Hidden away in Downtown LA is a small campus packed with phenomenal professors and mentors. From the summer of my very first year to my current last semester I have encountered incredible mentors who have helped guide me in my career. The summer before law school I was provided with the opportunity to participate in a program called Summer Institute which was designed to help students become acquainted with law school prior to starting. At the time the program was spearheaded by Dean Gary Craig who has become one of my biggest supporters and greatest mentor. Throughout the last three years Dean Craig has helped me figure out how to move forward in my career and encouraged me to always try my best in law school even in moments when I felt like giving up. Without the help of Dean Craig, law school would have been 100 times more difficult to navigate.

As I mentioned the professors at Loyola are equally as incredible as the mentors you will gain. During my first year of law school I had the privilege of having who I consider to be the best property professor. Professor Motomura cares about her students and their education and it shows through her dedication in class! She makes a point to remember her students and makes everyone feel welcome. I knew that before ending my law school journey I wanted the opportunity to take one of her other classes.

There are many things to love about Loyola, but if I had to pick one reason it would be the faculty and staff at Loyola. Dean Craig and Professor Motomura are just two examples amongst the many incredible people who work at Loyola. Everyone here wants to see the students succeed and it creates the most welcoming and encouraging environment to grow as student. Coming into Loyola I had no idea of the amount of support I would receive but it has been the thing I have cherished the most during my time here.

Thinking about the things I “love” about Loyola; five things come to mind.

I love the campus; coming from my east coast undergraduate institution, which was sprawled along a city block, I enjoy being able to sit in the grass, watch my friends play with some of the soccer or footballs that you can borrow, and read under the sun outside Founder’s Hall or the Advocacy Center. All of the green contrasted against the bright colors of the buildings is a sight for sore eyes after exiting the parking structure.

I love the library; the sprawling bookshelves and the way that the light comes through the windows. During 1L especially, when I found that I would be campus for hours upon end, coming to the library was a refuge from the chaos and stress of the day.

I love how highly the faculty speak of their time at Loyola, and hearing the fondness that which they discuss the students they have met and taught. It is illustrative of the community cultivated at LLS.

I love the student organizations, how they offer small pockets of students with common interests, backgrounds, and passions inside and outside of the law that allow for us to connect and bond. Some of the people that I met during 1L through APALSA and ELS remain some of my closest friends at school.

And finally, I love the alumni network. Saying that I am a 3L at Loyola immediately connects me with so many others who speak highly of their time at the law school. Not only does this allow for me to grow personally in the relationships that I forge in this new field, but also professionally in the connections that may lead to future job opportunities and more as I start my career in LA.

When you think about law school, you think immediately of the red law books, the classrooms, the professors, the hard work. And you wouldn’t be wrong. And, if you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know that I genuinely love all of those things about law school. I like the big books, the hard work, the tough classes, the diverse group of people, the experiential opportunities.

More than anything, though, I like the community at Loyola.

When you spend time on campus, in rooms with friends, colleagues, and classmates, conversations can turn from serious discussions to friendly joking quickly. As an example, in the International and Comparative Law Review office, there is a group of people that gathers around 5pm this semester on Mondays before we all have 6pm classes. This isn’t a planned meeting or anything; our schedules just all line up so we can spend a bit of time in the same place at the same time. We all end up having dinner together, discussing anything from class work and outlining to fun things we did over the weekend to joking about a random topic one of us brings up.

It is moments like these—these short bursts of laughing and putting away our books for an hour—that remind me so vividly that we are not just law students. We are people. Being a law student is a huge part of your life while you’re doing it. But it is not what we become.

I’m always struck by just how recharged I am after this short hour of sitting with colleagues and peers, friends and classmates. This time has become incredibly valuable to me, something to look forward to on Mondays. I’ve connected with people I would never have met otherwise.

The community at Loyola is, above all things, welcoming and helpful. Classmates are eager to offer help if you miss class. Friends are quick to celebrate your wins and are there for your losses. Former professors are happy to offer guidance and advice.

It’s odd to think that this time—my time to be fully immersed in this community—is coming to a close soon. And perhaps that is why small moments, like sitting with friends in the ILR office for dinner, have come to mean so much to me. Come May, I’ll certainly miss the chance to add to my law book collection each semester, and I’ll miss the different classes. Most of all, I’ll miss the community and all of the incredible people I’ve had the chance to meet.

No matter your area of expertise or background, law school is a challenge. Study groups really do help with the challenges that come with law school. For me, working with different classmates throughout the year has been really beneficial. It has definitely helped with what felt impossible to understand in a classroom. 

During exam season, I usually go through practice problems and share outlines with my study groups. I think the best part about study groups is that they can provide moments of self-reflection. You may catch yourself unable to explain a concept to your friend and realize that a topic you thought you knew, you may actually have to go back and review. 

