TheSeaLocust's 1L Anxiety Meditation Retreat & Spa Forum

[jbagelboy]

Bitch you shall receive I guess. Grades came in this morning. B, 2 B+, and A, but the A was in a 3 credit course (others were 4). Of course, the class I got the A in I didn't outline for, I didn't do any practice tests, and I mostly just played Dawnguard while reading an old outline. I keep my scholly but I'm still in the middle of the pack. Fuck. I wanna quit this shit so badly.

Isn't this above median at almost all schools?

It's above median for sure, but I'm at a tier 2. I hope my post didn't come off as dickish, I'll redact the grades if that's the case. I also screwed up, I meant two B's, one B+.

Nah its cool, I get it. The correlation between grades and study habits/efforts often seems unclear from our position, and it can be so frustrating. Certainly was for me.

[dkb17xzx]

I've got a constitutional law professor who chooses to teach the class as if it is an English Literature class. I'd like to shoot myself.

Any suggestions? (not w/ the shooting but on how to approach the class)

[BigZuck]

Bitch you shall receive I guess. Grades came in this morning. B, 2 B+, and A, but the A was in a 3 credit course (others were 4). Of course, the class I got the A in I didn't outline for, I didn't do any practice tests, and I mostly just played Dawnguard while reading an old outline. I keep my scholly but I'm still in the middle of the pack. Fuck. I wanna quit this shit so badly.

Isn't this above median at almost all schools?

It's above median for sure, but I'm at a tier 2. I hope my post didn't come off as dickish, I'll redact the grades if that's the case. I also screwed up, I meant two B's, one B+.

Nah its cool, I get it. The correlation between grades and study habits/efforts often seems unclear from our position, and it can be so frustrating. Certainly was for me.

Yeah, plus one to this

[Easy-E]

Bitch you shall receive I guess. Grades came in this morning. B, 2 B+, and A, but the A was in a 3 credit course (others were 4). Of course, the class I got the A in I didn't outline for, I didn't do any practice tests, and I mostly just played Dawnguard while reading an old outline. I keep my scholly but I'm still in the middle of the pack. Fuck. I wanna quit this shit so badly.

Isn't this above median at almost all schools?

It's above median for sure, but I'm at a tier 2. I hope my post didn't come off as dickish, I'll redact the grades if that's the case. I also screwed up, I meant two B's, one B+.

I guess your decision comes down to whether or not you were banking on/hoping for a job that you could only get if you had significantly above median grades.

I would think one would only attend a T2 (or really, any non-T14) with the aspiration of working at a small firm, PI, etc.- basically jobs that aren't all that grade sensative and depend on your hustle. I would think your grades would solidly keep you on that path, in which case why would you drop out? But of course YMMV.

I suppose I'm just being dramatic. I'm here for free and have 0 debt from undergrad, so it's not big law or bust, and for that matter, I'm not particularly interested in it. But I should probably get going on that hustle thing.

Oh, and I have no idea what to do. I just email my resume and cover letter to everywhere imaginable (pls have guide based TSL)?

[Easy-E]

Do most people already have an idea what/where they want to work 1L summer? I feel like I've dropped the ball, and am scared shitless. I have no need to find a paying job, but I honestly don't know where to start. I don't know how write a cover letter that isn't just some generic thing, because I have no real idea what I want to do as a lawyer yet. I feel like I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown sooner or later.

[BigZuck]

Do most people already have an idea what/where they want to work 1L summer? I feel like I've dropped the ball, and am scared shitless. I have no need to find a paying job, but I honestly don't know where to start. I don't know how write a cover letter that isn't just some generic thing, because I have no real idea what I want to do as a lawyer yet. I feel like I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown sooner or later.

#brofist

I have had interviews but I feel like I flounder through them because nothing is very well defined. I think locking that down would be a good idea for both of us. Or at least faking it (ideally until we are making it).

[HankBashir]

Do most people already have an idea what/where they want to work 1L summer? I feel like I've dropped the ball, and am scared shitless. I have no need to find a paying job, but I honestly don't know where to start. I don't know how write a cover letter that isn't just some generic thing, because I have no real idea what I want to do as a lawyer yet. I feel like I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown sooner or later.

#brofist

I have had interviews but I feel like I flounder through them because nothing is very well defined. I think locking that down would be a good idea for both of us. Or at least faking it (ideally until we are making it).

