One of the first things I learned in my freshman year is that you really need to study every
day.
Even if there is no big test or assignment around the corner, reviewing your classes
daily is the only way to make sure you are strengthening your knowledge on whatever you
are learning, as well as filling any gaps on unknown material that was lectured before.
For weeks, and months, I was sure that people who told me I needed to study everyday were
just very unorganized people or they were frightening me on purpose.
However, if you are taking a course heavy in information like law, you will quickly
understand that unless you are amazingly intelligent, you probably won’t be able to remember every
single detail that was lectured in multiple subjects – and, in the end, you are also
tested on the small details and not only on the big overall scheme of each class.
If I could go back to my first semester, I would really push myself harder and organize
my days to be able to review my previous classes.
Being a coffee hater throughout high school, I was always sure that I would never like
the taste of it in my life.
However, as soon as I got into my second year of college, I found out that the only way
to survive a few of my classes was to drink an expresso beforehand.
My addiction to coffee began as a need to survive but I really ended up liking it the
more I drank it.
Now that I look back, my first year in college probably would have turned out better if I
had more energy in class and while doing my assignments.
However, I still try my hardest to never drink more than one cup of expresso a day – that
really keeps my energy levels up high without making me stressed.
One of the things no one told me before going to Law School was the ridiculous amount of
money I would spend on textbooks every semester.
Every one of my classes one to two mandatory textbooks plus statute law, and then a bunch
of optional readings that most of the time you end up buying because they are nowhere
to be found in the library.
Also, because Law is constantly being developed and changed, buying second hand books is not
a good idea most of the times because most of the legal references they make are probably
outdated.
I remember that in my first year of Law School I refused to buy most of the textbooks the
professors required and I tried my hardest to study with my class notes and that ended
up, as expected, in poor grades.
The problem with Law is that you fifty per cent of our work is made at home.
In class the professor doesn’t lecture ALL of the material we need to learn; they just
summarize the material as best as they can and highlight a few things.
However, in the final exam, all those details and footnotes in the textbooks will prove
really useful to solve the cases and if you didn’t invest in your textbooks you will
not be able to use that information.
That takes me to the next point.
For me, the best method to learn is preparing all classes beforehand, be it lectures or
discussion.
I only found this in the end of my second year in college and I think it makes a big
difference in your overall performance in class.
Basically, if you anticipate most of what is going to be taught in your class, you will
have most of the work done for that specific group of topics or information and, by taking
your own notes to class and complete them with what the professor is lecturing, you
will be able to reinforce your knowledge on the subject, finishing any incomplete arguments
that you have written down and also letting your participate in class, ask questions on
the thematic you’ve studied and discuss it with your professor and colleagues.
Also, preparing classes beforehand will let you organize your time better, scheduling
a certain time to prepare a certain class and you will have much more attention in class
because you are not too worried about writing everything down because you already have a
complete batch of notes.
Unfortunately, I found it almost impossible to prepare classes and do all of this homework
while I was handwriting my notes.
If I could turn back in time and change something during my time in college, I would certainly
stop spending so much time making everything pretty and start typing it all.
I am a big fan of handwriting notes, I love pens, stationery and also the handwriting
in itself – it’s so much fun and dynamic than typing things like a robot.
However, when I started getting an excessive workload, insisting on handwriting all of
my preparatory notes, then completing them by hand in class and also solve and summarize
case law by hand was hurting my grades, my social life and my stress levels.
So I had to make the hard to decision to give up on all of my pretty stationery and typing
everything away.
I still handwrite a few notes, especially when I use the column method, that you can
see in one of my videos, listed down below, but I am so happy now that I have made the
exchange – I can be much more productive and organized and save tons of time for all
the other things I enjoy doing, instead of spending my evenings writing things down.
Finally, and I think this is the most important piece of advise I can give you: some people
enter college with a very specific mind-set on what they want to do with their lives after
college.
Probably you already thought about a certain career and are choosing classes that you think
will help down that career path.
However, never close your eyes to all the options that will be laid out for you.
In my experience, I entered Law School thinking about a very specific thing that I wanted
to pursue.
As soon as I got into my second year of college and started studying contract law, I was sure
that I had changed my mind and was now sure that all I wanted was contract law.
Then I had Tax Law and thought that Tax Law was it; and then I made an internship in Intellectual
Property Law and also fell in love with it.
So it’s ok to change your mind along the way; you are not less worthy of college just
because you are still not sure of what you want to do career wise.
Just make sure that you research on different career paths and take all opportunities to
know new things and meet new people.
Internships, and other short-termed opportunities like job-shadowing programs, are great ways
to understand if you fit in the specific area you are thinking of pursuing or if, in real
life, it has nothing to do with you.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this video!
Don’t forget to subscribe and I’ll see you next week.
Bye!