By Lauren O. Lopez
Layout by: Lou Margaret Nebit
Kenneth A. Rosenblum said that the first year of law school is the toughest and the most important. It is indeed true due to the fact that many experience culture shock from the normal style of classes conducted during our undergraduate days. There is no question that the first year of law school is especially demanding and difficult. It is also just as exciting (White, p. 23). In order to survive the so-called “Jurassic Park,” you must be equipped with the right weapons. These strategies include time management, strong mental focus, memory aids, and gaining tips on how to handle terror professors.
Memory techniques
Memory is the most important asset you have in law school — a trained mind for that matter. In order to release your brain’s full potential, there are numerous techniques available to improve and unleash its strength.
First, we have the memory house which is a mnemonic device where you visualize a house and use it as a tool to remember vital information. Next, we have the link and peg method, where you make use of the creative part of your brain to imagine and create the most absurd connection between things you need to remember. It has to be ludicrous for better retention. Who could ever forget SpongeBob SquarePants who is a talking sponge, or any movie beyond our imagination, like Avengers, right?
We go back to the memory house. Imagine your house and those things you want to remember in every portion of your home including the bathroom. Sketch it, cover the portions of the house, and recall them now and then. This will eventually improve your memory skills as your untrained mind would have a sense of recalling certain information rather than grasping at straws.
How to overcome distractions
Have you ever felt distracted while studying? Focus is the most important aspect of effective learning. Any person, no matter how smart, is prone to commit errors if distracted. It has been observed that in today’s modern age, we face a dilemma with the use of our smart phones as stated in a research conducted by the Harvard Health Publishing. The most common question is: How do we stop wasting our time scrolling, so we can instead focus more on what matters?
In law school, reading a mountain load of readings is imperative.
Researchers of the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research (2017) describe a series of experiments in which 520 college students performed tasks requiring focus, attention, and novel problem-solving skills. Some were asked to leave their smartphones in another room, where they found an unexpected downside to smartphones. It also suggests a potential solution. We might use our intellectual firepower more effectively if we spent some time with our phones well away from us. You have to use your mobile device effectively. By using your phone to video record yourself during dedicated study hours. You have your phone away from you to avoid the allure of scrolling, and you’ll also have a video recording of how focused you are doing your schoolwork, undistracted from all possible temptations.
The use of time-limited study music will also help you stay focused for a certain amount of time. There are some available on YouTube so it’s best to make use of such to achieve more without the burden of timing your study hours silently.
Time management skills
Time is a never-ending resource which is the most valuable aspect among law students. Not all law students have the same time table. They have to handle their separate lives amid countless readings and the unexpected avalanche of homework that falls unexpectedly. Managing time is necessary for everything going on in law school – you need it to prepare for class and equip yourself for every examination. Sometimes, even bathroom breaks are timed.
The primary reason why it is so important is due to the so-called dream killer: procrastination. Many have failed because of slacking off. It means you tend to doubt your skills instead of having confidence in your capabilities.
To resolve the issue, whenever you feel the momentum of being on track and focused with your pace, it is best that you over-study. When your professors assign the first 3 chapters, read until the fourth one. There is no downside in over-studying, as it leads to over-preparation. It will serve as a security when things get out of hand due to the infamous hectic nature of crunch time.
One key factor in managing your time means being realistic with your plan. An unrealistic time-table can be as deadly as a sleeping pill about to kick in – it will most probably fail. It is counter- productive to set unrealistic deadlines for yourself which has a negative effect. As much as possible, create a deadline that you could follow and create gaps, including rest times in between to avoid overfatigue not only mentally but also physically.
Overcoming terror professors
Thomas Franck of Oxford University said, “Law is what the law professors do.” This means that not all law professors teach in the same manner. All of them have their own style of honing you into a well-rounded law student. You will have to find a way to overcome them by asking upperclassmen about how they deal with students to be prepared for each professor you may encounter.
Cynthia and Drew Johnsons stated, “You will find that you learn more from tough professors than from pushovers.”
Now, you have instilled in your mind that a tough professor might end up killing your dream to become one of the top lawyers in the country – but you are mistaken. One of the best ways to achieve that milestone is to actually find them and take them head-on.
How well do you recite? One of the most crucial parts of going head-to-head with a terror professor is recitations or cold calls. Roth had commented on this, where he recommends that when you study cases, you have to learn how to close your notes, drop your pen, and close your eyes as you begin to tell yourself what the case is all about just as if you were reciting. The only time you will ever need to write is when you are working on the case for the first reading for the purposes of recalling later on.
As law students, the aim is to be excellent future attorneys. With these simple tips, that goal is now within reach if applied with dedication and consistency. Nothing matters more than being motivated, dedicated, and most importantly, being able to believe that nothing is ever unachievable.
References:
- Keeping your smartphone nearby may not be so smart
https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/keeping-your-smartphone-nearby-may-not-be-so-smart-2017080212163
- Joel Levy, BOOST YOUR BRAIN, 2014
- D. Robert White, THE OFFICIAL LAWYER’S HANDBOOK, 1983
- George Roth, SLAYING THE LAWSCHOOL DRAGON, 1991