Law School Prep

I’m not sure what you’ve been told about it so far. Everyone seems to have an opinion about lawyers, law school, and law students in general. Some of it is good, some of it is bad. You probably have family members who are happy about your decision because they think it will set up a good financial future. (Word to the wise: While your paycheck might go up, the way you spend your money remains the same.) Others in your family might call you a crook or a fraud or a money-hungry sociopath who’s going to charge people hundreds of dollars an hour for nothing. (This may or may not be something one of my own family members said.) This is just simply not true. Like in all professions there are good people and there are bad people. Ultimately you are the only one who can forge your own path. The truth of the matter is you can’t let other people dictate how you want to live your life. Maybe your family is even pressuring you into going to law school and you want to pursue another career. My advice: Follow your heart. Law school is hard and it’s not worth going into a mountain of debt to attend if it’s not what you love.

Me? I didn’t even know I wanted to go to law school…until one day I did. I had just graduated from my undergraduate studies. I earned two degrees. I loved writing so I got a degree in Creative Writing but I felt like a needed a back up. Something more versatile. Something that I could actually make a living doing, so I got a degree in Psychology as well. I know, I know…useless. I dreamt of being an author, like J.K. Rowling or Suzanne Collins or Veronica Roth. I dreamt and still do dream of writing something that matters. Something that I needed growing up. While I still am pursuing that dream, I knew I needed something that I could use to get me there. So here I was, a 22-year-old college graduate with absolutely no idea what she wanted to do with her life. Sound familiar?

So I gave myself a year. 

A year to 1) take care of myself; 2) RELAX; and 3) figure out what in the hell I wanted to do with my life. I started volunteer as a horseback riding instructor at a local barn and continued working as a bartender. I have always been interested in working in law enforcement and I set my sights high and wanted to apply to work with the FBI. However, I decided to start small. I would apply the police academy. One of the gals at the barn worked in the law profession as a paralegal so she had her firm take me on an intern to begin learning a bit about the law. During this internship I had the opportunity to attend a hearing. As I watched the lawyer I work for battle for his client, I knew in my gut that the courtroom was where I was meant to be. This was in October of 2019. By January 2020, I had taken the LSAT and by February I applied to law school. At that point it was up to fate on whether I not I was going to get in. 

Well, quarantine happened. 

In March 2020, I received my acceptance letter to the Alexander Blewett III School of Law at the University of Montana. Honestly, this was probably one of the proudest moments of my life. 

I can’t claim to know much about prepping for law school since I basically prepped in the course of three months. However, I can try to give guidance based off of my experience. Stick around and explore the other posts to learn more about prepping for law school.