The moment when, as a current student and future university student, you have to think about the path you will follow in life is a difficult one, but essential for shaping you into a successful future adult. It may seem intimidating when you think about it, whether alone or with your parents or friends, that your decision regarding the field you want to study will influence your future and, consequently, your life, but it’s not at all as scary as it seems.

“HOW CAN I MAKE THE RIGHT DECISION?”

Most of the time, I have supported decisions made rationally, following a meticulous analysis of the subject, rather than decisions based on feelings and emotions. However, in this situation, the best choice can only be made by searching for and finding a balance between reason and emotions.

LEGAL STUDIES

“Law School” is one of the options that many prospective students consider. Whether you’ve watched numerous movies in which the characters practice one of the legal professions, or you’ve heard from acquaintances that working in the field is very interesting, legal studies start to sound like a good decision. However, there are always various curiosities regarding the “life of a Law student”. Is it really that hard to be a law student? Are the “scary” myths you hear from certain people true? Will you manage in law school if you don’t like memorizing things?

“5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE ENTERING LAW SCHOOL”

1. You don’t have to memorize everything to retain the information

One of the most well-known myths regarding Law School is that “you can’t pass the exams if you don’t memorize everything”. I won’t deny that “memorizing without understanding” is, in its own way, a method of “learning,” but it’s not beneficial in the long term.

The subject taught in law schools is indeed challenging, but that does not make it impossible to understand. By using various methods to facilitate understanding, you will be able to retain the information you’ve read in the long term.   

However, since everything has its small flaws, there are certain subjects in the university curriculum, or parts of certain subjects, that initially require you to memorize them without fully understanding. Later, after covering other subjects or other parts of the material, you will be able to go back over memorized things to really understand their essence.

2. The volume of material that has to be prepared for the exams is a very large one, but it is not impossible to cover and retain it

The volume of material taught in Law School courses is often quite large, but it is not as intimidating as it might seem. As mentioned earlier, with good learning methods—focused on understanding rather than mere memorization—any law student can master that large volume of information over the long term and achieve excellent exam results.

It’s also important to note that the methods used to understand and retain the material require investing more time in the learning process. Therefore, this process needs to be systematically organized to both retain necessary information in the long term and achieve good results in exams.

3. Although it is a field that requires more time and attention compared to other fields, it allows you to enjoy your personal life too

Another myth that everyone hears when talking about the life of a law student is that “law students only stay at home and study”.

While, as a Law student, the time you spend studying is indeed greater than what your friends in other fields might allocate (due to the difference in the volume of material), you will never be confined to staying home all the time, and your life won’t be solely focused on studying. You will still be able to have fun with your friends, go on vacations and enjoy the activities you like. The key is to find a balance between “work” and leisure, and to organize your time effectively to ensure you cover all the material without ending up in a “time crisis” during exam periods.

4. Latin is the second language of a legal professional

Whether you studied Latin in high school or your last encounter with it was in middle school, in Law School you’ll learn more Latin in one semester than you did in all your pre-university years. Yes, it will be useful, and no, it’s not as complicated as it seems—in fact, you’ll find it quite simple and interesting.

Contrary to popular belief, in Law School, you won’t be required to learn Latin from a grammatical standpoint. Instead, you’ll encounter numerous legal Latin expressions, which, at first might be difficult to remember. However, once you get accustomed to them, they will make you feel like a true jurist when you have the opportunity to use them.

5. Throughout your time in university, you will predominantly study theoretical aspects, which you will able to deepen and better understand during internships

I previously mentioned the vast amount of information that Law students need to cover throughout their years of study. That enormous volume primarily represents the theoretical aspects of the legal profession, with only a very small portion dedicated to its practical aspects.

For this reason, right from the first courses in the first year of Law School, professors will strongly encourage participation in as many internships as possible throughout all years of study.

Internships are tremendous opportunities to discover which of the many legal professions suits you, which area of practice you are most passionate about, how you prefer to carry out your work, and they offer you the chance to understand, through practical experience, the theory represented by the multitude of information accumulated during university courses.

Spending quality time alongside legal professionals, the opportunity to observe how they handle practical issues in the legal field, and the real contact you have with the legal world during internships, even from your first year of university, are determining factors that will lay the foundation for your development into a distinguished practitioner of one of the legal professions.

Vlasceanu Raluca

Legal Intern R&R Partners Bucharest