Why 2L Is Better Than 1L

By Jessica, 2L

Coming back to campus this year was so different from last year! Everyone always talks about how terrible 1L is and how you never go through anything worse (and by the way, side note, some of those people are a bit dramatic in my opinion. 1L is a beast but it’s not impossible and I didn’t spend a year of life miserable, but I digress), but after that it gets better. Man oh man; those people were right on the money. Here is why:

You are now free to set your schedule
Gone are the days where your life is at the mercy of the Registrar. Want all your classes done before noon so you have all your afternoons and evenings free? Do it. Want all your classes on 2 days? Do that instead. With that, say goodbye to Friday classes. Unless that’s your deal in which case, live it up! The point is it’s all up to you.

There is generally less stress
This could be further broken down because there are so many reasons for it but in the interest of time, I combined them. First, you are not taking 5 bar prep classes anymore. A lot of people have 4 classes now and 1 or 2 of them are bar prep. That means you have less work to do and thus, more free time. Second, the idea of telling your teacher that you don’t know the answer to the question they just asked you is no longer terrifying. We come here to learn the law. If everything was obvious after reading we would be overpaying and spending too much time in school. Third, since you have a year of experience behind you (some) concepts aren’t as hard to understand.

You know so many people now
Now that you aren’t spending 24/7 with the same people, you have all of these people around campus that you can now actually tell new stories to. Since the campus is so small you walk by people you know all the time.

Extra-Curriculars
As 1Ls, we aren’t able to do anything. Learning how to be in law school takes too much time. Even if you’re in a club, you basically can only attend the events and for the type A personality that law school attracts, that is often not enough. Now, there is a whole new world of opportunities open to us. Word to the wise though – don’t overload yourself. Just because you can be President of all the clubs, be on law review, and do moot court doesn’t mean you should.

You’re almost done
If you’re a day student then after fall semester you are halfway done and after spring semester you’re 2/3 of the way done. Plus, everyone always talks about how much better 3L is than 2L. You’re almost there!

So there you have it, just a couple of the reasons 2L is (so far) better than 1L. Hope this gives you something to look forward to!