Around six years ago I apparently wrote on this blog that "it would be hilarious if I ended up going to law school." Guess my life is a comedy?
It has been a very long time since I've updated on anything. I thought maybe 2021 would finally be the year I stop writing consistently on this blog since 2013, and it would serve as a chronicle of my life from 2013-2020. So much in my life has happened and changed since the last blog entry, but if there is something that hasn't changed, it is my need to reflect on major developments and life changes, my new educational endeavor being one of them. There is no better place to write such reflections than my blog, since to this day I continue to enjoy looking back on previous entries (such as the one cited here), so I've officially decided that I will make the time to write about my experiences at law school.
As of today, September 4, 2021, I have completed my first week of law school at Northeastern University School of Law! I've officially moved back to Boston and am settled here for the next three years (hopefully with internships away). Similarly to how I structured that entry I made reference to here, I'm going to divide my recurring thoughts about my experience so far into bullet points.
• After more than three years, it feels pretty good to be back in school. I'm still apprehensive about how I'm going to do in class when everything is new to me, but I'm going to do my best while not being hard on myself if there's something I don't understand. I sometimes get intimidated by group settings, but I know that having one on one conversations is something that helps me, so I see myself learning a lot from Professor and TA office hours. At this point, we've had so much information dumped on us that it's hard to figure out what kind of questions are appropriate to ask in the immediately relevant context, but that's all right. We'll get there in time. It's been a while since I've been this new at something and had to stumble through it, but it's important to have such experiences. I can't live the rest of my life always being great at whatever it is I'm doing, because where's the fun in that? When I finally (hopefully) have a grasp on material and on my studying/life routine, it'll feel all the more satisfying.
• During difficult life transitions such as this one, I find myself thinking more than I usually do about two other difficult life transitions–when I first moved to the USA, and when I first began my exchange in France. As tough as law school has felt so far, I can still say that those two experiences have been the most difficult ones in my life. In both situations, I found myself coming home from the first day of school feeling horrible and in over my head, nervous about returning the next day. Although law school so far has been overwhelming, I don't feel the same apprehension. I know how I pushed forward back then, and how much younger and uncertain of myself I was, and I trust that I will do the same here and eventually flourish.
• The best thing about this experience so far, as it usually is for me, has been meeting so many new people. After more than a year of pandemic where I barely met anyone new and even if I did, it was only over Zoom, it feels so great to start school in person. Sure it's weird that everyone has to wear masks in campus buildings and during lectures, but at this point it's all normal. I'll take that over doing all of my curriculum in my bedroom! Northeastern is known for being a social justice focused school with a collaborative rather than competitive academic environment, and I already feel it. I've long been of the mind that being overly competitive is toxic, and in order to make the world a better place we need to know how to collaborate with other people, rather than attempt to rise to the top. I've met some great people in my class, which always helps makes getting through complicated material more fun.
• It feels SO GOOD to be back in Boston. It's the perfect combination of feeling like I'm returning home, while at the same time getting to know a new place, since I am not living and studying in Cambridge. I still have a bunch of friends in the area and have already made so many new ones. I definitely feel like I'm surrounded by a great support system already.
Finally, here's a fun picture of my lovely roommates and I celebrating having finished our first week, and also a picture of my return to Cambridge for the first time since graduating college. We got Bon Chon Korean fried chicken from the same Bon Chon I used to frequent, and as you can tell, we had a great time.
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