Hi, future 1Ls.

I hope you’re well, considering you’re only about a month away from starting law school.

Some of you are excited beyond measure, trying to consume every Reddit recommendation you can find. Some of you are stressed and already drafting warning notes to your loved ones about the person you’re about to become over the next three years.

Consider this my own warning note—one intended to level out both camps.

First: for the love of God, enjoy your summer.

Seriously. BC does an incredible job of providing ample—and, at times, what felt like too many—resources to help you succeed during the school year. You will receive guidance on how to read and brief a case efficiently, recruit for jobs, create outlines, find study resources, write exams for your specific professors, prepare resumes, interview well, and much more.

I am now becoming one of those resources, obviously.

At some point, I’ll write about how to discern when all that advice becomes too much. For now, cut out the self-help summer and focus on serenity summer, to whatever extent you can.

Second: law school will change you only as much as you let it. (And let it be for the better, it is your choice at the end of the day!)

Everyone says law school changes the way you think, and that is one of the greatest assets of the whole shebang. But there also needs to be some maturity and agency in the process.

You can choose to lock yourself away in the library, lose your personality, and assume everyone is out to get you—all for the sake of earning grades good enough to secure a summer job.

But there are other ways to handle how you approach it all. Throughout this year, I hope you begin to see how much of your life, and even your affect on the law, remains in your hands, and my goal is to write a few posts to help with that.

Now that I’m off my pulpit, here are the logistics.

Law school has a rhythm. If I had understood that rhythm beforehand, I probably could have saved myself some tears, frazzled hair, and frantic FaceTimes with my mother.

My woes are now your wisdom.

Presenting: your realistic 1L academic calendar.

[August]: Orientation and first impressions

You arrive at orientation. Most people are wearing business casual. Almost everyone is friendly, although some people are visibly uptight.

A few classmates approach every interaction like a serious business deal, cards held close to their chests. It can make you self-conscious. You may wonder how anyone is supposed to make friends when everyone seems suspicious of one another and intent on impressing the room. Remember that everyone is nervous and uncertain, and some people just handle it differently.

Then classes begin, and people quickly settle into a more normal energy.

The nerves are palpable, but so is the desire for connection. People sit with you in the library. Study groups form for no good reason—I was guilty of this—and softball starts up.

You see how much the 2Ls laugh with their former section mates while hitting doubles, and you realize there is hope for all of you.

[September]: The honeymoon phase

For a little while, law school feels exciting and communal.

You begin learning how to read cases, survive cold calls, and make sense of the language your professors use. You are still trying to do every reading perfectly. You may also be attending every event, joining every organization, and treating every recommendation as a requirement.

Gradually, you begin to understand that no one can do everything. (Learn this quickly, please.)

The honeymoon phase starts turning into the twilight zone sooner than you would like.

[October]: Recruiting enters the chat

Four weeks pass almost instantly, and suddenly BigLaw recruiting is front and center—even though you have barely completed your first month of law school.

Many applications open in November. Now, on top of your readings and early attempts at outlining, you are attending Career Services events, writing cover letters, revising your resume, and trying to explain what practice groups interest you and why you might want to begin your career in them.

You may not even know what half the practice groups do yet.

The stress is briefly interrupted by the Halloween Bar Review. You go out in costume with your new friends, and for one night the law school feels like a summer-camp dance, in a good way.

The next day, you are back to the grind.

[November]: The blur

This is where I tell you to enter the semester knowing what is coming. Do not fight the reality of the workload, but do not collapse beneath it either.

This is one season of your life when you may need to put the gas pedal to the floor. See what you are made of.

Your weekends become filled with outlining. You begin skimming some readings and wondering whether the gamble is worth it. Eventually, you get cold-called on something you skimmed—of course—and discover firsthand that missing one cold call is not the end of the world.

Before you know it, Thanksgiving break arrives.

Many students cannot go home. Some organize a small Thanksgiving together, creating a semblance of family and normalcy. This is often when you begin to see which friendships are becoming real.

[December]: Finals and refreshing Agora

December comes and goes.

Every final feels both better and worse than you expected. Winter break is spent refreshing Agora an ungodly number of times.

Eventually, grades come out, and you realize how anticlimactic the moment is. The numbers matter, of course, but the world does not split open. You are still yourself.

Depending on the recruiting timeline, some of you may also complete screening interviews or callbacks during finals or winter break. Most will interview in January or February.

Do not assume that someone else receiving an earlier interview means you will not get a job.

I completed some of my first interviews in early December, but I did not settle on a firm I liked until February. Some people did not secure their positions until April.

You. Will. Be. Fine.

[January]: Somehow better, somehow worse

January is strange.

Everyone seems more relaxed than they did during the fall. At the same time, people are panicking about recruiting, and every person in a suit reminds you of the interview you do not have.

Comparison begins to take hold. Because grades and firms can feel taboo to discuss, silence creates room for anxiety to grow.

Some students are already posting about their 2L summer jobs. You find yourself thinking: Wow, this is better than the fall and somehow also worse.

You consider going on the ski trip.

I wish I had. But I decided to panic apply to MORE jobs (wasn’t worth it).

[February]: A gray wonderland

You genuinely do not see the sun, which was difficult for a Southern California girl like me. Later, you learn that seasonal affective disorder is real, and you may begin leaning more heavily on the school’s resources.

Barristers Ball becomes the talk of the town. Everyone puts on dresses and suits for no reason other than to look good and have fun.

You take pictures. You have a few drinks. You look around and think: This is not so bad.

[March]: Make it sustainable

I am not convinced March existed for me.

Again, you lock in. By now, you understand New England weather. You understand that you are in your first year of law school. The novelty is gone, and the finish line is still not quite visible.

This is where you have to build your own personalized support system. Call your friends while walking to your car or waiting for the bus. Try a strange workout class for a bit of fun, but necessary blood flow to the body. Splurge on an overpriced latte—my poison of choice.

Create a menu of things that make you feel empowered, relaxed, whatever you need for that moment and choose one each day when you can. I choose to “overindulge” and make it mandatory to do one a day (though I am not perfect), something about an ounce of prevention, right?

I did not give this advice for the fall because, in my highly unscientific opinion, the fall is supposed to be difficult and focused. There is a season for everything.

The fall is when you see what you are made of. The spring is when you learn how to make it sustainable.

[April]: Finding your rhythm

I snuck away in April to see my family. 

By then, I noticed that more people could take portions of the weekend off because we had finally learned our rhythms. Bar Reviews became less frequent, but unofficial section gatherings took their place, which somehow felt more wholesome.

You begin to realize that you no longer need to approach every assignment as an emergency. You know how long readings take. You know how you outline (kind of). You know when to ask for help and when to stop working.

The experience is still difficult, but it is no longer entirely unfamiliar.

[May]: One-third done

Spring finals come and go with more ease, partly because you know what you are doing (again, kind of) and partly because the sun has finally returned.

Then, almost without warning, your first year is over.

You wonder how the hell you are already one-third of the way through law school.

——-

The year will be difficult. At times, it will feel consuming. You may cry, compare yourself to everyone around you, refresh your email too often, and briefly forget that you had a personality before arriving on campus.

But you will also laugh with your section mates, learn what you are capable of, and gradually construct a life that can hold both immense (and sustainable) ambition and joy.

Enjoy this last month of summer.

When school begins, take the year seriously—but do not surrender your entire self to it.

You have more agency than you think.

And, truly, you will be fine.

I am looking forward to watching you all prosper. It is 1L of a year.

---

Zoe Arvanitis-Dalpe is a rising second-year law student at BC Law. Contact her at arvanit@bc.edu.