Although I do like study groups, I think it’s equally important to be able to sit down alone and study. During exam season, I love creating a good play list to listen to as I memorize and practice problem sets. 

I think we’re really lucky at LLS. The student body is unbelievably collegial, collaborative, and supportive. Both in and out of the classroom. I think that’s the reason why study groups work so well at the school. Missed yesterday’s lecture because you were out sick? You can always count on the person next to you to share notes. That’s just the type of students that make up LLS.

No man is an island. There is a lot of talk and myths about the cutthroat environment that you can encounter in Law School. I cannot attest to that. When I came to Loyola, I felt welcomed. All my professors were extremely supportive, my colleagues were inviting and friendly, the staff was just phenomenal from admission throughout the semester.

I’ve observed how study groups have fostered amazing bonds among many of my colleagues throughout – not only the school years – but also after graduation. Personally, I’m a solo study person. I am a slow learner and I like to take my time with the research I need to really get the material.

I was never in a study group, but I paired with friends – especially for writing assignments. I had colleagues review my papers, give me feedback, guide me through Table of Authorities etc. I’ve received nothing but support whenever necessary, from both students and professors.

In Law School, practice is key. For example, my Civil Procedure Professor would offer to read our essays from the book and give us feedback, which was very helpful. I would usually stay after class and often go to office hours with questions that I had about the subject.

I would also re-watch lectures on the subjects, which was a great way to identify my strengths and blind spots.

Law School really is your reign. It’s the place to learn about the law and yourself. Whether with solo study sessions or study groups, you can experiment and see what works for you. The fact you will find support no matter what you choose is comforting and sets you up for success.

 

LLS is known for being a “friendly” law school, and that makes a huge difference. I quickly realized that law school requires sacrifices- unfortunately, this can mean not seeing friends and family as often as we might like. This means our classmates understand our struggle more than anyone, so we must lean on each other, even in a competitive environment.

Admittedly, I was slow to join a study group. I tend to be shy and reserved and built habits around solo studying in college and graduate school. While studying alone has benefits, discussing the material and sharing practice problems together helped me try out different ways of “attacking” exam essays. One of our professors even suggested texting him while we studied if we had questions, which we did (sometimes quite late at night!). Study groups are great practice for real world law.

The best practice I have learned in working collaboratively is always to offer something before asking for something. Classmates are usually happy to help, but it is also useful real world practice to be a good colleague. This means doing our own preparation so we can maximize our study group time.

If I could only pick one thing that has gotten me through these last three years of law school, it’s the friends that I have made. While friends and family outside of law school are just as important, no one truly understands the trials of law school like the friends you make there. To say that I lean on them for support is an understatement.

Coming into law school can be daunting, and a big deal is made about creating study groups for the best grade results. That puts a lot of pressure on not only choosing the right people but also being a part of a group in general. It is a pressure that I feel is unwarranted because many people don’t study well in groups. I think what is more important is to cultivate friendships and relationships that aren’t entirely reliant upon the idea of study groups. I lean on my law school friends not just to rant about school but also to deal with personal issues, or to spend time together away from school. These types of friendships are especially necessary during exam season. During my 1L year, my friends were also the people I studied with, and it made getting through the hardest courses that much easier. Now as a 3L, while we may not have the same courses, having friends around that can lift me up when I’m not understanding a concept or I need a break has been comforting.

All that said however, don’t put pressure on yourself to make friends or be in study groups! We are all different people with different capabilities, and not having a ton of people to rely on in law school does not make your experience any less valuable. While it is important to every once in a while, strike up a conversation with the people in your class in case you need notes, it is not the end all be all of law school to not have a study group or friends. Loyola’s student body is filled with all types of people from all different backgrounds, its welcoming and embraces people’s differences. While you may not get along with every person you meet (not unlike regular life) you are bound to find someone in Loyola who you can connect with.

Loyola’s wealth of courses seems overwhelming at first once you are able to branch out of the rigorous core requirements that 1L requires. As much as I had my sights on certain clinics and classes from before I started my studies that were major contributors in my decision to attend the law school, I wanted to explore as much as I could.

I luckily had several mentors from student organizations at LLS – namely, the Environmental Law Society, APALSA, and PILF – that had lists of their advice, favorite professors, and which classes to take in conjunction with one another.

What they told me created the skeleton of my schedule for the next four semesters; and I am forever grateful for their advice and words of encouragement as I followed down the path they had so recently walked; and I leapt at the opportunity to do the same when I heard familiar professors and courses being tossed around by 1Ls and 2Ls as I progressed at LLS.

As a first-generation law student, you sometimes feel lost or without guidance; everything’s uncharted. I’ve found that the most important resources that I’ve had since starting law school were my mentors and peers, from the above student organizations and from the Philippine American Bar Association. Leaning on others who had similar experiences to my own: be that through their interests in the legal profession or our shared cultural heritage, meant for easier decision-making when navigating my time at LLS, and I am certain will continue beyond graduation.