Every master was once a student, and every student is shaped by the guidance of a master. 

At Loyola Law School, mentorship is a foundational pillar of the institution. Faculty members, professors, counselors, and librarians alike, play an integral role in shaping student’s academic and professional journeys. 

While it is difficult to single out one individual, as I have encountered many remarkable mentors throughout my journey, the faculty as a whole is exceptionally accessible. Whether through office hours, academic advising, or legal discussions, they consistently offer their time and expertise to support students. 

For example, my first introduction to the Loyola faculty was during Summer Institute, a three-week Introduction to Law School crash course. There, I met Dean Winograd, Professor Craig, Professor Yagura, and Professor Tan. Each of them shared invaluable tips that have carried me through law school. They offered guidance on exam preparation, homework strategies, networking, and more, all of which have proven helpful. Not only were they incredibly supportive during this transition into law school, but they have remained accessible throughout the year.  

During the first weeks of law school, I found myself struggling to balance my homework with my day job. I scheduled a meeting with Professor Craig, who suggested that I dedicate the weekends to tackling the bulk of my assignments. Since implementing that advice, I have not fallen behind on my assignments. 

More importantly, the faculty is invested in our success, often leveraging their professional connections to provide guidance and opportunities that extend beyond the classroom. One individual I am particularly grateful for is Professor Bakhshian, a clinical professor and the evening student counselor. Throughout the year, she keeps us informed about midterms, opportunities, and has always made herself available to talk. It was through one of her emails that I learned about a legal job opening. After expressing interest, she went above and beyond by helping me refine my resume and cover letter, and answering all of my questions about working in a law firm. As a result, I now work at that law firm and am extremely grateful for Professor Bakhshian’s guidance throughout that process. 

The mentorship we receive at Loyola Law School helps shape us into the attorneys we aspire to one day be. With their guidance, the faculty not only supports our success but also prepares us to one day be mentors to our own students, because, after all, every master was once a student. 

Dear Loyola law school,

I love that our orientation featured a panel of upperclassmen who gave us advice, such as accessing the Barbri 1L Success Course and searching for our classes in the St. Thomas More outline bank.

I love the double chocolate muffins in Sonia’s cafe that get me through early-morning study sessions.

I love the study spots scattered around campus, especially the study room on the third floor of the Casassa building—the one with the large window that overlooks campus, filling the room with warm light as I write case briefs and listen to soundtracks from Tim Burton movies.

I love admiring the architecture of Merrifield Hall and the Robinson Courtroom, where I am absolutely, positively, never zoning out during class. Never.

I love the oversized desks in Rains library that let me law-studentspread—laptop, coffee or smoothie, and AirPods on one side, too many case books, course supplements, and colored pens on the other.

I love that there’s a vending machine room on campus, making it way too easy to grab a snack whenever I need one.

I love that parking is always available in the basement levels of the parking structure—and that scanning my student ID to enter and exit from there is much easier than from the upper levels.

I love how close campus is to some of the best off-campus study spots—Cafe Mak, Tom N Toms Coffee, and About Time.

I love that every one of my professors in our first semester acknowledged how terrifying cold calls can be, yet reassured us that they would help us if we ever got stuck.

Most of all, I love that this list could go on and on because Loyola has so much to offer—academically, socially, and in all the little ways that make law school just a bit easier.

As we embrace the spirit of February, a month often associated with love, I find it fitting to reflect on what I appreciate and admire about Loyola Law School.  

While Loyola Law School’s campus is geographically small, spanning just one acre within a single block, it offers extraordinary diversity in its student body and experiences. My 1E class of 47 students (first-year-evening students) includes peers of various ages, professions, and backgrounds. One of my favorite aspects of the law school experience has been not just getting to know my classmates, but learning from their diverse life experiences. From news anchors to aerospace experts to mathematicians to fragrance specialists, the range of backgrounds is truly a unique mix of inspiring stories. I’ve come to realize that law school is more than just the lessons from professors; it is also about the lessons and stories you discover through the connections you make. 

The campus itself fosters a strong sense of community, as well. While it is quiet and peaceful at night, especially with my classes running from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., there is still a sense of connection. I often walk through a nearly empty campus, passing a few students as they go about their own late-night routines, all while the Downtown skyline glows in the distance. After a long evening of work and classes, it’s a beautiful way to wrap up the night, offering a moment of reflection and a reminder of how unique this experience truly is. The skyline feels like our version of the Northern Lights, quietly uniting us under the night sky.

Even in those quiet moments, the sense of community is always felt. The small size of the campus fosters a supportive environment, where whether we’re attending office hours, chatting with classmates about assignments, or debating the law, we’re always working together. No one here wants to see you fail. Instead, it feels like we’re all growing together as a community, surrounded by faculty and peers who genuinely want to see us succeed. 

Ultimately, what I love about Loyola Law School is the campus environment, but, most importantly, it’s inclusivity. The school’s commitment to offering an evening program for students who want to continue or need to continue working has made it possible for many of us, including myself, to pursue and achieve our dreams of becoming attorneys.

