Perspective. Much of the time, I feel like law school was designed to rob you of it. You have the same classes, with the same people, in the same claustrophobic building, day after day. You do the same work, read the same cases, and buy the same study supplements. You then apply to the same jobs with the same group of mega-firms, but not before Career Services guides you into formatting your resume so that it looks the same as every other resume from Columbia.
So when it seems like everybody around you in moving at warp speed in the same direction, it's hard to stop and look around. You just don't have the time, or you convince yourself as much. You just run along with them. You hope that they're leading you in the right direction, and that they can't all possibly be wrong that this is where the prize is, that this is the direction in which the finish line lies. But is this really the way it has to be?
Sometimes, it helps for me to talk to non-law-school friends, because they remind me why I went to law school in the first place. They give me perspective. When I tell them I'm unhappy with my grades, they remind me that grades aren't everything and hey, there are worse fates than being somewhere in the middle of the class at a great law school in a great city. When I talk about how much so-and-so firm pays and lament that so few firms are hiring 1Ls this year, they aren't impressed, and they don't pity me. Instead, they ask me about why I went to law school in the first place, and remind me that it wasn't to do well, but to do good.
Needless to say, these conversations are refreshing. They help me stay sane. That's not to imply that I've completely rejected the law school dogma. I may very well end up giving my life over to a firm, at least for a while. But that will be my own fault. As common a fate as it is, I understand now that it's not an inevitability, because there are other lives than my own. There are other paths than the one I'm on. They're out there, and they're every bit as exciting and rewarding and worthwhile, and maybe someday I'll walk a different path.
So no, law school means an awful lot, but it's not everything. As much as 1L year can make one think otherwise.
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I totally know what you mean! The law school bubble is a bit crazy, sometimes...especially when you see the same people IN and OUT of class/school activities(you're probably a bit more lucky in that category, since you have a bigger student body and a bigger city!).
ReplyDeleteI've found it helpful to read non-law books (as if there's time!) and trashy magazines, and to watch non-law related TV shows. :)