I’ve made a huge mistake
You wouldn’t have thought I’d have had time to make all these mistakes by now, and yet…
Living with other law students
So you’ve finally found a decent place to live. And your roommates are other law students to help you with school. In September, everything is great—you talk about your hobbies, attend social events, and maybe even go to the gym together. Then October hits, that first LRW assignment comes back, and you realize that your roommates are the competition.
“What did you get on the assignment?” “How many extracurriculars are you doing?” “How many job interviews do you have lined up?” “How much are you drinking at Call to the Bar?”
You might luck out and feel reassured by your roommates’ answers. You also might realize you happen to be rooming with the future gold medalist. Most likely your roommates are in the same position as you and all you end up doing is hyperventilating into paper bags together.
No, that kind of negative energy is not needed in your home. Find yourself some med students and feel reassured that as stressed as you might be, you’re not nearly as stressed as you could be.
Not turning the “track changes” feature off before submitting your assignments
Be detail-oriented. Obsessively check over your assignments before submitting them, especially if you write snarky comments to yourself like: “Unsure if I’ll ever graduate,” “Argument weaker than your bench press.”
Many of us will be submitting most assignments past 2:00 am, so be sure to develop that attention to detail even as you suffer from sleep deprivation.
Falling asleep in class
You’re running on two hours of sleep and you’re sitting in a warm classroom while the professor’s monologue drones on in the background. You start blinking slowly, trying to ward off the impending sleep. You are unsuccessful. Your head comes to gently rest on your keyboard and your notes devolve into Icelandic glacier names. Inevitably, the five minutes of class you miss will comprise the entirely of the policy question come exam time.
And never, ever fall asleep in the front row.
Lurking the group chat in class
It’s another Property class, and another Pierson v Post reference goes by.
You lurk the group chat, fill in your bingo square, and update the Excel sheet of all the Pierson v Post references made per class.
As tempting as making legal jokes with your law school friends may be, this is not appropriate use of your education. You pay approximately $500 per class, so you should make the most of it.*
Being crushed when you get a P
Contrary to popular belief, life isn’t over when you get a P. As Type A overachievers, it’s hard to swallow your pride, but you just have to get over your complex and realize that you’re no longer special. U of T Law is the place where smart people go to feel mediocre. Remember, according to the “Welcome to Law School” session, all Ps are equal to an 84%.
Overloading yourself with extracurriculars
I’m pretty sure that every upper year warns you not to take on too much. And yet, you can’t help but take on too much.
Before you know it, you’re up at 3:00am fighting back tears as you set your alarm for 5:00am.
Giving up your relationship for law school
Love is easy, but law is hard.
While significant others can distract you from your readings, making time for the people who you care about is important for work-life balance. You shouldn’t give up other aspects of your life. Life isn’t law, and law isn’t life.
*Editor’s Note: Diversions apologizes for this unscheduled #realtalk. We promise to make more jokes next issue.
