JEREMYCWILSON.COM

The Morning After

When you hear the words “law school” or “1L” certain images probably spring into your mind: intense final exams, reading cases on global legal issues, heated competition, and probably a lot of stress. Well, generally speaking, I won’t argue with those assumptions. 1L has long been considered the toughest academic experience you face in any grad school.  But after about nine months of going to class, reading cases, and taking exams, my first year of law school is finally over.  And I starting doing some reflecting on how things have changed, as of this morning. The morning after my last final exam.

It feels good to finally finish my first year in law school – I took my last final exam yesterday.  Like most graduate school experiences, the year was both more more work and more fun than I originally expected.  While a number of my classmates were singularly focused on the academic portion of the 1L experience, I took a slightly different approach. My approach was not only to do as well as possible in school but also to participate in a really wide range of activities, in and outside of the law school.

I played an active role here in various clubs and in diverse organizations. I took on leading positions in numerous community organizations both here in Chicago and outside the city. I attended recruiting events and receptions and met with dozens of employers [fortunately I did well and will be working an amazing law firm here in Chicago this summer].  And I created, designed, and managed my blog, where I posted multiple times per week and communicated with a diverse group of students and professional all across the US on careers and admissions issues.

And nearly nine months later, the morning after my last exam, many of us feel like it all finally paid off, because 1L is finally over.  Most people I see now are finally smiling again. Others have a skip in their step and are stopping to talk and shake hands more often than they were last week.  And many people have taken off for vacations or begun the writing competition for the law school journal. Personally, I’ve spent the last few days catching up on my blog posts, scheduling a couple of upcoming business trips, reconnecting with old friends at Kellogg and at the law school, and also hanging out with an awesome old friend from MLT (and her friends from Chicago) who came to town for the week.

But more important than many of these great activities, is that now I also have time to reflect and think about the world again, something that’s hard to do in the midst of all the hustle and bustle of 1L, or any year in law school for that matter. This morning I’ve read a few articles and looked at a few pictures about the earthquake that hit Haiti in January, the volcano that erupted in Iceland, the oil spill that approached Louisiana, the Goldman Sachs corporate governance fiasco, and the hot button immigration issue in Arizona, that’s taking the world by storm.  I’m taking the time to think about these events and how I can better understand them, and maybe even make a difference.  After all, that’s why all of us came here to law school and to business school, right? To gain new opportunities all over the world.  And to learn how to understand these global issues and also how to effectively analyze them in a way that’s meaningful and deliver a message about them in a way that’s compelling.

And upon reflection, all the complaints I’ve heard (and made) about 1L struggles have begun to fade. And they’ve been replaced with thinking about how we can leverage our new experiences and skills to increase the odds of having impact. Some of us by making a lot of money and giving back to organizations. Others by pushing the agenda as change agents in public service or government agencies. And another group of future entrepreneurs or politicians, who want to roll up their sleeves and drive change from the ground floor.

So I look forward to continuing to catch up on the issues, to learning more about them and maybe even discussing a few here on my site over the summer.  And in the end, at graduation, I also look forward to using my new experiences and skills from the JD-MBA program to figure out how to help, and how to create change, not only through written posts and articles but also by giving back and by being on the ground floor.  I’m sure I’ll be thinking about this quite a bit on the morning after graduation. But for now, I’m going to enjoy being done with 1L and I also need decide if I plan to participate in the writing competition. It looks like a majority of my law school classmates will be writing.

In any event, thanks for reading everyone. And best of luck to those still finishing up the year.