Anyone Else Feel Blue After Graduating? Forum

[graduated123]

I just graduated from a great school with great grades and have a great job lined up. I was really excited leading up to graduation, but since the ceremony I have felt a little sad. Has anyone else felt this way?

Most likely explanation I can think of is that I liked law school, tried hard, cared about it, and thus it was a huge part of my life for 3 years. Now it's gone. Maybe it's just the feeling of trying hard for so long for something (over 4 years if you include LSAT prep & applications) and when you finally reach your goal you feel like you've lost something really important to you. I dunno. Basically I'm just curious if it's just me.

[Lincoln]

I've definitely felt a bit melancholic. I'm in a similar situation to you; I couldn't really have asked for more than what I got out of school. I'm excited about the future and about my career, but I'm definitely going to miss law school. Probably the best three years of my life. No joke.

[Bronte]

This is pretty common. People perversely get depressed after finals, for example. This is probably a similar phenomenon. It'll probably pass. Obviously if it's bad you should get help.

[rad lulz]

,

[thelawdoctor]

In part I suspect it is due to a variety pack of

1. A part of your life for the last 3 (or 7 depending on how you view it) years of your life is now over

2. Concerns about how to handle the stuff that comes next: Jobs, Clients, etc

3. And let us not forget...............THE BAR EXAM!


-But yeah, I think it common to feel that way a bit.

[Bikeflip]

No

It was shit

Good riddance

[Bronte]

No

It was shit

Good riddance

It's a chemical phenomenon though. I consistently would feel down after finals. It wasn't like I was sitting there thinking, "Wow, that was fucking great, wish I could get back in that."

[ndirish2010]

I do miss it a bit. I got so used to it that it is weird not having law school anymore. Plus, I really hate studying for the bar and working at the same time.

[thelawdoctor]

...

[courtneylove]

i've been down in the dumps about my impending lack of health insurance / inability to find a job / need to find an apartment in another city with no job or funds / etc. definitely not sad about putting all that law school bs behind me.

[kaiser]

I've been a bit sad also. Going to miss the people, the routine of it all, the school environment, etc. I've been a student for pretty much 7 straight years, and this will be the true beginning of my career. I have a great job lined up that I'm excited about, but at the same time I'm nervous about it all. Theres something nice about staying in the steady cocoon of school, but I guess we all have to move on from it.

[Borg]

Curious - what % of you are K-JD?

[dixiecupdrinking]

I just graduated from a great school with great grades and have a great job lined up. I was really excited leading up to graduation, but since the ceremony I have felt a little sad. Has anyone else felt this way?

Most likely explanation I can think of is that I liked law school, tried hard, cared about it, and thus it was a huge part of my life for 3 years. Now it's gone. Maybe it's just the feeling of trying hard for so long for something (over 4 years if you include LSAT prep & applications) and when you finally reach your goal you feel like you've lost something really important to you. I dunno. Basically I'm just curious if it's just me.

definitely not just you, it's not uncommon. Though I personally could not feel any less like this.

I'm curious along with the other poster about whether this is especially a K-JD phenomenon. I think if you were out for a few years before law school, then when you graduate you're more likely to feel like you're getting back to real life instead of leaving something behind.

[untar614]

I just graduated from a great school with great grades and have a great job lined up. I was really excited leading up to graduation, but since the ceremony I have felt a little sad. Has anyone else felt this way?

Most likely explanation I can think of is that I liked law school, tried hard, cared about it, and thus it was a huge part of my life for 3 years. Now it's gone. Maybe it's just the feeling of trying hard for so long for something (over 4 years if you include LSAT prep & applications) and when you finally reach your goal you feel like you've lost something really important to you. I dunno. Basically I'm just curious if it's just me.

definitely not just you, it's not uncommon. Though I personally could not feel any less like this.

I'm curious along with the other poster about whether this is especially a K-JD phenomenon. I think if you were out for a few years before law school, then when you graduate you're more likely to feel like you're getting back to real life instead of leaving something behind.

idk, i've been working a couple years and I kinda miss undergrad. On one hand yeah there's a lot there that is kinda immature that I dont miss, but the free time and social opportunities is something you just arent going to find out in the working world. I wouldn't be chocked if I felt the same way after going back into the working world.

[lisjjen]

Why are you guys being so gloomy? I am going to a great school with not so awesome grades, and trying not to think about that part about finding a job.

But I am still stoked that 2L is over and now all of you are saying that 3L is another piece in the misery puzzle? Super.

[rad lulz]

Why are you guys being so gloomy? I am going to a great school with not so awesome grades, and trying not to think about that part about finding a job.

But I am still stoked that 2L is over and now all of you are saying that 3L is another piece in the misery puzzle? Super.

If you have a job 3L can be awesome

If you don't 3L might be miserable

[thelawdoctor]

It's ok, we can all just go get the LLM and then the PhD in Law and be be law students FOREVER!!!!

[Lincoln]

Curious - what % of you are K-JD?

Far from it.

[thelawdoctor]

Curious - what % of you are K-JD?

Far from it.

BOOMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[johndhi]

I just graduated from a great school with great grades and have a great job lined up. I was really excited leading up to graduation, but since the ceremony I have felt a little sad. Has anyone else felt this way?

Most likely explanation I can think of is that I liked law school, tried hard, cared about it, and thus it was a huge part of my life for 3 years. Now it's gone. Maybe it's just the feeling of trying hard for so long for something (over 4 years if you include LSAT prep & applications) and when you finally reach your goal you feel like you've lost something really important to you. I dunno. Basically I'm just curious if it's just me.

I don't feel sad right now, though I did after 1L and at some other points, like after getting a job. That's when I felt I could take my foot off the gas a bit.

IMO it's about identity. When you know what you want to get and have a goal, you have an identity: you are this person. When you don't have that, you aren't quite sure who you are. Good thing to reflect on.

[utlaw2007]

I was happy that law school ended. I loved my first year but after that, it was really starting to get old. I was glad to head back home and continue on with my life.

Studying for the bar sucks, though.

[thelawdoctor]

I was happy that law school ended. I loved my first year but after that, it was really starting to get old. I was glad to head back home and continue on with my life.

Studying for the bar sucks, though.

You liked 1L more than electives? Why?

[hiima3L]

Graduated in 2012.

I was checked out almost the entirety of 3L after getting a job offer toward the middle of fall semester, so 3L was one of the most fun times of my life. I had no responsibilities until finals, really. So, I missed that during and after the bar, but starting a job I liked filled that void.

I really miss my LS friends though. I moved far away and haven't seen most of them since the bar. It's weird spending almost every day with the same group of people for 3 years then moving away.

I don't miss school at all though. The lifestyle, yes, but actually going to class and dealing with all the attendant bullshit got old really fast.

[IAFG]

You're leaving one of the easiest/most pleasant stages of your life (being a student) for some of the shittiest (paying your dues on the lowest rung of the ladder). If you're not blue, you're not paying attention.

[dood]

You're leaving one of the easiest/most pleasant stages of your life (being a student) for some of the shittiest (paying your dues on the lowest rung of the ladder). If you're not blue, you're not paying attention.

100% agree.