I'm Really Underqualified for This

I gave advice to a couple 1Ls yesterday.  They were curious about the structure of Professor J's take-home contracts exam and how to prepare for it.  My best advice?  Know major themes and edit that paper for a full 24 hours.  That was found insufficient.  I forgot.  1Ls are an anxious, nervous lot who require more guidance than that.  I know.  I was one once, and I had no one to guide me.  Their mentor is a great guy who really wants to help them navigate the shark-infested waters of the first year of law school.  My mentor ditched me before the school year started.  I figured out law school on my own.  Whether that helped or hurt me, I couldn't tell you.  Especially since I apparently did everything wrong/different.  I don't have any mentees, which is probably good considering the fact that I wouldn't have a lot of time for them, but if I had to give general advice, this is what it would be:

1.  Structure.  Structure your days.  Give yourself a schedule.  Tell yourself that you WILL be in the library by 9 am.  I woke up at 6:45 every morning, went to school and read until my first class at 10:30.  I had class from 10:30 to 12, lunch from 12-1, and then I went back to the library at 1 to finish my reading.  I went to my afternoon classes, and then back to the library for any reading I hadn't gotten to yet.  If I had any legal writing to do, it was done at home after class and a break.  Making sure my days had structure was a great way to make sure everything got done, and that I had free time at night.  By staying on top of my schedule, I could almost always quit working at 8 pm and go to the gym or watch tv.

2.  Stay ahead.  This is the best (and only) advice I received before starting law school.  If you stay a week ahead of your reading, it won't matter if you have to skip it now and then to work on something more important, like the interoffice memo due before Thanksgiving break.  You won't get behind if you plan to stay ahead.  It makes the first week grueling, but after that it makes your life so much easier.

3.  Sleep.  I cannot stress the importance of sleep enough.  Most law students don't get enough sleep and are exhausted all the time.  Look, it's better to skip reading that last case tonight so that you can focus in class and take notes tomorrow.  Chances are pretty good that you won't get called on anyway.  I don't know about you, but I'm so much more productive when I sleep, and those who sleep have a stronger immune system.  Remember, you can't afford to get sick.

4.  Medicate.  Don't be ashamed.  An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right?  If I had taken better care of myself and had seen the doctor when I didn't feel good, I probably wouldn't have gotten swine flu, nearly gotten pneumonia, or landed in the emergency room for poisoning my system.  (And that was all first semester!)  Being sick takes time.  If you have a cold, take that daytime cold medicine to get you through the long schoolday and then take the night time medicine so that you get the sleep you so rightly deserve.  And if your body is trying to tell you something, LISTEN.  Seeing a doctor now could save you a whole day of not being able to get out of bed later.

5.  Synthesize.  You're being tested on themes, not individual cases.  There's a reason you're supposed to be pulling the rules out of those cases, not anything else.  You want to know how the law fits together for the exam, not every random thing that came up in class.  I've seen people study some really stupid things that never came up on the exam.  Every moment you study something useless is a moment you could be sleeping.  (Have I mentioned how important I find sleep?)

But the major piece of advice I would give any 1L is "Take a chill pill."  It's school.  You've been doing school your whole life.  It's just a new kind of learning.  You'll do so much better if you relax and look at the big picture.