Life Beyond 1L: Scheduling
By Ali Walker • June 09, 2014
When I started law school, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my law degree. My mind changed no fewer than ten times. Finally, I decided on family law and dedicated my time to gaining as much experience as possible in that field. Still, even if you’ve always known exactly what you want to do with your law degree, it may be difficult to decide how to balance the “demonstrated commitment” employers are looking for with general experience. Some people advocate taking classes that will be tested on the bar exam. Others say that is unnecessary because…
Life Beyond 1L: How to be Jobless
By Ali Walker • March 09, 2014 •Writers in Residence
1. Don’t ask for help. Once upon a time before law school, I was sitting in my Fairy Godmother’s office confessing that I applied on the deadline to just about every school. Okay, I don’t really have a Fairy Godmother, but Professor Alisa Smith is as close as a pre-law student at the University of Tampa can get. Her classes inspired me to go to law school, her excellent training for undergraduate moot court competitions helped me build my résumé, her support kept me sane during LSAT preparation, and I would never have had my first job without her. “Applying…
Life Beyond 1L: Stress the Important Things
By Ali Walker • February 14, 2014 •Writers in Residence
I’ve had a few people who aren’t in law school ask me if second year is harder or easier than first year. Usually, my answer is, “it depends. You have more discretion to make it as hard or easy as you want.” Sure, it is not as important from a career standpoint, but there are potentially more things to get involved in, like internships, clinics, external competitions, and journal participation. Unfortunately, after first year, it doesn’t necessarily get easier. In fact, it can get much, much busier. You might have to cut things you’d otherwise want to do from your…