Rooted in the Jesuit tradition of Loyola Marymount University, Loyola Law School fosters a campus culture that sets it apart from other law schools. Rather than harden a law student into a competitor, LLS inspires them to become collaborators. As a result, my law school experience has been far less cutthroat than I expected.

In class, many of my peers are driven by the desire to succeed for themselves and for their future clients rather than the desire to see others fail. Because of this, I believe we’ve created a kind of safe space in Section D3—or at least as safe as it can feel when faced with cold calls, writing assignments, and other law school challenges. Elle Woods may have led others to believe law school is, like, not hard, but the reality is different. My classmates and I quickly realized just how hard the material was, and rather than struggle in stoic silence, we turned to each other and decided to form a study group.

Together, we drilled essays and multiple-choice questions, coordinated our Google calendars, and worked through hundreds of hypotheticals out loud. And, on the day I write this, we celebrated a birthday brunch and then studied over fries and iced vanilla lattes—a questionable combination that, somehow, helped me grasp the doctrines of impossibility, impracticability, and frustration of purpose before heading off to our contracts class.

LLS has challenged the idea that law school is purely competitive, proving that students can find a community of goal-driven and compassionate people in a rigorous academic environment.

Before starting law school, you often hear about the competitive, individualistic class (cohort) environment. After all, it is hard to ignore the fact that law school grades are based on the curve, meaning your grade is measured relative to your classmates’ performance. However, my experience at Loyola has proven this assumption to be far from the truth. I have found that my peers are far more collaborative and supportive than I initially expected. Instead of fighting to outperform each other, we work together to succeed.

One of the most crucial sources of support during my first semester has been my study group. What began as a small group of 4 classmates I met during orientation has grown to 10 peers. We meet every Thursdays at 8 p.m through Zoom to review material, dissect complex legal concepts, work through hypotheticals, clarify questions, and check in on each other’s well-being. These weekly meetings have become an invaluable part of my law school experience, especially when the workload feels overwhelming. 

Also, study groups are an excellent way to prepare for exams. During my first Contracts midterm, for example, I thought I had studied all the material thoroughly. But during a study session the night before the exam, one of my peers raised and explained a topic that I had completely overlooked. That very topic ended up being the focus of 5 out of the 25 questions on the exam. Without that study group session, I would have walked into the exam unprepared for a major part of the material. 

Ultimately, the collaborative atmosphere at Loyola Law School has had a profound impact on my experience here. The student body is focused and professional, but there’s also a deep sense of collegiality. Everyone wants to succeed, but not at the expense of others. The culture of mutual support and shared growth has allowed me to thrive, and it has been essential in helping me through some of the toughest moments of law school so far.

“We did it!” Those were the remarks I heard as I finished my last exam of the Winter Semester: Contracts. A four-hour final that left us all tired, slightly defeated, excited for winter break, and one step closer to achieving our attorney dreams. 

As we filed out, there was a sense of camaraderie between us, first-year law students who had survived our first round of finals. We had shared weeks of panic, frantic studying, and the challenge of reviewing 15 weeks of material in 3 weeks. Although, as evening students, our winter exams looked a little different. We only had a Contracts final and a Torts midterm.

To be honest, law exams are exactly what you expect. They’re tough, long, and tiring. But there are a few strategies I picked up that helped me get through exams.

First, start early. Do not wait last minute to outline. Do multiple-choice questions and write practice essays weeks before your exams. Second, use study groups and office hours. I can not stress enough how important this is. My study group, which started as a small group of 4, grew to 10. In these sessions, the competitiveness of law school fades, and we all genuinely want to help each other succeed in the courses. 

When it comes to exam day, give yourself time to think, and do not jump into the essay without reading the question carefully. Your first guess is usually wrong. Take time to think through every fact and outline your response first. Trust me, it’ll save you time when you start writing your essay. 

Ultimately, law exams are difficult, but when you put in the work beforehand, the confidence you feel walking into the exam room is unbeatable.

Now that finals are over and I’ve had a restful winter break reconnecting with family and friends, I’m ready to learn from my past mistakes and start this semester fresh. At least I can say, “One semester down, seven to go!”

During winter break, I reflected on my first semester as a law school student.

Starting backwards, the ugly: Imposter Syndrome.

After countless hours spent studying for the LSAT, drafting and editing my personal statement and optional essays, and asking for bathroom codes at coffee shops I studied at, I hoped my hard work would make me feel deserving of my spot at LLS. But, to the surprise of no first-generation law student, imposter syndrome set in. And it did so during the worst time of a student’s life: reading period. My self-doubt not only showed in the practice exams I started that week but also in the final exams I took in the weeks after. However, when it was all over and I finally had the time to sleep for 14 hours (a personal best!) and crotchet a whopping three scarves, I realized it was important that I lean into my imposter syndrome. By doing so, I turned my feelings of self-doubt into actions for self-growth. My action plan for the new semester includes: dedicating time on Sundays to write down deadlines for the current and following week in my planner, revising my notes after class, and asking my professors questions without prefacing them with, “This might be a dumb question but…”

Now, the bad.

