A word of warning

If you're considering law school, be aware of the possibility you might not be able to talk with "normal" people anymore. When I say that, I mean that I've realized it is extremely difficult to talk to people who haven't gone through an experience similar to law school.

For example, someone might tell me, "Dont' worry, the class is hard, but it'll get better." No, it doesn't. Spare me your meaningless platitudes because you have no idea what it's like. Someone might think that he/she understands by comparing, let's say their first year of engineering to my first year of law school. Yes, I know engineering is very difficult - I never said it wasn't. However, that first year of engineering as an undergraduate is, without a doubt, supplemented with copious video game playing, alcoholism, hanging out with friends, and skipping half your classes to sleep in.

When I was at the DMV making polite conversation with my neighbor-in-line, I mentioned that I was in law school. My neighbor started talking about a legal problem he was having and I offered my two cents, and he told me, "I think you're going to be a great lawyer. I can tell from the way you talk. You'll be a really aggressive lawyer." That's nice to hear, but I don't think you know what you're talking about.

All the stress and frustration of the first year of law school have transformed the little things I would normally shrug off into nudges that push me over the edge of civility. Before a non-law school person tells me that I'm being a baby and I should suck it up: Yes, I am sucking it up. Yes, I am dealing with it. I'm also not the only one who feels this way. Whether you've worked in a big job in a big corporation or thought you've had a hard time in college, you still have no idea what it's like (unless you're a medical student), so don't give me advice about how I should handle my life. Whatever you say will probably be irrelevant to the status of my life at the moment.

The first year of law school fucks you up so badly that you find you can talk about only law school or your cats. I have become crazy-law school-cat lady.