Sooner or later, you are going to realize that you are not the smartest/hardest-working person in law school. Whether you get retribution and remuneration mixed up or you decide you're just not willing to memorize the Model Penal Code, you will have conceded that you cannot be the best.
Having passed up the brass ring of triumph, you must seek a new benchmark for personal success. For most people, we cut right to the chase in our goal setting: to not be the worst. Arranging this is simple enough, just find a Canary.
The Canary will be your "canary" in the mineshaft that is law school. A Canary is someone who you've identified as being hopelessly clueless in law school. The Canary is rarely prepared, always confused, and has acknowledged that he is the bedrock upon which the curve will be built. His effort and understanding will be your personal minumum.
Keep the Canary at an arm's length. You want to inquire into what he's doing for school work but you don't want to get trapped in his eddy of self-destruction. Only ask him what he's doing work-wise. If he is ever doing more than you, or seems to grasp an issue better than you then be alerted! You'll need to make some serious efforts towards improvement, lest you find yourself the new Canary.
But what if you got into your school off the waitlist, with statistics in the bottom 25% of your class? Won't you be the penultimate canary of your law school? Comfort yourself in thinking back to "Happy Days" and Richie Cunningham's many moments of self doubt. Even when Richie was at his lowest and feeling like he'd never escape The Fonz's shadow, there was a goofier, redder-headed naïf doing worse than him (Ralph Malph).
