Like many others in the class, I am approaching graduation and have been thinking about my experience the last 3 years. I knew I always wanted to go to law school so I took the LSAT, got an ok score after a few times, and applied to Stetson because it was close to home. Honestly, I could have probably tried harder in the LSAT to get a better scholarship, but I didn't. Before 1L, I thought I would do amazing and easily be in the top of the class. But, as we all know, every one who is in law school are also smart, overachievers who do well in school. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gotten this far. So after my first semester I did average and was not upset about it. Law school puts so much emphasize on grades and how important they are but I was proud of myself anyway and continued on. After talking to other people about grades, it made me think about how everyone thought they would do amazing in law school. But not everyone can be in the top 10%. There needs to be someone who doing just average and ok. Is that a bad thing? NO. You are still in law school and will still graduate with the same degree as everyone else. I suppose if you are going after a certain type of job grades matter but for the most part, employers aren't going to ask you what your grade was in 1L contracts. The further away from 1L we get, the less important those grades are. Even now, I would consider myself an "average" law student. I did not go above and beyond in any way but I still am so proud of myself. I will still be successful and have a great career.
Sometimes, it is hard for people to admit that they aren't "great" at something. However, when we were reading our books for this semester, the lawyers who wrote them often said they did just okay in law school. It is nothing to be ashamed about. Just because you did ok in law school doesn't mean you won't do well in practice and vice versa.
This same sentiment applies in so many other areas of life. Just because you aren't the best at something doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile or you shouldn't be proud. You can't be great at everything. If I picked up a guitar tomorrow, it would sound terrible. But if I tried to learn how to play and still sounded terrible, I would still be proud of myself for trying and sticking to it. I shouldn't quit and be ashamed or embarrassed.
Overall, this was sort of a mind dump on the expectations we have for ourselves entering law school, the talk around the importance of grades, and how this relates to everything in life.
What do you guys think about this?
Hey Sierra,
ReplyDeleteI agree and there is a ton of pressure to be the best in this industry and the imposter syndrome hits hard on many of us. I personally am not a believer that you need to be the best in your class to get the best job etc. because there are many different paths to be successful with this degree and its easy to not see the forrest through the trees starting out in law school. Great post!
Sierra,
ReplyDeleteI've spoken at length with folks about how this is all one big marathon, and that our ability to manage the expectations placed on us without collapsing is more important than an extra .25 on the grading report. And while I hope much success and professional longevity to those who, objectively, are "great" students, I'm comfortable saying that success now isn't indicative of success (or, again, longevity) later down the road.