Thank goodness the library doesn’t issue noise complaints on the first day of school. 

My friends and I — running on the high of eating a grocery store salad in the Yellow Room — skipped to the fourth floor of the library. There, we each took turns accidentally playing Instagram Reels on full volume. Like clockwork, anxious 1L’s flooded the library atrium at 3:00 p.m., muttering reflections about their inaugural lectures and cold calls to new friends. 

There’s nothing like the first day of 3L — or as my friends and I have dubbed it, “senior year.” Novelty accompanies familiarity: freshly-painted Stuart Hall walls and large-scale portraits dot the paths we’ve spent pacing between classes. Somehow, Legal Grounds manages to brew better coffee every year. And even the light streaming through the library’s fourth floor windows cuts different shadows on the books and reports lining the shelves. 

3L is special because we made it. We’ve put ourselves through trying out for journals or juggling clinics and a full courseload. We’ve tried and tested different styles of law school lecture and understood which pedogeological style suits us best. We only have a few items left on our law school checklists to mark before arming ourselves for a bar prep battle. 

Though, the giddiness creeping across our smiles on the first day of 3L isn’t just driven by finality in our academic careers. For many of us, 3L presents a do-over of our undergraduate senior years cut short by COVID-19. 

I’ll never forget March 12, 2020. The goodbyes and celebratory traditions I had waited four years to experience vanished behind face masks and disinfectant wipes. Senior year bid goodbye. My friends and I never sat, cap-to-cap, to scream and chant as our peers stepped on stage. 

This year, we can. Beyond excitement for a 3L marked by relief, our last first day of school ever was marked by hope: a hope that we can relive what had to disappear because of a pandemic. 

As a 1L, I looked towards the months to come with fear. I didn’t know if I wanted to work in a litigation or transactional practice. The pressure of taking final exams worth my entire grade curved my spine lower and lower. What was a “law review,” and how could my resume stand out among hundreds or thousands of students applying for the same positions? 

As a 3L, I have the answers to those questions. And I have the luxury of framing my future with some certainty in mind. This certainty, coupled with an excitement for bar reviews, the Softball Tournament, and “silly time” on Stuart Lawn, made me happy to shuttle myself on the Law School Express to Newton Campus. 

We’re almost done with law school. But, we also get senior year again. And five years ago, I never knew if I would have this gift again. To count down the days ‘til Commencement and spot my friends and family cheering me on from an auditorium stage, is a gift. 

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Kristie-Valerie Hoang is a third-year student at BC Law. Contact her at hoangkr@bc.edu.