Thursday, October 1, 2009

Mid Law-School-Life Crisis

I can feel it coming; this mid law-school-life crisis. Soon, half of my journey through law school will be complete. Then I'll be over the hill. But will it be downhill from there? I can already guess that this will never get any easier. But just because something is easier does not mean it will be more enjoyable.

To truly succeed in law school means to love learning. One has to love learning new things and researching to really feel the success of school. Otherwise, this is three years of torture. There are some out there who love law school. Others, like myself, are not too keen on it.

For those who love law school, there is a relatively good chance they might see themselves back in law school after graduating, either for the LLM or finding a job as a professor of law. The world of law may not be for them. That is because law school offers a safety net where one is protected from the outside world. In law school, one has to research topics that will not be presented before a judge or drastically change the life of a person. Some people cannot handle that type of pressure.

For those who do not like law school but know that it is a means to an end, there is a good chance you will enjoy the practice of law because it is so vastly different from the study of law. Instead of looking at the art of others, you have a chance to recreate the art yourself. Justice Stevens created art with a horsehair paintbrush and oil on canvas. Justice O'Connor created art with a paintbucket and a brick wall. You then have a chance to make your own new art by taking those previous paintings and applying the relevant paints and brushes to your scenario. That is how I see it. And that is what I cannot await!

But for now, back to getting hit by that crisis.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

If you had the choice to do an online law degree instead of attend law school, would you?

blank space said...

Ehram, I would not do an online program because going through the schooling process and networking in that setting is incredibly important. This includes ease of access to faculty, new friends, organizations, etc.