Spring Break
Some Friendly Advice to All the New 1L's
Dan Spurgeon
Issue date: 9/1/07 Section: Southwestern Community
We at The Commentator would like to welcome you to the SW community, offer whatever encouragement and advice we may, and reassure you that law school is much more than a very expensive read-a-thon.
I am not a “seasoned 3L,” nor would I consider myself an “old hat” in the academic world. However, I recently finished the newly revised 1L curriculum along with about 200 of my closest friends. Of the routes to success that Dean Garth speaks about, I am not following the “academic
elite” path. I do, however, have a good GPA and I take school seriously.
A common question asked at orientation is about the amount of study time required each day. I suggest that the most important factor is how well each student maintains control over his or her schedule and prioritizes work. Does a student make productive use of weekends or does he or she drink heavily on Saturday nights and sleep in past noon the next day? Does a student begin working on a LAWS paper as soon as it is assigned, or does he or she stay up all night before it is due?
The old maxim, “Work expands to fill the time available,” is quite applicable to law school. You could spend two weeks reading casebooks and treatises about the statute of frauds, but (no offense Dean Dorff) you need to allocate time for your other reading assignments and family obligations and prioritize how much time you spend on each task.
Last year I generally spent three hours a day reading my assignments. If I had no idea what rule a case was supposed to divulge, then I read the Westlaw headnotes and found a hornbook.
At some points in the LAWS cycle, I spent late nights in the library, and other weeks I compressed my weekly workload so that I could spend the weekend on a short trip with my wife. You do have more control over your schedule in law school than you may realize. Never forget that you can solicit advice from other students, professors, and faculty. We have an assembly of great people, many of whom I wish I had met earlier.
I would also like to emphasize that you as a first-year student are not of a lesser status than any other student. This is not an institution where the upperclassmen belittle the first year students. Don’t hesitate to contribute
your perspectives and experiences to the SW community, and also to The Commentator!
I am not a “seasoned 3L,” nor would I consider myself an “old hat” in the academic world. However, I recently finished the newly revised 1L curriculum along with about 200 of my closest friends. Of the routes to success that Dean Garth speaks about, I am not following the “academic
elite” path. I do, however, have a good GPA and I take school seriously.
A common question asked at orientation is about the amount of study time required each day. I suggest that the most important factor is how well each student maintains control over his or her schedule and prioritizes work. Does a student make productive use of weekends or does he or she drink heavily on Saturday nights and sleep in past noon the next day? Does a student begin working on a LAWS paper as soon as it is assigned, or does he or she stay up all night before it is due?
The old maxim, “Work expands to fill the time available,” is quite applicable to law school. You could spend two weeks reading casebooks and treatises about the statute of frauds, but (no offense Dean Dorff) you need to allocate time for your other reading assignments and family obligations and prioritize how much time you spend on each task.
Last year I generally spent three hours a day reading my assignments. If I had no idea what rule a case was supposed to divulge, then I read the Westlaw headnotes and found a hornbook.
At some points in the LAWS cycle, I spent late nights in the library, and other weeks I compressed my weekly workload so that I could spend the weekend on a short trip with my wife. You do have more control over your schedule in law school than you may realize. Never forget that you can solicit advice from other students, professors, and faculty. We have an assembly of great people, many of whom I wish I had met earlier.
I would also like to emphasize that you as a first-year student are not of a lesser status than any other student. This is not an institution where the upperclassmen belittle the first year students. Don’t hesitate to contribute
your perspectives and experiences to the SW community, and also to The Commentator!
Viewing Comments 1 - 2 of 2
San Diego Movers
posted 12/04/09 @ 12:01 PM PST
Excellent and good natured advice for all the 1Ls who might be feeling a bit intimidated starting out.
research paper editing
posted 12/07/09 @ 12:22 AM PST
Thanks for the very useful friendly piece of edvise!
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