I have a way of meeting people and knowing pretty much immediately if they are my kind of people. I was nervous that, in law school, this practice would not work as well for me because there were so many people, so many equally as passionate people. And, well, I was right in that everyone in my class is passionate about something, which makes me passionate about hearing them talk about it.
Some people come to law school with no intention to make friends because they are there merely to get their law education and get on with their careers. I admire those people because, personally, I thrive when I have people around me that I can go over courses with and laugh with when we’re not studying. Everyone is different, though, and everyone finds their own groove.
Somehow, though, through orientation, and sitting with random groups of people at lunch, I found my people.
Together, our group would spend a portion of our lunch break going over the next day’s work, discussing the cases and readings. After that, we would move on to things about ourselves that had nothing to do with law school. It was a much needed brain break.
I leaned on this group a lot. And they leaned on me. We asked each other questions about the material, went over outlines/notecards/class notes together during exam periods or time when our readings were lighter. We also did mental health checks – taking some of the burdens from each other to help each of us succeed more.
Before each final, even though we were all in separate rooms and stressed in our own way, we would come together, take a collective deep breath, and go forth into the adrenaline-rush that is a law school exam.
One of my favorite things about Loyola is that, even outside of my study/friend group, everyone – and I do mean everyone – is so supportive. My classmates want me to succeed and vice versa. Because Loyola is a smaller campus, everyone’s faces start to look familiar. And in 1L, we are in sections small enough that I know all of my classmates by name and face (or at least…masked face ha).
There is something truly special about being in an environment where, yes, we all want good grades, but I know that if I have a question, I can ask any of my section-mates and get the right answer. No one is trying to sabotage me or telling me the wrong answers. We all want each other – friend groups or no – to succeed. And that’s a pretty awesome thing to say.