A Day in the Life (of a 1L)

As a life student, especially being in my first year, life is pretty crazy! My daily life is filled with schoolwork, life stuff, networking, trying to fit in a workout, and oh yeah, more schoolwork. Here is my usual day as a law student:

7:20 am: My first alarm goes off. On a perfect day, I would wake up right away, but I usually hit snooze at least once.

7:30 am: If I am not up by now, I will force myself to wake up. This is the latest time I can wake up and still get to class on time. I shower in the morning. Also, since law school is a professional school, I try to look put together. As a rule, I aim for “snappy casual,” or two of the three (hair, cute outfit, or makeup) done. I also always eat breakfast. If I don’t, I get super hungry and can’t focus in class.

8:25 am: I get to class. My first class doesn’t start until 8:45, but I like to get to school early to switch out my books, check emails, and go over cases for my first class.

9:45 am: My first class is over. I have an hour break before my second class, so I will typically try to get some work done, check emails, and prepare for my next class before class starts at 10:55.

11:50 am: Second class, done! I have another hour break that I use for lunch. My friends and I usually use this break to catch up and not think about law school for a bit.

12:55 pm: My third class starts. I’m halfway through the day!!

2:10 pm: Another break. This is the break where I tend to be the most productive, so I strive to get at least one thing done during this break.

3:25 pm: Last class of the day! This is the longest class time-wise, but knowing that I am almost done with my day gets me through it.

4:45 pm: On a normal day, I will go home and eat dinner. Sometimes, I stay at school to get some more work done, but usually I’m starving so I go home. While I’m home, I get a least one subject of work done. It usually takes me about an hour and a half to two hours to prepare for one class. The good news is that I always work ahead so I never have more than three classes to prepare for.

7:30-ish: Depending on when I get home, finish eating, and if complete one reading for class, I will workout around this time. If I am extremely busy, I will skip my workout to get more work done.

9:30 pm: I start my last assignment for the next day around this time.

11:00 pm: I prep for tomorrow (make my lunch, pick out my outfit, and pack my backpack) and get ready for bed. Ideally, I go to bed around 11:30 pm, but sometimes it is a little later than that,

That is a day in the life of a 1L! Of course, not everyday has the same schedule, but most of them are pretty much the same. I like to stick to a schedule because it allows me to figure out how much I can accomplish in a day and prevents me from getting super stressed out. Being in law school is very busy, but so far, it has been incredibly worthwhile!