Law school is scaring me

Guest_294 · ‎14-08-2018

Hi everyone,

So I am in my second semester of a 5 year law degree, at the end of which it is assumed by most that I will go on and become a solicitor and practice law for however many years. I know it is really early to be thinking about this, but the more I consider my degree, reflect on how I do on assignments, how much I understand the content, how much better my friends' grades are, the more I freak out! It just feels like this decision was completely on a whim and I shouldn't be here. I love my degree and find it so fascinating but I sometimes just feel like I am not quite smart enough for it. Does anyone know any ways of combating this stress? I know its crazy because I have achieved great results last semester and am tracking well now, it just sometimes feels like I have no idea what I'm doing and could never have any idea...

Thanks for the help,

A

james1 · ‎14-08-2018

Hello A,

It is nice to meet you. It sounds like you've kind of fallen into a path which, thankfully, you enjoy though don't feel quite right in.

It is very easy for this to happen and it's not a bad thing at all. It happens to many people, as we leave school and just go for a degree which maybe, perhaps, might be good.

I am 26 and the same thing happened to me. I finished school, studied economics on a whim and I did end up liking a lot of it in my first year. I was going to do a 5 year double degree in Economics/Arts, but got a grad job and left after 3 years. 5 years later, I'm contemplating going back to do a completely different degree.

So I don't think there's ever a path you should be following, and I don't even think you need to necessarily be 100% comfortable with your current path. Doubts will always arise and while it's important to listen to them, uncertainty is part of treading new paths, and every path from here is new.

That said, I can understand the sense of feeling like you're doing worse than others. If you haven't already, have a read about imposter syndrome. It's very common in university and many often feel inferior to their peers, like an imposter - I shouldn't be here. There's really not much you can actively do except to look around and remember that many of your peers are thinking the exact same thing - you're all in the same boat, all feeling dumber than the person next to you. Just a giant party of insecurity, but nobody wants to admit it openly.

So...I realise I haven't actually given you any advice! To be honest, I don't really have any. I felt the same as you did and between friends, holidays, assignments and work, I somehow managed to distract myself from the self doubt. At some point, I realised I wasn't lying to myself when I said I deserved to be there. Maybe it was age, or maybe I'd just started to notice the insecurities of everybody around me.

In the meantime, I'd really suggest just talking to your peers about it. If you have any particularly close friends, they can be such an awesome support. Otherwise, universities often have in-house counsellors who are free. they would be very familiar with some of the stress you are feeling, so you can definitely have a chat to them too!

James

Lost4eva · ‎14-08-2018

Dear A,

James has given you some excellent advice and the university counsellors are usually adept at helping with situations such as this, but please be rest assured that this is a very common feeling amongst all graduates.

I have worked with medical students in the past and this is exactly how many of them feel prior to their first placement and then continuously throughout their training…

I am a university graduate, but I graduated with a generic degree - and I was left wondering what I was actually qualified for! Many of my peers graduated with specific degrees - medicine, nursing, engineering, law etc. Having this specific purpose when you graduate may add additional stress because you are now 'a lawyer'. But the other lawyers in your office know you are a new graduate and they will support you as you now learn on the job. All of my peers who went through specific degrees have been known as 'new graduates' and been involved in mentorship or peer support programs. I hope whatever role you take on in the future has something similar. Perhaps you could seek this out?

Finding a good mentor in the workplace is exceptionally useful. I'm sure the University will start chatting to you soon regarding potential employers and you could start to search for whom you think will support you the most.

Further to this, you may be able to chat to ex-students who are one or two years out … they can talk to you about supports etc. and what life is like as a first year lawyer.

I am so glad that you enjoy law and if you are passing your units, then you must be good at it! Keep up the wonderful job you are doing and start considering workplaces. It may help to allay your fears once you see the support available.

KingOfTheFall · ‎28-08-2018

Hello A,

I am also currently enrolled in law school as a 3rd year student of a 5 year dual degree. I have passed all of my subjects on the first attempt, however I know many people who have failed their subjects and managed to pull through their degree. I know a man who failed criminal law 3 times, and I saw him defending a client just 2 weeks ago in court while I was on Jury duty.

A lot of people make law out to be way harder than it is, but if you attend all your classes, and make time to get individual feedback with your lecturers via consultations, you should definitely be able to get through no problem. If they know you're putting in the effort, they will bump your grade or offer you a supplementary exam in the event you fail. Law school is all theoretical concepts, there is very little real world application and they know that. When you start working in a firm is when you actually start doing real work, law school requires you to go over concepts and theories thousands of years old to understand why we have the laws we do, which is why the staff and employers aren't too concerned with grades as it's not what you will actually do in the real world.

The best piece of advice I can give you is to learn how to make structured answers for tutorial questions that you can use as templates in open book exams. Also learn early on how to break down long sections of legislation and judgments into key elements that each must individually be proved, like algebra.

Check your university's law guide, but my university requires staff to mark constructively, not destructively. Destructive is where you get allocated 20 marks for a question, and everything you get wrong they subtract a mark. In my law school, if a question has 20 marks, each correct statement/authority and application of law is a point. So even if you only address 80% of the question, if you make 20 correct assertions of law you will get the full marks (although follow this method with caution).