I have sought out a lot of experiential experiences while at Loyola. Last year, I participated in a clinic (see an earlier post from me on this experience!), and in the fall of my 3L, I externed with the US DOJ’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section.

Classes at Loyola are so helpful to do my best work in my experiential opportunities. In my clinic, I was researching international legal issues, so only a couple of my doctrinal classes were applicable in my work. However, all my classes provided me with a critical legal foundation that allowed me to do my best work and serve the client in my work. This fall, at the DOJ, several of my classes directly informed my work. I consistently relied on my evidence and criminal procedure outlines, and I pulled on other knowledge to research, write memos, and assist the attorneys in their work.

Beyond class and doctrinal learning, my experiential learning opportunities are incredibly valuable to me. I have developed skills that I would otherwise not have had the chance to work on. I feel incredibly confident when I am assigned something at a job or in class that is more practical because I have such a wide range of experiences.

The experience is valuable, but I also love getting out of the classroom and putting my newly learned skills and knowledge to practice. It’s fun to work in the law (at least to me), especially after learning so much about it. And the experiential jobs have helped to solidify certain legal principles for me; rather than remaining in the abstract, the skills and legal ideas become tangible and useful. It is a pretty powerful experience.

I have been lucky enough to form close relationships with several professors on Loyola’s campus. Almost every professor I’ve had in law school has been willing to meet with me for office hours and any questions I may have about course material, careers, and anything! Even in office hours, professors are quick to check in with students’ mental health, how law school is generally going, and how their class specifically is going. It is really wonderful to have open lines of communications to professors in such a way.

Professors in small seminar classes as well as clinic professors are extremely open to mentor you if you ask. Some of the best advice I’ve received in law school has been from my clinic professor, Professor Shah. She has been extremely open to giving me advice, listening to any issues I’ve had in classes, and assisting me in improving my writing and research skills.

I truly believe that all the faculty on Loyola’s campus are extremely interested in putting genuinely good attorneys into the legal workforce. Further, they all truly want to help their students in office hours, in meetings as requested, and anything else their students might need.

To be honest, the mentorship my professors have provided me makes me excited to be a future mentor to students myself!

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.

Creating my schedule always feels a bit like a puzzle, and a bit like a guessing game. First, I consider my other obligations—work, clinic, organizations, personal life—so I can look at how much time and energy I will be spending outside of class. Second, I look at how much potential work the class will have—is it a paper class? Is it a Bar class? How much reading will there be? To do this, I talk to friends who have taken the course already. But the amount of work a class takes me, might be different than my friends.

Additionally, I have a concentration—International Criminal and Human Rights Law—so it guides my class choices a little more than some of my friends who do not have a concentration. Beyond the general requirements that all law students must complete before graduation, I have additional course requirements to complete to round out my education within the concentration.

I chose my concentration because I came to law school with a pretty good idea of what kind of law I wanted to practice, and this has not changed after two and a half years of law school. This way, I get to take classes that have to do with my chosen field.

While my concentration guides my schedule a little, it does not fill all of my credits. With my remaining classes, I take classes that cover popularly tested bar topics, classes that sound interesting, and classes that I will wish I had taken upon graduation. It is easy to fill my schedule and be busy with classes, extracurriculars, and things I love to do.

I spend a lot of winter break resting and doing things that fell by the wayside during the semester—cleaning, reading books, spending time with my family, walking to favorite coffee shops, seeing friends, and just doing nothing.

 

My free time in law school is incredibly valuable to me. And my free time has become more important to me the busier law school gets. Law school reminds you how wonderful the simple things are. Spending a morning reading a book may sound boring to some, but—once you’ve studied for days on end for a five-hour final—it’s heaven.

 

Also, my family and friends are used to me going a bit silent in our group chats and on the phone during the semester, and especially during finals. During break, I can actually spend time with them—going to lunch with my grandparents, walking the dog with my sister, grabbing drinks and dinner with my friends, talking to my parents on the phone. This is rejuvenating and important time for me to remind myself that I’m a person—not just a student.

 

When talking to my friends, they do similar things that rejuvenate and refresh them. Everyone is different. To some people, my version of winter break might sound so boring and like a waste of my free time. To others, it may sound great! Everyone has to do what works for them in law school because we are all working very hard and deserve to spend time doing what brings us joy. That way, when the spring semester starts, we’re ready to dig back in and get back to work.

After your 1L, you spend more time taking electives. Additionally, you can participate in experiential learning clinics (of which Loyola has many!) to not only work closely with professors but also gain real life experience.

Even in your 1L, professors make a genuine effort to make sure of each student’s success. When you’re a 2L and above, the professors have had more opportunities to see you as a student and see what kind of lawyer they are becoming. Because of this, professors can become go-to people when you have questions about the future, summer jobs, or something small that happened in class.

In both the smaller class electives and my clinic, I have formed strong relationships with professors, some of whom have offered advice and mentored me already! My clinic professor especially has taken great care to mentor me and push me to become a better researcher, writer, and lawyer. I truly feel like I have grown as a student and a professional under her tutelage. It makes me excited to someday be a mentor for a future law student (or many)!

The best part is: even if you’re not a professor’s student, but you are interested in their practice area, they will be happy to meet with you and discuss your career plans and how you can best succeed at Loyola. I personally did that in my 1L fall with several professors, and it helped shape my 2L year and my plan for after law school. I now feel extremely comfortable reaching out to this professor when I have questions about jobs and various other opportunities on campus.

