The rest of my orientation was not as exciting as the first day. It ended up being more of an academic orientation because the speakers and welcomes were finished.
We finished our workshop on racism, then separated into our sections for academic orientation. They taught us how to brief cases, about the infamous IRAC form, academic resources within the law school, etc. It was pretty boring, but very helpful because I often use the resources and information presented from that day.
Finally, we had the opportunity to meet the faculty. I looked forward to this because some of them would be my professor for the entire 1L year. To my surprise, they all seemed kind (this held true when school started also).
The best part about orientation as a whole was realizing that I MADE IT. I finally made it to law school.
Advice for Orientation
- Become familiar with the necessary resources.
- The academic resource center at my school became very important for me, so if your school has something similar I’d recommend asking about it.
- What books are on reserve? I found out that all my course materials are on reserve at the library and some course supplements. I was pretty excited because I ended up utilizing the supplements on reserve in many classes, and I didn’t have to purchase them.
- Who are the counselors, study center staff, etc. These individuals will become just as important as your professors and TAs.
- Strategize socially.
- I always made sure that I was branching out during orientation, so I had familiar faces in class. This came in handy because it helped me figure out who I wanted to hang out with for study groups, social outings, student organizations, etc. Most importantly, branching out helps you make friends, which you will need to make law school feel at home.
- Pick which teachers you’d like to get to know.
- Having the opportunity to meet the faculty before the school year helped me pick which teachers I’d like to get to know (they gave us their background at orientation).
Always,
Kat
Featured Image Credit: Yale Law School doors from Wikipedia
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