How to Succeed During Your First Week of Law School

In early August of 2023, I sat in my car outside of my new law school paralyzed with fear. My social anxiety got the best of me. I sat there blasting Taylor Swift’s This is Me Trying with tears in my eyes, trying to get myself to walk inside of the building I worked so hard to get to. Eventually, I went inside and to my own surprise, every fear that I had of things going wrong did not become a reality. 

I’m sure most people don’t have such a dramatic first day of school memory. 

All of the anxiety that I experienced on my first day of law school ultimately came down to one thing. The fear of the unknown. I did not know anyone in my first year class outside of the incoming class Facebook group. I heard about the dreaded curve but had no idea how it actually worked. I didn’t even know what kind of law I wanted to practice. For the first time in my life, I was faced with multiple layers of uncertainty. 

The first day of law school - whether it be orientation day or the first day of classes - feels intimidating and daunting. You’re walking into an unknown world with entirely new people. Everyone will tell you how to survive law school, but no one will tell you how to survive your first week of law school. 

Here is how to survive your first week of law school. 

Remember everyone is in the same exact situation as you. 

It’s terrifying to be in a new place with new people, especially when the stakes feel so high. You’ve been told a million times that this is the year that will make or break your legal career. People tell you that you need to find a study group immediately. You have all of this pressure during the first week of school. But you’re not alone. 

All of your classmates are in the exact same situation. They’re nervous about what the upcoming year holds. Instead of trying to hold these overwhelming emotions in, talk to your classmates about what you are feeling. It’s an easy way to connect with them, and it makes you feel a lot less alone during such a stressful time. 

Don’t let the gunners get you down. 

Within your first few days of orientation and classes, it will be pretty easy to pick out who your class gunners are. Their hands will shoot up in the air the second the professor finishes asking a question. Far too often, the gunners think that they know the answers to everything. They leave many of us confronted with our imposter syndrome because we might not know the exact answer to the professor’s question. When you’re confronted with the gunners the first few weeks of school, remind yourself of a few things. This is the first time you are all in law school, so no one actually knows what they are doing. Second, you read the same cases and the same reading as everyone else in the room. You might be struggling to extract the exact information that the professor is looking for, but you did the same reading as the gunner who pulled out the hyper-specific rule that the professor wanted. Third, you are not any less intelligent because someone else in your class knows something you don't. 

As an aside, the gunners were my favorite part of 1L. They asked the questions I was too scared to ask. They provided some entertainment when the professors would get noticeably irritated with them. Most of the gunners in my 1L class were extremely nice people and had some sort of external factors that led to them putting more pressure on themselves in school. 

Become friends with or get to know the people in your section.

During the first few weeks of classes, you have an amazing opportunity to get to know the people in your classes. It’s like freshman orientation in undergrad - most people are open to making new friends and getting to know everyone they meet. Take advantage of this opportunity - you will be seeing these people every day for the next year. 

My 1L section and small writing class became pretty close in the first semester of law school. Groups of us went out together throughout the entire semester, and I can honestly say that these experiences are what got me through 1L. You trauma bond with all of your law school classmates and being friends with them makes law school feel a lot less isolating. Eventually, as the year goes on, everyone forms smaller friend groups. However, these people will get you through the early days of law school. 

Breathe. 

Your first week of law school will not make or break your entire law school experience. A bad cold call will not completely derail your grade or reputation. No one will remember if you did anything embarrassing the first week of school. The stakes feel like they’re high during the first week, but they’re really not. Take these moments in, have fun, and be proud of yourself for making it this far. 

I wish I could go back in time to tell myself what the first week of orientation and school would hold. The version of myself that sat in her car for an hour before orientation would be shocked to hear how the first few weeks of school went. 

You’ve got this. You made it here. You should be proud of yourself. 

From a current law student, you are goi