The 1L Diaries

When I decided to collect my thoughts on completing my first year of law school, I hit an insurmountable barrier. Perspective.

Law school is a different experience for every student. Some worry more, some work more, some love it, some hate it, some are sober, some are drunk from day one. A description of the 1L year from a single viewpoint is like looking at a single pixel on a TV... it's impossible to get the whole picture.

So I enlisted others in my summer starting class to share their thoughts about finishing 1L. Some give advice, some tell stories, but all are unique to their writers. Together, these essays form a more complete picture of the 1L year than any of us could do on our own.

Alexis - "All first year students need to relax..."

Antonia - "Smoking in law school becomes a social art form..."

Dan - "When people who were thinking about going to law school asked me how stressful it was, I told them that it was only as bad as you make it..."

"Disheartened" - "Law school is where idealists go to die..."

HMP - "My first year at law school was as fun and rewarding as it was exhausting and all consuming..."

KAH - "I’ve decided that these three years are far too precious and too short to be wholly consumed in the rat race for grades..."

Kurt (Me) - "The first year of law school is a thing of myth..."

Scott - "A year later, I look back, and am amazed at how everything (and everybody) exceeded my expectations..."

I want to thank all my fellow summer starters who participated in this little project with me. I'm sure that future students (and curious current students) of Michigan or any other school will find these posts interesting and helpful.