Reflecting on 2L

 

Long time, no see! (Write? Blog? Who knows.)

My 2L year wrapped up at the end of May, and I took a bit of a mental health break up until now to give myself a breather and focus on training for my summer internship. But, I'm back and here to stay! 

2L is a whole different beast from 1L. I wouldn't say law school gets easier during your second year. It's still difficult, and I honestly felt more stressed out during 2L than during 1L. But it's important to realize that it's not law school that changes once you're a 2L--it's you that changed (cheesy, I know). You're more equipped to handle what law school throws at you and you know how to handle all the information thrown at you during class. For example, I was able to raise my GPA by over 0.6 points over the course of 2L because I had figured out what worked for me and how I best learned the material (plus there wasn't a pass/fail requirement unlike the spring semester of my 1L year). 

Like the end of 1L year, I spent the entirety of 2L online. While this was a bit anticlimactic (which I think is the exact same language I used to describe finishing 1L last year), I was still incredibly relieved once I was done. Last year, my friends and I had a big Zoom call to celebrate the end of finals, but this year I've been able to see my friends since things have opened up a lot more this summer. 

Related: Reflecting on 1L

I think I most enjoyed the classes I took this year. I feel like I retained more information during 2L because I took classes that I actually wanted to take (not that I didn't find some of the 1L classes interesting, but there's something special about knowing that you're in classes that will be useful in your career), but I think getting introduced to more professors is also a perk of 2L. 

One aspect that I didn't think about when picking classes, however, was how stressful it would be to front-load law school. At my law school, outside of the required 1L classes and the required credit hours for graduation, there are three other required classes: Administrative Law, Legal Profession (aka legal ethics), and Evidence. Additionally, there are three more types of classes you have to take outside of those specific upper level classes: an upper level writing credit, a public service credit, and an experiential credit. I chose to give myself more leeway during 3L and finished all of these requirements by the end of 2L. I don't know if I would recommend doing this to everyone, because it was a lot to deal with over the course of two semesters, but it is nice to know that I have free reign over my schedule for all of 3L. 

Related: How to Pick Law School Classes

I was also excited to get more involved in student organizations during 2L. I chose to focus on my classes during 1L and figure out what law school was all about before I added on extracurricular activities. I was very involved during college and missed having that connection to campus. Getting to work on law review and plan a summit were both so rewarding, and I wouldn't trade that extra work for the world. 

It's so strange to already be done with 2L. It's even stranger to know that I only have one year of law school left. With how fast law school has already gone by, I know it'll be important for me to take in every moment of 3L and this summer because I won't be back again. Thank goodness we'll be back in person in the fall, so there will be even more memories to make come August. 

xoxo,

Rachel