The Importance of Peers

At the beginning of law school study groups will seem like a huge deal. People will be scoping each other out to see who the “brightest” in the class are and whom they could possibly study with. I quickly realized that everyone was “bright” and that the preference to join a study group or not is truly an individual one. Quite frankly, I know that I do not do my best work in study groups. For me, I choose to only utilize larger study groups when reviewing for a midterm or final. It can help to feed off of other students by having in depth conversations about the material. Besides for these main purposes, I choose to work alone or with one other person. I tend to get work done faster and I can focus better on my own. As easy as it may be to say that you’re going to discipline yourself, study groups can too easily lend themselves to a whole lot of chit-chat and small talk about the daily struggles of law school, life, food, parties, family, and whatever else you can talk about to avoid looking at the assignment right in front of you. However, I’ve met other students who constantly work in large groups and they seem to be doing quite well.

It is important to have a great support system while being in law school. Whether that consists of family, friends, or a significant other. To be honest, I was shocked to have found such a great group of close-knit friends here in law school. Before entering, I knew I would have acquaintances, but because of the competitive nature of law school I never expected to find “true” friends. So far I’ve been lucky to really get to know and become pretty close with a small handful of girls at school. Even outside of them, I’ve gotten to talk with and get to know the majority of the people in my section. This, to my surprise, has made the ride much much easier!