A look back at 1L (Part I)

Disclaimer: I am not going to Universitas Suffolkiensis (hell, I've never even heard of it).

Now that I am a mighty 3L I thought it would be a good time for me to go back and look back at my first year of law school.  It was only two short years ago, and honestly, I feel so much has happened.  To be honest, I never tried so hard in undergrad as I have in law school.  If I would have put in the kind of work I did in my undergrad courses that I now do in my law school courses, well, I would have been better off at least.  And at most, I might have got in 2 years earlier. 

Shall we dive into my dark past? 

Now, 1L was scary for me.  I moved across the United States in order to begin my legal education.  I spent a couple of years trying to get into law school, failing miserably with a low (150-155) LSAT score and a mediocre GPA (3.0-3.5).  However, I figured I would keep trying, and each year applied to lower ranked law schools than the year before.  The first year I applied to schools like Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Boston University, Georgetown and Fordham.  Not knowing anything about the law school application process, I was dinged at each one.  I was stunned that no law school would take me.  At this time I knew nothing of first, second, third and forth tier schools.  In fact, every school I applied to my first year was a top school or a first tier school.  However, I had a fee waiver, so it was not like I paid anything out of pocket.

The second year applying I lowered my expectations somewhat.  I applied to schools like St. Johns, UC Hastings, University of Washington, New York Law School, Brooklyn Law School, Cardozo and the like.  I was wait-listed at one but dinged (a third tier school).  Now, if you notice right, I did not apply to any forth tier schools.  In fact, I was shocked to find out that I did not get into any of these schools, which I felt were not as 'leet' as the schools I applied for the first time.  I started to wonder if I wanted to go to any law school at all.

However, when I applied to law school the third year I was sure I wanted to go.  I worked at a dead end job that I hated and thought that anything was better.  Further, I talked to a girl who was going to a second tier law school who dropped out to work there.  She quit shortly after starting to go back to law school.  I was envious.  However, at this time I was reading all I could about law schools, and even went to that pile of crud website top-law-schools.  I decided I would give it another go and this time apply to the schools that might take me.  The third and forth tier schools.  I applied to a few east coast and west coast schools (I did not care to, nor do care to live in the Midwest, so skipped those places).  I was accepted at two east coast schools and one west coast school.  The west coast school was incredibly expensive and low ranked, and I was excited to go east.  I did.

So there I was, after crossing the US with a big duffel bag of goodies on a Greyhound bus.  I was thrilled to be going to law school.  Further I was seeing places I have never seen before.  I finally made it and would soon be finding my very own apartment.  Further, law school was gearing up to start in under one week!!!!!!

There I was, walking into the orientation at my law school.  I was so proud of myself.  I was smiling so big as I ate the orientation food and waited for the speakers to come out.  "Even if you graduate bottom of your class," they would state, "you will still be known as esquire."

I was now a law student...

To be continued (seriously, it will be continued probably tomorrow or the day after, no joke!)