WHY LAW SCHOOL?
The Decision to Attend Law School: What Lies Ahead
The decision to attend law school is one of the most important decisions you will make in your entire lifetime. For whatever reasons you decide to attend, for whatever it is you choose to do once you earn your law degree, one thing is certain – after attending, you will never be the same. Law school can be a life-changing experience in a number of very important ways. Law school will teach you how to think about things in a lawyerly way, you will learn a new language – legal jargon or legalese, you will find that your tolerance levels will increase higher than you ever imagined, and you will find that you are able to do things you did not realize you could do. Many people describe law school as a mental boot camp or liken it to pledging a fraternity or sorority. These are good analogies. Law school is difficult and the only way you can get through it is if it is something you really want. You would not let anyone HAZE you unless you could see the bigger picture and understand how you could benefit from group membership soon thereafter or in the long term, right?
Well, BEFORE you make the final decision to attend, make certain that you have done thorough research and that your decision is not merely on gut feelings, what you saw on television or on the fact that you just aren’t sure what it is that you want to do next. You need to talk to as many law students, law graduates and lawyers as you possibly can. Read as many books as you can, talk to your pre-law advisor and professors at your undergraduate university who hold law degrees, visit law schools, talk to everyone who will take the time to chat with you, sit in on classes, make appointments to speak with administrators and professors. These are things you should do BEFORE you even decide to apply, and well before you send in your first application package.
Law school is a major step, a huge investment – timewise, financially, intellectually, emotionally. For many people, it is the three or four most rigorous and challenging years of their lives. Just be absolutely sure that it is something that you really want to do. Be sure that the decision is YOURS and not that of your parents, friends, relatives or significant other. YOU will have to face tough courses, sometimes relentless professors, very assertive and competitive classmates (remember, these are people who want to be lawyers), and time-consuming and difficult reading materials. Enduring these things will undoubtedly help to prepare you for law practice or for whatever other route you decide to pursue. You will definitely leave law school a much stronger person and thinker than you were before you walked through those doors.
However, you should only go the law school route IF it is what you REALLY WANT. It is not something that a person can get through or even pretend to enjoy if it is not in his or her heart, or if he or she is not sure of how the training will connect to future ambitions and goals. You cannot afford to go through the experience based on a whim or only half-heartedly. It is imperative that you go in knowing or having a good sense of the things you want to do in the law school, outside of the law school and after law school and these things should all be based on your true interests, solid research and a genuine desire to do your very best.
Law School – what lies ahead? A very, very tough road – with lots of bends, twists and turns. It will not benefit you to sugar coat the experience. Law school is not easy. It is a marathon race – the intellectual endurance test. It is challenging, thought-provoking, stressful, rigorous, taxing, frustrating, strenuous, confusing, exhilarating, boring, exciting, etc. It is some and all of the adjectives above. It is so many different things to many different people. However, law school is quite doable. You CAN do it, as so many others who have gone before you and are getting through the process right now. Before making this critical life decision to attend, just go in knowing what to realistically expect, doing every little thing that you can within your power to prepare yourself for the experience, searching within yourself to decide if law school is the best next step for you and having a good and realistic sense of your plans and options after earning your law degree. Best of luck in whatever you decide! And remember that the ultimate decision to pursue this particular degree lies with YOU.
WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH A LAW DEGREE
Infirmation.com: 101 Things You Can Do With a Law Degree
www.infirmation.com/articles/one-article.tcl?article_id=2686
WHAT CAN I DO WITH THIS DEGREE?