As a 2L, I often find myself in a position to give (sometimes unsolicited) advice. Faced with questions like what elective should I take, when should I apply to jobs, where should I apply, when should I outline, and how do I outline, I often give the standard answer: it depends. 

During 1L, I hated that answer. Don’t tell me it depends! Do the law school thing—apply the facts to the question and give me a solution. 

But “you either die a hero or live long enough to become a villain,” I suppose. So, alas, it depends. 

For two reasons: 1) it honestly does depend, and 2) I am terrified of getting it wrong. “It depends” is my hedge. 

Even more difficult is the question of why. Why did I take this elective? Why am I on law review? Why am I taking secured transactions and trying to figure out what a new debtor is? 

There’s a temptation to explain my decisions in the context of my resume. I did X to become a better candidate for Y job, or more competitive for Z market. Which, to be fair, is true. I can’t deny that the desire for gainful employment is a factor in my decisions. 

But in the spirit of honesty, that wasn’t the main reason. I took appellate judging because I was interested in appellate argument, I joined the law review because I love writing, and I took secured transactions because it sounded interesting.

And overall, I’m pretty happy with those decisions. I think I gained a lot of useful knowledge in my elective, am building my writing skills on law review, and have gotten a new understanding of transactional law in secured transactions. 

More importantly, I’m enjoying myself. 

So, my renewed advice: do what interests you! While it is important to keep your future career goals in mind, filling your schedule with things that do not provide joy puts you on the fast track to burnout. 

For many of us, law school is our last opportunity to be a student. Take advantage, and try to find at least one thing in your schedule that makes you excited about being in law school. 

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Samantha Torre is a 2L student at BC Law. Contact her at torrs@bc.edu.