Goal Setting in Law School

I thought it would be helpful to post some of my goals for the new year and chronicle my voyage towards finding a legal job.  I am sure that many of my readers are wondering how they will find a legal job themselves.  Finding a law job is not an easy task, but it is not impossible either.  After I get home from the island I am visiting I will start my job hunt in full force.

Here are the steps I plan on taking to make sure that this next semester goes by smoothly.

-Visit the career services office.

My school's career services office says that we should make an appointment once per semester.  I often wonder if many of those who did not get so lucky in their job searches followed this sage advice.   Visiting the career services office at my school right away in the semester will help me.

-Get some work experience.

My school has also been adamant in having us work as much as possible during law school.  A clinic is something that I took advantage of last semester.  Before that I spent some time in other legal jobs.  I think that if you want to get a job in today's economic climate, you are going to need to at least have some experience. 

I plan on working this next semester so I can gain some experience and bring home a little money on the side.  Getting some job experience can't hurt me any.

-Pay attention to the learning.

I want to get good grades this semester.  I am aiming to make the Dean's list.  That's sometimes hard in law school, but it should not be impossible.  Instead of focusing on some of the negative blogs, I am going to focus on learning as much as I can.  Not missing too many classes, taking good notes, and always reading the material will help me reel in those As.  Taking classes that translate into a wide variety of positions will help me greatly.

-Getting ready to decimate the Bar exam.

I must be ready for the bar.  After all, that's why I am going to law school.  I am readying myself to take the bar.  I am not sure if I will self study (which I think I will do at this point) or pay for some expensive bar prep course.  The way I see it, I can self study somewhere exotic or pay for a bar course and stay home all day long.  Would I rather study in my apartment or on a Thai beach?  I must remain committed to studying though, no matter where it is.  I want to pass the NY and California bar (I will probably be moving from New York around the same time the bar results roll in, as my wife is thinking about graduate school in San Francisco. (yes, I've been married 11, almost 12 years (in an amazing relationship, may I add, she has always thought the scambloggers were crazy and put up with my running this blog for a long time) -- sorry to burst the bubble on that one.  The engagement stuff was just for fun -- in fact, a lot of the stuff on this blog has been fictionalized.  Also, I'm not nearly as young as people think.

Well, speaking of my wife, I should help her pack.  We're getting ready to spend a couple of weeks in the tropics and we are both really looking forward to escaping the cold and adding another place visited to our life story.  Thanks for reading everyone.

Signed,

The World Traveling Law Student [WTLS] (yes, it was me all along.  Thanks for having me on your blog Nando :) It was a pleasure)