The Thanksgiving holiday is just around the corner\u00a0and the atmosphere at the law school is getting tense. Exams are approaching faster than we want or expected, and you have classes to prepare for, outlines to write, flowcharts to create, flash cards, LRW memos \u2013 anxiety is rising. At this point in the semester, you may be thinking to yourself, \u201cWhen will I have the ahah moment?\u201d \u201cWhen will the light bulb go on for me?\u201d \u201cI haven\u2019t started \/ done much work on outlines. So and so has this great 50-page outline already.\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t even keep up with my class prep and get my memo done.\u201d \u201cHow can I bring all this material together?\u201d \u201cI bombed my practice exam!\u201d Etc, etc.<\/p>\n
Remember: Everyone who has ever been in law school (including myself and the rest of your faculty) felt the same way at this time of year, especially during their first year. I can still remember how I felt around this time of year. I was ready to quit, and felt like I could not even breathe without feeling like I was falling behind. The light bulb finally did turn on in my head \u2013 sometime in March. Despite this, I ended up being a successful law student, lawyer, and (I think) professor. If someone says they aren\u2019t feeling overwhelmed, anxious, confused, not getting it, etc. \u2013 don\u2019t believe them.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t be intimidated by your classmates (or your faculty). None of your classmates are smarter or better than you. Their great outlines may or may not be that good, or even real. Their occasional brilliant comments in class may represent all they know.<\/p>\n
Even though we started talking about outlines and flowcharts several weeks ago during ACE sessions, you are not behind or failing if you don\u2019t have outlines written up to date already. It would be great to have your study materials in excellent shape, but most students don\u2019t. You are not alone and you do have time.<\/p>\n
So relax, take a deep breath, do something fun that isn\u2019t law school related, and keep plugging away. Although the Thanksgiving break is a good time to catch up and to work on study materials, such as outlines, please do yourself a favor and take at least one whole day during the break and do nothing related to law school. When the break is over, you will find yourself constantly working hard as you move through the end of classes and finals. You don\u2019t want to wear out before the end. Law school is a marathon!<\/p>\n
You can all succeed here, but it is a grind and the first semester can be very disconcerting. Remember why you are here and that you have been successful before. \u00ad\u00ad\u00adYou will be again<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Thanksgiving holiday is just around the corner\u00a0and the atmosphere at the law school is getting tense. Exams are approaching faster than we want or expected, and you have classes to prepare for, outlines to write, flowcharts to create, flash cards, LRW memos \u2013 anxiety is rising. At this point in the semester, you may be thinking to yourself, \u201cWhen will I have the ahah moment?\u201d \u201cWhen will the light bulb go on for me?\u201d \u201cI haven\u2019t started \/ done much work on outlines. So and so has this great 50-page outline already.\u201d \u201cI can\u2019t even keep up with my class prep and get my memo done.\u201d \u201cHow can I bring all this material together?\u201d \u201cI bombed my practice exam!\u201d Etc, etc. Remember: Everyone who has ever been in law school (including myself and the rest of your faculty) felt the same way at this time of year, especially during their first year. I can still remember how I felt around this time of year. I was ready to quit, and felt like I could …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[181,62,61,180],"audience":[54],"coauthors":[179],"class_list":["post-785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-student-advice","tag-law-school-final-exams","tag-law-school-mindset","tag-law-school-success","tag-thanksgiving","audience-students"],"yoast_head":"\r\n