The Importance of Study Groups

Being an evening student, I think my experience with my peers and study groups is fairly different than the experience of day students. For one, it is really difficult to coordinate between several busy professionals to find a consistent time that works for everyone. However, I find that my classmates are very committed to their studies and, whenever possible, will find ways to make it work! Because I have a more flexible schedule than many of them, I try to be as accommodating as possible because I recognize the value of study groups.

For one, study groups are incredibly helpful because they force you to articulate material that you may think you know, but have never actually tried to explain to someone else. In trying to do that, you often discover gaps in your own knowledge and sometimes your peers can even help you fill them in. Secondly, they’re great because they hold you accountable. You can’t keep procrastinating your reading or outlining because you have a meeting with a group of people that have all agreed to come prepared and ready to discuss the material.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I feel like my section is very supportive and collaborative. Everyone is in the same boat (working, going to school, family commitments, etc.) so we all sympathize with one another and try to help each other out when we can. It’s definitely not what I had expected my law school section to be like, but I’m definitely appreciative of it when I’m preparing for exams!