Dear 1L: Prepare Your Family & Friends

💌 Dear 1L,

One thing you can do before law school begins is this: Prepare your family and friends.

You’re going to be a little off-grid this fall. 

A bit preoccupied.

Especially at the beginning. 

That is what many past 1Ls have described feeling, and that is how I felt. 

You’ll be excited.  The adrenaline will pump.

But you also may feel “in over your head” at times.

All that is normal.

    🧐 I doubt any lawyer, 2L or 3L would deny feeling some degree of overwhelm, that very first semester of law school.  If you don’t this year, great for you.  I’ll enjoy hearing about that for the first time.

So, you should assume that this fall, you’ll be:

    ❤️‍🩹—unavailable to chat by phone or text (or Snap or whatever) as much as your family and friends want, and are used to; and

    ❤️‍🩹—unable to attend so many social events with non-law school friends.  (You’ll make many new friends, though—some lifelong besties.)

I also know this: You’ll want the 100% unconditional support from those whose support you rely on now.  To ensure you get it early-on, though, your people need some notice.  And so, prepare them.

    ✏️ Unless they’ve been through 1L before, they won’t understand.  Many non-law people think of the first year of law school as “just another year in college.”  It is not.

    ✏️ At times, it will be more like moving to a far-off, foreign country, or starting military basic training, or working in a busy ER.

Don’t be scared by that:  It’s going to be wonderful.  You’ll remember the start of 1L forever.

On this platform is a warm legal community, I’ve found.  There are law students like you, 2Ls and 3Ls, lawyers, paralegals, and others in the legal field.  We want to support you. We remember 1L, too.

*    *    *

We welcome you and look forward to watching and encouraging you.

Reach out!  We’re waiting.

Fondly,

💌 Amanda

P.S. Check out —> #Dear1L on LinkedIn (1,420 followers) for past posts, and follow for future letters in your feed.

#lawstudents