I'm convinced I'm gonna be shaking a cup in front of a law firm downtown sinigng Aloe Blacc's "I Need a Dollar" as my summer employment.

[Mal Reynolds]

Do most people already have an idea what/where they want to work 1L summer? I feel like I've dropped the ball, and am scared shitless. I have no need to find a paying job, but I honestly don't know where to start. I don't know how write a cover letter that isn't just some generic thing, because I have no real idea what I want to do as a lawyer yet. I feel like I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown sooner or later.

#brofist

I have had interviews but I feel like I flounder through them because nothing is very well defined. I think locking that down would be a good idea for both of us. Or at least faking it (ideally until we are making it).

I'm convinced I'm gonna be shaking a cup in front of a law firm downtown sinigng Aloe Blacc's "I Need a Dollar" as my summer employment.

You don't get to commiserate on this one Cicero jr.

[Easy-E]

Do most people already have an idea what/where they want to work 1L summer? I feel like I've dropped the ball, and am scared shitless. I have no need to find a paying job, but I honestly don't know where to start. I don't know how write a cover letter that isn't just some generic thing, because I have no real idea what I want to do as a lawyer yet. I feel like I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown sooner or later.

#brofist

I have had interviews but I feel like I flounder through them because nothing is very well defined. I think locking that down would be a good idea for both of us. Or at least faking it (ideally until we are making it).

I'm convinced I'm gonna be shaking a cup in front of a law firm downtown sinigng Aloe Blacc's "I Need a Dollar" as my summer employment.

Haha, working at a law firm, that's a good one. A REAL HOOT.

[beepboopbeep]

Do most people already have an idea what/where they want to work 1L summer? I feel like I've dropped the ball, and am scared shitless. I have no need to find a paying job, but I honestly don't know where to start. I don't know how write a cover letter that isn't just some generic thing, because I have no real idea what I want to do as a lawyer yet. I feel like I'm gonna have a nervous breakdown sooner or later.

1L without a summer jerb yet, so take this with any many grains of salt as seems necessary:

I have no idea where I want to end up in my legal career, but something I learned getting jobs post-undergrad pre-lawl school: ever notice how much better your cover letters are when you're applying to something you're genuinely excited about? Do that with every job you apply to. Change your resume around as much as you can to make the excitement you express in your cover letter make sense. Especially for internship-type things, employers would rather hire someone for whom the job would be a continuation of what they've done before rather than something completely new. I mean, don't be hokey about it, and it's a fine line between making shit up and stretching the truth, but the more you do this the more success you'll have in getting interviews, in my limited experience.

[Easy-E]

Office I'm interviewing at Friday wants me to bring along a writing sample. Ugh. Now I have to try and spruce up my best paper (a B). I can shine this turd up all I want, but this thing has major flaws beyond passive voice and shit. Does legal writing get easier at any point? I never understand when to give more or less details.

[brotherdarkness]

.

[Easy-E]

Office I'm interviewing at Friday wants me to bring along a writing sample. Ugh. Now I have to try and spruce up my best paper (a B). I can shine this turd up all I want, but this thing has major flaws beyond passive voice and shit. Does legal writing get easier at any point? I never understand when to give more or less details.

It will get easier the more you do it. Whether you learn to love it is another story altogether.

Yeah, I hope so. I'm gonna go see my professor tomorrow, there's some basic concepts I'm just not getting.

But since this is an anxiety thread, here's a question I'm actually stressing about...do I need to shave my beard? It's very neat and clean, neck is trimmed up and it's not patchy or gross or anything. Everyone generally seems to think I look good with it (or perhaps I was just a hideous monster without it). It grows pretty quick, so it's whatever I guess, but assuming everything else is right "looks" wise, could this actually be a deal breaker?

[Mal Reynolds]

Office I'm interviewing at Friday wants me to bring along a writing sample. Ugh. Now I have to try and spruce up my best paper (a B). I can shine this turd up all I want, but this thing has major flaws beyond passive voice and shit. Does legal writing get easier at any point? I never understand when to give more or less details.

It will get easier the more you do it. Whether you learn to love it is another story altogether.

Yeah, I hope so. I'm gonna go see my professor tomorrow, there's some basic concepts I'm just not getting.

