Going Out: Enough to Meet People, Not Enough to Dig a Hole: How to Succeed and Survive in Law School Life
You probably came to law school to meet some interesting people. You may like to enjoy a few cocktails. You’ll be around a bunch of people who like to have a cold one from time to time.
The proper path here, as with most proper paths, is one of the middle ground. Go out enough to know people outside of class, but not enough to set you back academically or mentally.
Most schools have Bar Review. It’s a joke. You’re not studying for the bar as a first year. You go to a different bar. Try and make it. It’s really cool to connect with people out of class. You’ll meet a ton more people from across different sections. You’ll get to know whatever town or city you’re going to school in. When people ask about visiting where you are, you’ll know places to go.
You won’t be stuck in a library. And best of all, it’s a non-intrusive, cheap way to get out. You can have a few beers for under twenty bucks. You won’t wake up with a splitting headache on Friday (Bar Review is typically Thursdays) and you can be productive the next day. You’re probably lying to yourself or neurotic if you think you need to work every night of every week to get good grades. There isn’t much of an excuse for avoiding Bar Reviews. You’ll gain a reputation as a social, approachable, more fun person to be around. These are good things to get known as.
Here’s where the slope gets slippery. Thursday night out can degenerate into a three day bender. And that, my friends, is unsustainable and incompatible with your goals unless you’re a savant. I’ve seen it done, but you need to be a truly high-functioning nut job to get after it for half the week and keep your academics and mental-health afloat. This isn’t exactly college anymore.
So say yes. When people ask you to grab a drink, do it. Make a point of doing so once a week. Feel free to do so more often, but understand you’re playing with fire. The mind gets exhausted and run into the ground around these parts. Grabbing dinner and catching a movie can be a lovely retreat from the grind. The last thing you need is a headache-inducing, checking-account-depleting, waistline-destroying mission to crush every dive bar around campus.
Above all else, trust yourself and be an adult.