Since starting law school, I’ve been frantically counting down the minutes until the start of my third year. I took a lot of stock in the old adage about the progression of law school: “In the first year, they scare you to death. The second year, they work you to death. And in the third, they bore you to death.”
After the predictions about the first two years came true, I was really excited to be bored.
Well, ye olde adage maker, you’re full of it. I’m nearing the halfway mark of my third year, and I’m busier than ever!
Between class, studying, holding leadership positions in a few extracurricular activities, volunteering once a week and working a bit here and there, I feel like I barely have time to breathe. Really, this isn’t so different than what I’ve been doing before, and to be honest, my schoolwork feels easier, and the crippling fear of getting called on I had in my first two years is gone.
The only thing that has really changed is that I’ve done the unspeakable in law school —I’ve reclaimed my social life. I don’t feel guilty about grabbing a glass of wine on a weeknight or taking a weekend trip with my boyfriend. Heck, sometimes I go out to dinner with friends two nights in a row.
For other people in their mid-twenties, this sounds like normal behavior. But for law students, this is unheard of. Friendships and family ties are neglected, it’s difficult to find time to squeeze in a haircut and you can forget about things like Christmas shopping all together.
But now, it’s different — I’m like an actual young person again. I might not be on a mental vacation in my third year of law school, but I feel like I finally have my life back, and it’s fabulous.
By Jennifer Pohlman, third year student at the University of Nebraska College of Law and student editor for The National Jurist
