Being a first year law student who is older on average than most of the 2nd and 3rd year law students can pose interesting challenges.
On the one hand it is cool because you are not alone, if you are savvy, you can typically find a couple of other students (indeed two of the people I speak with the most are my age) who are somewhat in your age range but on the other hand you find yourself trying to figure out a way to cope within the very peculiar bubble of law school.
To do so, at least in my case, I find myself putting off the closer to 30 hat and putting back on the closer to 21 one hat, (which is fine don’t get me wrong but at some point the social atmosphere can leave you wanting)…
I’m not entirely sure, what types of things I would want to have the option to do but I am pretty confident in saying whatever alternative things may exist for us older folks (a term I don’t even feel right using to describing myself) they certainly are not close in proximity to the undergraduate utopia my apartment exists in.
On the positive side of things it is always good to get perspective from a diverse set of people which obviously includes those who are younger. On the other hand it can sometimes be a frustrating game of balancing.
It is said that until the age of 25 people are still sort of coming in to who they are going to be. Certain things, mannerisms, ideals, and the like are still forming.
This isn’t to say that at 28 I am all the Brandon that I can be, but it does pose a problem. At 28 I find that I view law school as an extension of the self I am already comfortable with. It is merely a tool whereby I will have the ability to extend work that I have already done. On the contrary, had I come to law school at 22 or 23 law school would have probably been the defining event of my 20’s and would have inevitably shaped my world view.
Indeed this is one of the reasons I was a bit apprehensive about coming to law school, even up to about a month prior to school began.
I was happy with me as I was and was fearful of having to change all of the things I liked about myself in order to successfully navigate the new world of legal academia.
In many ways it is strange for me to be in class and know that some of my classmates will wield enormous power to help shape and form a world outside of the law school that for all intents and purposes they have not fully experienced.
How can one help to remedy poverty, education, job discrimination and the like if one has never really experienced those things? How can one speak about the economic factors that impact the job market if one has never been involuntarily left out of the work force?
There is no doubt that my class mates are intelligent, industrious, skillful individuals but I often wonder if I would have trusted myself with such power at 24 or 25 years old.
It is a weird sort of paradox for me, to be so young in the eyes of the world, my family, and my mentors yet to be SO old in terms of the makeup of the law school.
The Over Underclassman….
I tried to make a promise to my mother and the rest of my family before I got here that I would try not to be the outspoken, activist Brandon, and try instead to be something different, yet as I write this I think it is obvious that that is something IÂ cannot do.
That Brandon was formed a long time ago, and I neither have the time nor desire to attempt some type of late 20’s makeover.
Instead, I remain here in the awkward place of being the freshman somewhat older than most of the seniors asking them for advice that is applicable to law school but sometimes not so much to my life.
An experience that I find equal parts humbling and frustrating.
I am the social butterfly flying awkwardly through the law school rose bush wondering if there is truly a place for me to land…The Over Underclassman…
4 Comments
Alexandria posted on October 22, 2010 at 9:13 pm
it is really interesting to be studying an area that requires so much attention to real world application: contractual agreements, liability, business transactions, and the like are issues that adults face as a function of being a consenting member of society. as children and college students, we are placed in a protective bubble, immune to most law-related moments outside of college-town citation trifles!
do you support the shift that some law schools are taking in not admitting people out of undergrad?
i took time off before law school, and i’m happy for it. of course, sometimes i feel like i have lost steam! but overall, like you said, being a student isn’t my identity, it is my day-job.
Krystal posted on October 23, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Yes i remember having this convo with you as far as going to law school and i would STILL like to say I AM VERY VERY PROUD OF YOU. Dont worry about humbling the “activist Brandon” its who you are and we ALL love ya for it.
jjcrave posted on October 23, 2010 at 4:36 pm
I know all too well your “Over Underclassman” situation (nice phrase!). I never felt old compared to some of my peers until law school. It gets better 2L year though, when 1Ls start coming to you for advice, when you escape the bubble that is 1L year, and when your experience helps you get a job.
Yaminette posted on October 26, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I am a social worker and can attest to the fact that the more experience you have out of undergrad IN ANY profession that works with people, the better equipped you are to learn and to apply your learning…never mind, being less selfish, which our society already promotes. I have sat with clients who tell me they understood nothing about their role in a trial, which really makes no sense. When I ask if they are working with lawyers, they say yes. When I ask if the lawyers have explained this to them, they say no. When I call the lawyer and try to advocate for my client as a social worker, I don’t get a good enough answer either. And haven’t we all had a visited a doctor who spoke in code and would have been better served by being a CEO of a company? Having experience outside of undergrad should be NECESSARY for the people-professions because it makes for more responsible professionals. So much of the residual crap people who care (call them activists or whatever one prefers) could be prevented by this alone. Even if you have good intentions, intentions are not enough. We need competent skills. We need to learn to be self-aware. We need to remember that life is not all about us. I don’t know too much about law school, except that I have a husband and a close friend in law school and I wish more law students were not as young (in age or experience), given the gravity of what the law can do. Still, learning is all about trusting that the process will make all people (regardless of age or experience) better prepared in the long run.