Dear 1L: Fall Freaking Out

💌 Dear 1L, This is the time in the semester when everyone starts freaking out a little bit. A lot of you have reached out to me.

You’re feeling

anxious
overwhelmed
confused
lost
drained
prone to procrastination
exhausted
Imposter Syndrome.

It seems that almost everyone is going through some version of something.

Please know that all these feelings are normal, and we all experienced some of them in law school, too.

There’s no failure in feeling these valid feelings, but please don’t indulge them for long.

You need to:

shake yourself off,
get out of your own head, and
get to work.

And to work in the most efficient way possible.

The Memo leaves no room for you to both prepare fully before doctrinal classes and also get ready for exams.

Exams are the only source for your grade.

📍 You know what I think about spending all your time preparing for class.

🟢 Instead of that, devote the bulk of your time going over what you learned in class, adding it to your working course outline, and trying to apply it to new fact patterns.

Remember: What your professor “thinks about you” is 100% irrelevant to your grade.

🔷 Craft a plan now for how you will get everything you need to do done between now and reading period.

—Make your plan detailed and scheduled—down to when you will study what, when you will rest, when you will move your body, and when you will sleep. All need advance planning, so that you don’t veer off course.

You only have about 3 weeks. That’s one full practice exam for each course, ONCE.

Can you do even that?

⭐️ I’m giving you a challenge: 3 practice essay-exams in 3 weeks.

Will you plan for and make the time?

Please report back!

Sending you comfort for your self-doubt and a big kick in the pants:

Stop thinking about it.
Start doing!

Fondly,

💌 Amanda