When you get to law school, you’ll want to get out and meet people. The lone law student who succeeds by shunning human contact and slogging through their work is turning out to be more and more of a myth. Even if you don’t need to be in a big study group, having some help will always put you at an advantage over someone who is going at it alone.
Inevitably, you’ll find that most of your friends are fellow 1Ls. Makes sense, you’re all in the same classes together, you’ll find that you live in the same neighborhoods, and many of you are discovering that you’ll learn about the city at the same rate. You’ll find that the next largest group of people you get to know are 3Ls.
I have a lot of theories about this. I think most of it stems from what stage people are at in recovering from 1L. If you beat yourself up during 1L and are no longer the youngest child, and you have job interviews and journal work, and externships, are you really going to want to listen to the complaints of a bunch of 1Ls who are afraid of law school? I mean, you got through it right, why can’t they?
Not to mention the fact that 2Ls are the middle children of law school, both literally and figuratively. They’re overworked, but they aren’t in leadership positions. They’re searching for jobs, but the payoff is 1 1/2 to 2 years down the road. And many administrations don’t feel like the 2Ls need the same support as 1Ls do.
But 2Ls are an invaluable resource. They’ve been through 1L. They’ve seen everything you’re going to see. They can look back on it as a whole and tell you, from experience, that everything will be OK. 3Ls are in a similar position, but they’ve worked in firms during their 2L summer, gotten jobs (well, some of them), and many have one foot out the door. They’re too removed from the experience. Not to mention that 3Ls are only going to be around to help you out for half as long as 2Ls.
As much as you try and get to know the fellow 1Ls you’ll be spending the next year with, find the 2Ls who aren’t scarred by the experience and/or aren’t simply antisocial/cliquish. Befriend them. Mine them for information. If you’ve moved to your new home, go out for coffee or a drink. Heck, if you find one you like, hook up or start dating, since most of your new classmates aren’t around to start the gossip mill.
Right now is the perfect time to reach out and connect with a 2L at your new law school. They should have gotten their grades a little while ago and come down from the high or backed off the ledge. You can get someone who remembers 1L, but hasn’t let it get lost in the noise of a thousand other commitments and experiences. Most say it’s career services, but I believe 2Ls are the most underutilized resource in a law school.
And a note to 2Ls: get over yourself. You completed 1L and for that you should be justly proud. If you have somehow deluded yourself into thinking that you weren’t “as bad” as the new 1Ls, guess what? You were. If getting through 1L has turned into cockiness, there’s still two more years to go before you can really celebrate. And if you’re going to get sick of the 1Ls making the same mistakes you did, realize that you’re part of a very small group who can actually do something about it.
Photo by Omar Eduardo
