My First-year @ Law School & Top Tips

My first-year at Law school - what an experience it has been. Excitement, passion, tears, and success.

My first-year experience

Before I started university, I was so excited for the whole experience — freshers, going to campus, meeting people, lectures, etc. But, when I arrived in September it was a slight disappointment. “Lectures moving online until further notice”. I didn’t have a proper freshers experience, I didn’t go onto campus, I didn’t have lectures or seminars. All the things I was excited for at university, taken away from me. After universities had promised us that COVID wouldn’t change the university experience, and encouraged us all to move onto campus, I found it was all a lie. At the time, part of me wished I had taken a gap year instead, but fast-forward 9 months and I was so glad I attended university.

Although I didn’t have the traditional experience, and there was some controversy at my university, I loved my course (despite how challenging law can be). Law can be a very competitive course, but people on my course were friendly and we always supported each other through the group chats.

I enjoyed my first year, but there were setbacks at times.

The challenge of studying online

Studying online can be challenging. The pandemic overall has been a constant challenge for everyone. Students and teachers have found it hard. Pre-recorded lectures, where you can’t ask the lecturers questions, can be difficult. There were times where I felt stuck, but I realised it's important to reach out - to friends, family, people on your course, the university. They can all help you in difficult times, and provide you with insightful views and resolutions.

Tip #1: use all the resources available, and reach out to lecturers/advisors — they can help a lot, and want to! They resources are there for a reason, so why not take advantage of them.

Motivation

Another thing I struggled with massively was my motivation when studying online. I love learning and attending classes, but it wasn’t the same for me this year. I’m the type of person who likes to physically go into school, I find this sets me in the right headspace for the day and really motivates me to get on with work. I mean once you’re there, you can't really go back to bed!

My environment affects my motivation levels. Being at school/university, in a classroom/lecture hall or the library, puts me in the zone to start studying. Even being in a coffee shop compared to my room shifted my mindset, allowing me to focus and work more effectively.

Tip #2: separate your study space and relaxation space. Don’t study in your bedroom or near your bed. Sometimes you need to study in your room, on your desk, especially if we go into a lockdown, but even switching between your room and kitchen or lounge can make a difference. Studying in your room constantly can dampen your motivation levels — it did this to me.

I suffered from a lot of academic burnout through lack of motivation and over-working. Being stuck in my room and house through constant lockdowns was hard. It affected my studies and even my mental health at times — like it did for most people.

Tip #3: make sure you find a good work-life balance. Studying a degree can be tiring and consuming at the best of times. I found it essential to save time to relax, go out with friends, and completely switch off from my degree. I would typically spend a lot of time in the week on my work, and found the full weekend off work would be helpful to recharge. Work can build-up, and it can be tempting to wait until the weekend to complete it, but I found it useful not to do this.

Imposter Syndrome

Studying a completely new course, with unfamiliar and complex content can make you question your degree choice at times. Throughout my first-year I had a love-hate relationship with my degree. The content, the facts, the cases, the construction of our justice system and constitution was all so fascinating. I loved learning about it all. It’s a subject I’m very passion about. That is of course when I understand it. Law can be challenging at times, the content can be complex to understand, and the amount of reading can be tedious. When you’re surrounded by people that understand everything on the course, you can have doubts at times.

"Do I understand what I’m doing? Am I doing the right course? Is everyone else smarter than me? Am I going to fail?"

Tip #4: don’t doubt yourself.

I am sure that everyone has experienced, at some point in their life/career, what we call ‘imposter syndrome’. Law hasn’t been the easiest to understand at times, and I’ve finished some lectures clueless about what I’ve just learnt - unable to comprehend some of it. It made me anxious that I wouldn’t complete the degree, and I’d just fail. It created a lot of self-doubt at times. STOP THIS thought process. You won’t understand everything you learn straight away. Extra reading and research helped me to understand certain areas of the course more, and revision textbooks! Although I wouldn’t suggest relying solely on revision textbooks, they can help to simply topics that you’re unsure of.

So, if you find yourself suffering with imposter syndrome - STOP, and RELAX. There are people that can help you, and research that can be done (on your own accord).

Final take

My first-year has been different than expected. Constant lockdowns, and not being able to attend the university in-person, has been frustrating. Being confined to my university room to study had negatively impacted my motivation. Not understanding content, and not having immediate support was a real challenge. But, despite the negatives, I am glad I pursued my degree this year. I met lovely people, enjoyed the content, made great progression in my grades throughout the year, and now I am one step closer to pursuing my dream career!