That pack of highlighters you bought didn’t last very long did it?
Over 20,000 new undergrads have begun their law degrees this academic year. So far, they’ve likely managed to party their way through freshers’ week and just about tackle the first round lectures and tutorials.
Everyone’s law degree experience is different (some people even like land law!) but a law student bond is formed thanks to 11 things that are simply fated to happen in your first term.
1. No matter how much stationery you’ve brought with you, you’ll have had to go out and buy more
Especially more highlighters.
2. You’ll have realised law students are unfriendly
Some of them anyway. Recent research found law students are more likely to be psychopaths than their psychology-studying peers. Is it the fierce competition for jobs? Is it the long reading lists taking their toll? Is it in their DNA? Answers on a postcard please.
3. You’ll have met your weird law professors
(Weird in a loveable mad scientist sort of way.)
4. People will have asked you for legal advice
Four days into law school and your aunt’s friend from the gym asked you to help file her divorce petition.
5. You’ll have realised studying law is like studying a language
You’ll encounter more Latin than anticipated.
6. You’ll have caught the corporate law bug, even if just momentarily
Everyone wants to be a corporate solicitor at law school. First term chat about City firm perks and salaries will have reeled you in; it’s up to you whether you follow it through.
7. Someone has already mentioned the law ball
Law balls are the highlight of the year, so it’s customary for student reps to mention it early on.
8. You’ll have felt overwhelmed by all the societies and extra-curricula activities on offer
So there’s the law society, the bar society, mooting club, debating club, Amicus, brand ambassador roles for every firm you’ve ever heard of, pro bono this, that and the other, and all the sports, music, language, culture and arts societies too. You’ll need a lie-down just thinking about it.
9. Introducing yourself as a law student made you feel superior
There’s a certain smugness and pride that comes with being a law student. Even if you don’t show it, you’ll have certainly felt a little ‘I’m better than you’ twinge when you introduced yourself as an LLB-er.
10. The cost of printing has sent you into a downward spiral of despair
That £5 printing credit voucher your mum got you as a going away present saw you through just week one and no further.
11. You now realise the next three years isn’t going to be easy
There’s a lot to learn, no doubt. Take solace in the fact that everyone is in the same boat, and that your first year result does not count towards your overall degree classification.