According to my need to be the perfect student—and the curve—my exam grades. Fortunately, the growth mindset I’ve cultivated over the break reminded me that there will always be room for improvement. And when I feel stuck, with nowhere to grow, I know I can turn to my family and friends for support. I was grateful to spend more time with them over the holidays and to create lasting memories—like my dad failing miserably at UNO (a moment now immortalized in this post).

Finally, the good.

This new year—and speaking it into existence!

Like many curious law school applicants, I couldn’t help but fall down the rabbit hole that is r/LawSchoolAdmissions. As I prepared to submit my applications, I scrolled through the subreddit, hoping to find useful information. Instead, I was misinformed (a truly surprising outcome despite the forum’s infamy).

I expected law school to be a highly competitive environment. However, LLS debunked that myth before 1L even started. At orientation, I met classmates who not only shared in their excitement and expressed their congratulations but also were transparent about the anxieties they faced about starting their legal journey. And, when classes started, I found support from other students in my section as well as our professors! While Professor Nockleby validated our fears about cold calling, telling us that we “will fall on [our] faces” but will recover given our extreme talent and intelligence (his words, though paraphrased), my study group texted about how grateful we were to have him in our first semester at LLS in the same group chat where we anguished over legal research assignments, arranged study sessions that would be followed by celebratory dinners, and, on the day I write this, gave thanks for having each other’s companionship this past semester.

Knowing LMU was LLS’s parent school, I expected they would set a different standard for the type of education they offer. However, I didn’t expect they would also replace the typical law school’s cutthroat, competitive learning environment with a supportive, collaborative one. It certainly was a welcome surprise that I hope other students can experience.

 

Before starting law school, I heard countless myths. I was told I would be burdened by debt, have no free time, and face an exceptionally competitive job market. But none of those comments made me second-guess my decision. However, the one myth that did get to me was the fear of cold calls.

As a perfectionist, the idea of being called on in class and not having the answer felt like the ultimate humiliation. This fear was fueled by friends, family, fellow students, and even practicing attorneys. I envisioned cold calling like the scene from The Paper Chase, imagining professors as cold, unapproachable figures who wanted to embarrass students with deceptive questions. 

When the first day of law school arrived, I was well-prepared to be called on. I had read and analyzed each case in detail, spending hours rehearsing potential questions—all to avoid embarrassment. However, to my surprise, the first student called on in my Contracts class was asked to simply restate the law from Restatement § 19. At first, I thought this might have been a special occasion, but as the semester progressed, I realized the focus was not on recalling every fact about a case but on demonstrating an understanding of the law.  

My first cold call came Week 2 of Torts, and it was anticlimactic. I did not have to stand up and recite the entire facts of the case as in The Paper Chase. Instead, I was asked to discuss the application of assault in a specific case. I quickly learned that cold calling was not meant to be stress-inducing, but rather an opportunity for discussion and learning.

By the time I was cold-called in Contracts in Week 9, I no longer viewed the experience as something to fear. This was particularly true because professors were not only understanding but also incredibly supportive, offering help during office hours and reassuring us that it was okay not to know everything. They made it clear that law school was a learning process. More importantly, all of my professors and classmates fostered an environment where cold calling was not embarrassing. In fact, we supported one another when we did not have an answer. 

So, my tips for you are as follows: Instead of spending hours on a single case, time is better spent reading the case and practicing how to apply the law, outlining, and reviewing supplemental materials. If you really want to avoid being cold-called, try sitting in the front rows of the classroom. But most importantly, don’t believe all the myths you hear or see on TV. 

This summer, I had the chance to attend Summer Institute before starting law school. Initially, I imagined my summer filled with adventure—maybe visiting the Mona Lisa, taking a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon, or binge-watching all nine seasons of Suits. But that’s not how my summer unfolded. Instead, my plans shifted when, along with my admissions letter, I received the opportunity to attend Summer Institute, a three-week introduction to law school course that ran from mid-July to orientation week. I went from envisioning a carefree summer to diving straight into the world of legal studies.  

However, Summer Institute turned out to be an invaluable experience. Led by Dean Winograd, Professor Craig, Professor Tan, and Professor Yagura, I gained insights into the legal field. I met experts and alumni, learned how to read and brief cases using the IRAC method, and even took a mock exam. The free dinners before class were a nice bonus! Beyond connecting with remarkable mentors—who continue to offer support—I built friendships with fellow students from diverse backgrounds, some of whom are now part of my study group. Summer Institute served as a small but meaningful introduction to law school, preparing me for the journey ahead at Loyola Law School.  

If you see the Summer Institute note on your admission letter, know that you are about to embark on an incredible journey before your first year of law school. It was a summer filled with unexpected adventure—different from what I had initially envisioned, but better in every way.