There’s a version of your first 1L finals season that exists in your head: You wake up early. You review your attack outlines one last time. You calmly sip coffee. You walk into the exam room steady, composed, and frighteningly well-prepared. And then there’s real life.
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Four Tips for Navigating Grade Disappointment
Once again I am directly addressing the 1L class, and also airing out my dirty laundry. Everything I write below—like all my Impact posts—is what I wish someone could have told me before coming to school. As always, all opinions and experiences are my own, as I can only speak to what I endured during my 1L year.
“Endure” will be the theme here. It’s a strong word I typically find only in my romantasy books. Merriam-Webster tells us it means “to remain firm under suffering or misfortune without yielding.” Very dramatic. But to say a student endures his or her 1L year does not fail to satisfy Merriam-Webster’s definition. Some of you may feel like you’re hanging by a thread, trying to go through the motions of law school one day at a time. You are enduring.
Continue readingWhat the Heck is Futtitinni? An Approach to Law School
Sicilians have an approach to life they call “futtitinni.” The term translates to “don’t care,” “don’t worry about it,” or “let it go.” As a 1L trying to juggle academics and career decisions at the same time, this seems like an impossible mindset to maintain. However, futtitinni is not simply about an indifference to life; it refers to focusing on what truly matters. Obviously, grades take significant precedence at this point in the year. I also do not intend to say that we should all take a lot of time for ourselves or relax for the rest of the semester. We are all in the trenches, and that is precisely where futtitinni can play a beneficial role. The term arose out of hardship and daily struggle, not out of periods of prosperity. Nobody expects finals season to be easy, but joy can still exist within this final push.
Continue readingWant Some Great Advice for Finals Prep? We’ve Got It
We have a special edition of the Impact Blog today: two bloggers for the price of one! I teamed up with 1L blogger Isabella Calise to discuss some common 1L questions regarding finals (I not only survived my 1L finals, but I volunteered as a proctor with the Student & Academic Services office during my 1L year).
Continue readingThree Tips for Success With Finals
To everyone else, after Halloween marks the start of winter and the holiday season.
But in the law school world, sorry to say…it means we’re gearing up towards finals. Whether this is your first law school finals season or your fifth, here are some tips for success for finals preparation AND well-being these next few weeks.
Continue readingOvercoming the Comparison Trap of 1L
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself is true power.” – Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
It was the night before my first final as a 1L, and I was starting to feel overwhelmed. I knew, in a sort of intangible way, that an entire semester’s worth of work would come down to one test. And I could not help but be aware of the fact that this would prove stressful; everyone I knew who went to law school told me as much, as did most of my current peers. I suppose it’s also self-evident when you see the syllabus and read the words “your entire course grade will rest on the final examination” that you will have to perform on the day or pay the price.
Continue readingHow (Bad) Movies Helped Me Survive Finals
“Whoever a werewolf imprints on can’t be harmed. It’s their most absolute law.” ― Edward Cullen in Twilight Breaking Dawn Part 1
The stress of law school finals can humble even the most confident students. It distills months of study, outlining, and class participation into one exam to determine your mastery of the material. It all comes down to a few hours in a classroom. It’s daunting, overwhelming, and, even at times, exhilarating.
Continue readingDone is Good: Six Practical Tips for 1L Finals Season
We are almost at the end of classes! I hope everyone has some sort of plan for the holiday to take time off before we get back to campus for our reading period. Personally I have been fantasizing about my mom’s butternut squash soup along with nine straight hours of Thanksgiving football. However, I know that will be a fleeting moment before I roll over and get back to my outlines.
As we gear up for the last push, I am going to take a crack at some tips that have kept me sane and some advice from 2Ls and 3Ls.
Tip #1: Plan ahead.
Continue readingChasing Perfection: A Rating of On-Campus Finals Study Spots
This is part two of a study spot series. Catch part one on off-campus options here.
It’s that time of the semester — the realization that oh, we’re actually going to be tested on this, has set in and the feeling that there are simply not enough hours of the day to get everything done is well-worn and familiar. To alleviate my own stress, through a thorough research and judging process (read as: my own vibe checks), I have rated possible on-campus study spots for when the finals-week anxiety really hits.
Continue reading7 Realistic Ways to Start Preparing for Finals Now
If your last semester’s GPA wasn’t what you hoped, there’s still time to improve! Although this article is geared towards 1Ls, I’ve followed these tips throughout my law school career.
It’s true that 1L grades set the tone for summer internships and OCI, but demonstrating improvement, resilience, and an ability to learn from past mistakes can be similarly valuable in your job search. Below I’ve included some tips that helped me significantly improve my 1L GPA between my first and second semesters. Remember that at the end of the day, your best is enough!
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BC Law: Impact 