You’ve recently joined a law school. To welcome you to a self-glorified world, you’re put through a gazillion induction ceremonies. They tell you that there are debates, moots, internships, papers, conferences, fests, scholarships and what not. It’s all so exciting that you can barely stop yourself from pouncing over anything and everything you see. There’s so much to do in so little time that you should cut down on your daily sleep, maybe even on the time to flush your toilet, and work for your way to glory, right? Wrong!
Breathe. You have enough time with you to do everything you think you should. And before you choose to do something, know this, you are not at school anymore; You’ve grown up. Though essentially, that means nothing, you are required to learn the art of prioritizing, something school never demanded you to. Yes, there is so much for you to do and containing yourself seems hard, but it’ll all happen as the time passes by. After all, five years is a lot of time, unless you think of it when they end.
When is what?
Every law school has its own culture – a timeline of sorts – of which, you are only a subject. Ever wonder why Law of Torts is taught in the first semester/trimester and Taxation in the second half of your law school life? It’s only reasonable that the process you are put through has a certain logical flow to it. So should all your co-curricular and extra-curricular activities. Things will happen to you and things are to be done as and when they are supposed to. I say this by having been disturbed by a dramatic change in the mooting culture of my college where the second years, whose only experience with International Law has been from the Political Science course, have started enrolling for International Moots to which all the other colleges send, mostly, the fourth/fifth years. The very obvious reason they could do this is because there’s no rule that says this is wrong, unlike the case of Taxation in third year which you’re bound to follow. But again, like I just said, there’s a culture that almost everyone above you followed and they did so for a reason. Second year is the time when you are, normally, doing your first moot and no one is capable of doing an International Moot as one’s first. Alternatively, you can ignore the culture, go ahead with whatever you feel like and see what’s in the store for you.
What after?
Law school isn’t a bad place. It could be your misfortune that you go ahead to have bad experiences. But law school is good. Much better than what the outside world has for you once you graduate. Why so? Because there’s only so much sh*t that you can get into. There’s a threshold beyond which your life doesn’t become miserable. What’s the worst that can happen? Flunk an exam? Not meet project deadlines? Lose a moot/debate/election? And whatever happens, it’s not tough to press the ‘reset’ button and restore yourself.
Also, you may not realize this in the initial years, but as you proceed to the second half of your law school life, you’ll have several bouts of insecurity with the question, ‘What next?’ pondering over and over again. Unless you belong to that small group of people who have a clear carved out plan, you’ll often be depressed and confused.It’s not because you are scared of the outside world. Rather, it’s your love for the place you’ve spent half a decade in. You have a routine that you follow (coupled with the culture I spoke of earlier) and any disruption of this will look scary. Lesson? – Savour this moment. The cushions of protection from any damn thing that can happen to you will not be found once you bid good-bye to this place.
But, what now?
Settle down. Manage your time well and do what you’re required to do. And every time something puts you in a fix, talk to someone. Could be a batchmate or a senior. But, talk. It’s always good to involve a brain which is not as panicky and confused as yours. No senior will ever refuse to provide you with help. From internships to proof-reading projects, seniors are the ones who’ll give you the much needed sense of direction. And pay back by offering the same to your juniors. This is all a part of the same culture, really. For something more general, go through everything that’s been put up on this website.
And, kick-ass! Do the best you can. When you leave, be innumerable times better than what you came in as. As Dumbledore says, “You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.”
Asad.
[This article was originally posted in August, 2013 on thelegalbug, and is only being reproduced here.]