The Loyola Law School faculty are all extremely accessible, and they really wish for their students to be successful both in school and beyond

I came to law school with a pretty good idea of what kind of law I wanted to practice in the future. Although I kept an open mind to make sure that my interests did not change, I stayed steadfast in my passion for international human rights law.

When it came to choosing my 2L classes, I focused on classes that could help me learn more about that field of law. I chose International Law classes, and am participating in the Loyola Genocide Justice Clinic where I put what I’m learning to practice. Beyond just reading about the courses, I reached out to the professors of the International Law classes and got to know them and what we would be learning. And I loved those classes!

Because I was most interested in these classes, I picked a concentration (International Criminal and Human Rights Law). The requirements of this concentration are to take a few classes and participate in experiential learning in the field of international human rights law. I was going to satisfy these requirements with or without this concentration!

Not everyone at Loyola chooses a concentration. And a lot of people are very different from me; they come to law school unsure of what kind of exact law they want to practice after graduation. And that is just fine! Loyola fosters an environment for people to explore all kinds of types of law both in the classroom and experientially. I do not only take classes in international law, and learn a wide breadth of law to best serve me in my future practice.

The end of Winter Break means I am officially over halfway done with law school! This is a feat in itself, I think.

But as much as I needed the rest, by the time Winter Break is over, I am antsy to get back into the rhythm of school. After spending Fall Semester in the thick of it, I sometimes find it difficult to sit around and do nothing after working so hard!

After my Fall Semester, however, I was glad to have a few moments to myself. My finals this past semester were hard – I cannot tell a lie! So I was happy to rest a bit after all of the studying.

One of my favorite things to do in my down time is read. It quickly falls by the wayside during school because once I’m done reading cases and rules for class, I don’t want to read anything else! Throughout the school year, I collect books I want to read on my breaks and pile them up around my room.

This Winter Break, I read a grand total of *drum roll, please* 15 books! To some, it might sound like a lot. But I’m a fast reader, and some of the books were quick “beach reads.” This is a great way to relax my brain and focus on something else – someone else’s story for a while.

Winter Break also offers a great opportunity for me to work on job applications. While some of my friends are long done with their job applications because they are on the Big Law track, most Public Interest firms and organizations do not start hiring until the Spring! Winter Break offers me some time to perfect my cover letter and resume, and get all those job applications done!

All in all, I use my Winter Break the way I always have – a time to reset, reconnect with friends and family who I don’t always get to see during the semester, and relax.

Now, I have to hang up my fun-to-read books, and turn back to my law books!

They say 1L of law school is the hardest. It’s something we’ve all heard over and over again – from the internet, from attorneys, from other law students.

Halfway through 2L, I can say this is likely true. 1L is the hardest year of law school academically. This year, my classes are still challenging – don’t get me wrong. It is law school after all. But, after 1L, you have the foundational skills to handle law school classes well. You’ve bettered your reading strategies, you know when a good time to start outlining is, and you know how to balance your responsibilities.

In 2L, though, most students have additional responsibilities outside of class. To be honest, I likely spend more time on things that aren’t class – like my experiential learning clinic, law review, and the IACHR Project I am on.

Something that is great about 2L is that I don’t have class every day like I did in 1L. That’s a great change to my schedule because I have two days a week that I can dedicate to getting my reading done, working on my outlines, and turning to my clinic and law review work I have.

So while 1L is the hardest, I would say 2L is the busiest. But I thrive on being busy. It pushes me to get my work done so that I can spend time on the weekends doing things that make me feel like a person and not a law student. I go hiking, I spend time with friends, I crochet. It’s a great way to balance out my life so that I can give my brain a little break which is critical to law school survival.

Hello all! For those of you who are just finding Jury of Peers – welcome! I’m Emily, a 2L from Salt Lake City, UT (originally from LA!).

A few tidbits about me: I studied Creative Writing in college, I lived abroad in Israel for a year after college, and I love to read. Over the summer, I worked at an incredible public interest organization here in Los Angeles where I had the amazing opportunity to manage three immigration cases.

This year, I am on the Public Interest Law Foundation (PILF) board, serve as a staffer on the International and Comparative Law Review, write for the LLS Inter-American Court of Human Rights Project, participate in the Loyola Genocide Justice Clinic, and am a Student Ambassador for the Office of Admissions! Oh yeah, and I go to class too! I love being busy and while it can sometimes feel like a lot of work, I know it is all so worth it!

2L is different from 1L in that you get to shift from the foundational classes to more of what kind of law you want to learn about. For me personally, I am in more internationally focused classes and international human rights experiential learning opportunities. This is where my interest in law truly lies, so it is great to take classes and participate in a clinic where I really get to dig deep in the law and learn the intricacies behind it all.

After my 1L, I do see more familiar faces on campus, I know what the Erie Doctrine is (if you know you know), and I get to put to practice the laws that I learn in class. But law school is still a place where I get to explore the world in a new way. I get to ask questions of brilliant legal scholars and research new legal issues in front of international tribunals. I get to challenge myself.

As a 2L, you feel like you have a slightly better idea of what you’re doing, and campus feels familiar. You’ve also survived 1L, and you have a better idea of what you want to do after school, and what kind of lawyer you want to be. Better yet, you have a good idea of what kind of person you want to be.