What to do the Summer Before Law School

A lot was going on the summer before I started law school. I had just graduated from my university and left all my friends behind in Minnesota while I went to spend some time with my parents. That summer was the first time I had lived with my parents in four years. The summer prior, I was a resident advisor at my university. The summer before that, I lived at my university to work at the tutoring center. The summer before that, I lived with my grandparents in Wyoming to help them out with their house and garden. The summer before that, I lived with my aunt in Colorado to do housework and nanny her kids. Needless to say, I was excited to get to live with my family for once!

But they were very busy at that time, too. My parents were preparing their house to sell because they were moving to Ohio. Since they would be moving in mid-July, I needed to move to Colorado before that so they would have less to worry about during their move. In June, I helped keep their house clean and drive my siblings and the dogs around during house showings. We all hung out and had fun, but we had a lot going on. At the beginning of July, my mom and I packed up her car and moved me to Colorado to live with my aunt until I could move in to my new apartment in Boulder at the beginning of August. After their move, my parents were also preparing to move one of my sisters to Chicago for college.

Since there was so much going on and I was moving in the middle of the summer, there was no way I was going to be able to get a job to make some money. Most law students and lawyers will tell 0Ls that they should take a break during their summer before starting law school. That is good advice, but if you're worried about money, like me, it can be nice to go into law school with a little bit saved up for emergencies. You're going to be taking out a lot of loans for living expenses, unless you have money saved up or your family has money with which they can help you out. So if you have the time, getting a part-time job during the summer before law school can go a long way to giving you some peace of mind!

However, don't spend all your time working that summer. Once law school starts, you are going to be extremely busy! The learning curve your first semester is extremely steep. You're not just learning Contracts, Torts, and Civil Procedure, you're also learning how to read law books and cases, how to write like a lawyer, how to answer cold calls, and how to manage your time. You're going to be reading a lot. You're going to be at school all the time. And you're going to be stressed. That's why it's important to do things that are fun and relaxing the summer before law school: because you're not going to have very much time for those things during your first semester!

If you like reading, read some books just for fun. You're not going to want to read anything extra during the school year!

I finally picked up a John Grisham book that summer. It was amazing! Read some mysteries. Read some books about lawyers, even if they are incredibly inaccurate. Read fantasy novels. If you love Harry Potter, now's the time to re-read the entire series.

If you're moving to a new place for law school and have time, go get a library card. When I was younger, I would spend hours just walking around the library looking at books and picking out books to read. Just because you're an adult and a soon-to-be law student doesn't mean you can't go read a YA novel! I recently re-read the Warriors series from Erin Hunter, because I knew it was an easy and fast read and I had huge nostalgia, since it was ne of my favorite series growing up.

If you want something fun that's a bit of a challenge, pick up The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien. They are amazing, but they are really hard to read. Honestly, reading them feels a lot like what reading a law school casebook feels like. They are dense, with a lot of description in between any moments of action.

While you're at it, go watch some movies. Even though it is an incredibly strict and scary version of law school, most law students watch The Paper Chase before they start their 1L year. It's about an eager 1L who wants to impress this big-shot professor and ends up falling in love with his daughter. The Firm with Tom Cruise is also a good one, and also not very realistic. Tom Cruise plays a young attorney fresh out of law school who is snatched up by a big law firm for a big pay check. He starts work while studying for the bar, which is crazy. And then things get crazier as he uncovers huge corruption and conspiracies within the firm.

Once you start getting emails from your university, pay attention to them! They will be sending you information about setting up your school email account and accessing student portals. After getting that information, you should be following their instructions as soon as you can. The school will begin to stop sending emails to your personal account and transition to sending them to your school account. You don't want to miss information about orientation, readings for the first day, and syllabi from professors. Most of this won't come until August, but it is good to be on the lookout, just in case. Your school will probably also send you information about other things you have to register for on campus, like bus passes or student ID cards. They may also ask you to fill out health surveys and get them your vaccination records. At some point, you will probably also get information about waiving the school health insurance (if you already have your own, definitely waive the school's - it'll usually save you around a grand each semester).

Your biggest stressor during your 0L summer should probably be moving and getting ready for school. You want to make sure you're moved and settled in to your new place at least a week before school starts. That's when you should begin exploring your law school and your new neighborhood, town, or city. On way you'll be doing that is by going to the bookstore to pick up books and other supplies for school. In law school, professors assign homework for the first day of class, so you'll want to have all of your supplies the week before orientation. Don't leave everything until the day before orientation. That will just cause you more stress and anxiety when you're probably already anxious about starting law school and meeting all these new people!

The most important thing for you to do during the summer before law school is to relax and do something fun. Try not to psych yourself out about starting law school. Take it easy, do something you enjoy doing, and stay on top of preparation so that you're not leaving everything to the last week of your summer. Go in to your 1L year refreshed and ready to take on this new and exciting challenge!