It is hard to believe that my 1L year is coming to an end and I am gearing up for finals and my summer internship! While days and weeks of this year have felt never-ending, this year has flown by. After finals, I am excited to begin an internship at the office of the Los Angeles County Counsel, with a focus on providing legal support for the LA county board of representatives. Loyola was very helpful in securing this job early in the application process. I was connected to this employer through LLS’s on campus interviews (OCI) and secured the position after two rounds of interviewing. OCI consisted of a resume collection by all the employers participating followed up by interviews for those whose resumes were selected. All of this was organized on an online platform called Symplicity, which was easy to use and made the whole process very organized. LLS was a huge help in preparing my resume, sharpening my interview skills, and talking through the different kinds of employment opportunities that would be available. I have always had a strong public interest focus, and I am very excited to learn more about the legal issues facing our local government this summer.

Choosing an elective was very exciting because it presented an opportunity to choose a class outside my fixed 1L schedule. The options were all really amazing and touched on a lot of the topics law students are interested in such as criminal law, international law, innovation law, tax law, and administrative law. I have a very strong interest in foreign policy and government affairs, so I selected international law and administrative law as my top two choices.

During the selection process, I spoke to my 2L friends who gave me great advice on professors they liked and how the classes were organized. Who would be teaching the class ultimately played a big role in the courses I selected, and I was very fortunate to have so many experts in the legal field to choose from. International law has been a fantastic experience for me so far and has quickly become one of my favorite classes. Professor Glazier said the class would be “ripped from the headlines,” and the class has been an incredible resource for learning about the important issues our world is facing today. Today in particular, professor Glazier pivoted from our usual course schedule to a special class on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It was a very engaging class and provided a fascinating look into the international legality behind the events that have transpired in recent days.

My advice to any future 1Ls would be to do some research on the professors teaching the elective courses to decide if their style would be a good fit for you and to choose a class based on your interests. They are definitely some of the more “fun” first year classes, and are sure to be a great experience no matter which path you go down.

Law school is a major source of stress in my life, however, there are certain aspects of it that I absolutely love.

First and foremost, I love the sense of community and friendships it has given me at this stage of my life. Loyola has been everything I hoped it to be in terms of a supportive and collegial environment. I have made lots of like-minded friends and look forward to spending time with them at school, and in my free time. As a recent college graduate, one of my biggest concerns about leaving undergrad was losing the sense of community I had established. Entering adulthood seemed like I would have less free time, and less opportunities to hang out with people. I consider myself to be a very social person, and I hoped law school would provide me with a similar community, despite it being a more professional setting than undergrad with people at different points in their life. Fortunately, everyone has been great, and I can tell I’ve already established many long-term friendships.

Aside from the amazing connections I’ve made, I also love my classes. Each class in some way pertains to something I am deeply passionate about and getting to experience that every day has been a fantastic experience so far. Law school has provided me the focused learning experience that I hoped for, and I am looking forward to continuing with increasingly specialized classes in years two and three. What strikes me as unique about Loyola is how much the students are encouraged to discover and pursue the endeavors they are passionate about. Superficial priorities such as chasing prestige or certain salaries are not emphasized (although the opportunities are certainly there for those interested.) I believe this has produced a very happy and comfortable learning environment and I feel very fortunate to be a part of it.

Building relationships with faculty can certainly be intimidating at first. Our faculty is comprised of highly accomplished legal professionals, and I initially felt anxious about asking them dumb questions or appearing unprepared. It took while to shake off, but the important thing is just going for it and engaging with faculty members.

Once you do so, much of the intimidation will go away and you will realize that your professors are there because they are passionate about teaching you, and in my experience, they will not make you feel bad about asking questions, no matter how simple. I have yet to engage one on one with any of my professors, but all my professors have been more than available via office hours or email and truly wish to be the best resource they can be to help you succeed in law school. The faculty is extremely accessible and will always give you detailed and realistic feedback for any questions you may have about your coursework or career. I appreciate most the enthusiasm that emanates from our faculty members. All my professors and advisors are lively, engaged and bring so much passion for the law to campus every day, and it clearly rubs off on the student body. Professor Levenson in particular who was always dancing on top of a desk or hyping us up like a football coach at 8 am sharp is a great example of how much our faculty cares. I am thankful for the relationships I have built so far and look forward to more personal connections with faculty members moving forward.

It was an amazing feeling to be welcomed by the LLS community once I got to law school. My 1L peers are friendly, very collegial, and have always been willing to offer a helping hand while navigating schoolwork. Similarly, the 2L and 3L students have made themselves readily available to answer questions about school and careers and are always willing to offer advice and study tips. I can confidently say the community at LLS facilitates an incredible learning environment and is a warm and accepting place to spend so much of my time.

As much as I love my peers, for me, study groups are not my favorite way to learn. I am a very social person and find that I constantly distract myself and others in groups, especially working with people I get along with so well. Instead, I’ve always felt that I learn course material best while studying independently, and the same has been true so far in law school. However, study groups have been extremely valuable when going over practice problems for exams. Having the opportunity to talk through your thought process and hear feedback from other students is an essential part of test prep and is something I would encourage all incoming law students to do come exam time.

My friends and I at LLS spend a lot of time together outside of the classroom as well. We get food together, hang out on weekends, and many of us get together every Friday afternoon to play basketball on campus. These friendships outside of the classroom are an essential part of getting through school, and it is amazing to have so many great connections already after just one semester.