Wednesday, October 26, 2005

The 2L Blues

Russ and I recently heard through the grapevine that a friend of ours, who is a 2L, is having a rough time this year. We both immediately recognized the problem: He has the 2L blues.

This is a very common occurence among second year law students, and really, the explanation is simple: There is so much build-up to the first year, between the workload and the pressure and the stress and the commitment. You manage to make your way through the first semester, and finals, and the second semester, and more finals. You develop coping mechanisms to help you out, both healthy and unhealthy. Finally, it's over, and what is your reward? A summer of volunteer work, and two more years of school. It's a real 'fuck you' to walk into school your second year and realize that very little has changed.

Both Russ and I experienced our share of the 2L blues. Russ told me he stopped being as social, but kept drinking like he was. I seriously considered quitting school, and almost did, before my mother reminded me that quitting school meant getting a job. So instead, I just stopped giving a shit about it and decided to enjoy my two years of lawyer college as best I could. Oh yeah, and we started a blog.

For your 3L's, you know exactly what I am talking about. For you 2L's going through it now, suck it up and get through. I don't know what else to say. I guess you could drink excessively or stop caring, but proceed at your own risk. And for you 1L's looking to avoid it next year, good luck, but you can't escape it. After all, in the words of a classic mafia movie cliche, this is the life we've chosen.