you may be having, with more specific class, reading, and exam preparation strategies for your professors. Know you can ask if you have other, unrelated concerns. Even if the person you ask isn’t the best person to help you, she can point you in the right direction and connect you with someone who is.

Ask for help if you feel lost, confused, or unsure. Ask for help if you feel down, worried, or alone. Even beyond the people within the law school, you can ask for help from the university’s counselors or from Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, a program that provides confidential help to lawyers and law students. Know it does not make you weak to ask for help or to admit your own struggles. Know you are not alone.

Someone once said, “And sometimes, I don’t know if there is anything more comforting than hearing someone’s voice say: ‘I know, I know, I know.’”

If you feel overwhelmed or insecure or worried, even if no one else admits to you that they are feeling or have felt the same, I am here to tell you that it’s not true.

You’re not alone and it’s going to be okay.

10. Keep going.

“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that. But the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” –Mark Twain

“If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” –Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Listen to the mustn’ts child, Listen to the Don’ts, Listen to the Shouldn’ts, the Impossibles, the Won’ts — Listen to the Never Have’s, then listen close to me — Anything can happen, child, ANYTHING can be.” –Shel Silverstein

Create mantras for yourself to remind yourself you can do this. A professor I once spoke with (who was actually a perfect stranger but who offered me kind and sage advice anyway a few years ago) told me that, when asked how he reached Nirvana, Buddha answered, “I did not strain, and I did not stop.”

This comes to mind when thinking of law school because, often times, you just have to keep going. The days are long because you are always so busy, but the semesters fly by for that same reason. Keep going and try as best as you can to keep the strain at bay, knowing that you can finish what you need to finish.

Law school is like a marathon. But remember that the first (and only) step to running and successfully completing a marathon is, after all, to start running.