But since this is an anxiety thread, here's a question I'm actually stressing about...do I need to shave my beard? It's very neat and clean, neck is trimmed up and it's not patchy or gross or anything. Everyone generally seems to think I look good with it (or perhaps I was just a hideous monster without it). It grows pretty quick, so it's whatever I guess, but assuming everything else is right "looks" wise, could this actually be a deal breaker?

Shave for interviews.

[brotherdarkness]

.

[Easy-E]

Office I'm interviewing at Friday wants me to bring along a writing sample. Ugh. Now I have to try and spruce up my best paper (a B). I can shine this turd up all I want, but this thing has major flaws beyond passive voice and shit. Does legal writing get easier at any point? I never understand when to give more or less details.

It will get easier the more you do it. Whether you learn to love it is another story altogether.

Yeah, I hope so. I'm gonna go see my professor tomorrow, there's some basic concepts I'm just not getting.

But since this is an anxiety thread, here's a question I'm actually stressing about...do I need to shave my beard? It's very neat and clean, neck is trimmed up and it's not patchy or gross or anything. Everyone generally seems to think I look good with it (or perhaps I was just a hideous monster without it). It grows pretty quick, so it's whatever I guess, but assuming everything else is right "looks" wise, could this actually be a deal breaker?

Could it be a deal-breaker? Perhaps... If I were you, I'd shave. I assume this is for job interviews and, given ITE, why put yourself at risk if you don't have to?

Yeah, I figured as much. Ugh.

[Jsa725]

.

[BigZuck]

As a hirsute bro myself, it pains me to say it but: shave

[brotherdarkness]

.

[Easy-E]

Office I'm interviewing at Friday wants me to bring along a writing sample. Ugh. Now I have to try and spruce up my best paper (a B). I can shine this turd up all I want, but this thing has major flaws beyond passive voice and shit. Does legal writing get easier at any point? I never understand when to give more or less details.

It's a writing sample, not a school assignment... That said, have a trusted friend - preferably one that is a good writer and who will pay attention to detail - edit it for you. Afterwards, revise it and make more edits. HTH.

Eta: yes, legal writing is a learned skill... It gets better with time.

Yeah, I'm actually going through the changes I made tonight with my professor tomorrow. I'd really like to do better on the trial briefs than I did on the memos and get my LRW grade (yeah, graded) up to an A. There's a big oral assignment at the end though, which I've always been pretty good at.

[Jsa725]

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[Easy-E]

Here are a few tips:
1) search for passive voice and change to active voice (unless you are trying to deflect)
2) if it is a memo: it should read from top to bottom... Never circle back. Also, each paragraph or set of paragraphs should correspond to IRAC or CREAC - this means, never bring up new cases in your analysis section, that should be in R or RA.
3) word count trick: look at your word count and try to reduce it by a certain number of words (depending on overall length) ... If you try to delete 100 words out of your memo, you will actively look at your sentences to make them shorter and choppier (which is good). In doing so, your sentence structure will improve.

Eta: BD, glad I could help.

Thanks for the tips. I guess what I have trouble with is coming up with my "rule", if that makes sense.We're working on briefs now, which I feel like I might be better at as it has an element of persuasive writing to it, the basics of a memo still play into it. At least I have the day off! Woo!

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

Third all-nighter since Tuesday. No good explanation as to why. Feel essentially compelled to do it, in a not-even-really-a-decision kind of way.

Feels like sort of the reverse of last semester, where I felt like shit even though logically things were okay. This semester, sense says my habits are unhealthy, but I'm feeling weirdly calm.

[stillwater]

Third all-nighter since Tuesday. No good explanation as to why. Feel essentially compelled to do it, in a not-even-really-a-decision kind of way.

Feels like sort of the reverse of last semester, where I felt like shit even though logically things were okay. This semester, sense says my habits are unhealthy, but I'm feeling weirdly calm.

all-nighters are unnecessary and useless. you need to become more efficient, not more prolific after a semester you found to be disappointing.

[El Pollito]

Third all-nighter since Tuesday. No good explanation as to why. Feel essentially compelled to do it, in a not-even-really-a-decision kind of way.

Feels like sort of the reverse of last semester, where I felt like shit even though logically things were okay. This semester, sense says my habits are unhealthy, but I'm feeling weirdly calm.

all-nighters are unnecessary and useless. you need to become more efficient, not more prolific after a semester you found to be disappointing.

Pretty sure he's mainlining Adderall.