Is Law School Like High School?

Last week in one my classes, a student said that she hated law school because it felt like high school. One of my friends asked her what she meant. She said that there's too much drama and people stab you in the back. She said it's isolating because it's really hard to make friends in law school.

Since high school was at least 19 years ago for me, I can't say if my version of high school was the same as her version of high school. But when I think about it, in some ways it probably wasn't that much different.

Is law school like high school? Maybe.

I often say that some students act like they're still in undergrad (immature, self-centered, disrespectful to the class or professor, etc). Of course, there are some students I've encountered that have been out of undergrad for a while who still act like that. Maybe this girl hangs around some of those people?

In my law school, there are definitely cliques.

There's the students that just got out of undergrad and don't know the difference between a boss and a professor. Then there's the ones who've been out of school a few years and have gotten their feet wet in the big world. And then there's the middle aged students like me who've been out of school for at least a decade who lived a while before heading back to school. There's also a smattering of retirees that fall into the middle aged category as well. There's also different cliques like those interested in litigation or those interested in public service. All of these cliques rarely co-mingle at my school. Maybe it's age. Maybe it's generational. Maybe it's different interests. There are probably plenty of good reasons why.

As for drama, there's only as much drama as you make of it.

I have my beefs with law school and with other students sometimes. I'm sorry, but I could care less whether so-and-so did such-and-such at the bar with someone's boyfriend. I could care even less about who got trashed last weekend. But have a professor diss a student and that's drama for me. Students who are rude in class make my list. Or drama at the registrar's office also makes my list.

Maybe because I have a life outside of law school (or at least a pretend one some days) that I don't get too entangled in the student drama at law school. I prefer a good cat-fight in my family life with brothers, sisters, etc. Or maybe because I'm able to beef off to my law school friends when things get crazy...

Which leads me to friends in law school. It is very possible to make and keep friends in law school.

Despite being shy, I have been able to make friends in school. Some of my law student friends are the very same ones I made in my first term. I hang around them because we have similar interests and we are of a similar age. I'm not a back-stabber, that I'm aware of, because I value my friends. I don't know if that comes with maturity. But I do know it would be awfully lonely at law school if I couldn't talk to anyone. I share my notes with whomever asks for them, and I know there are people I can ask for notes in return.

It's one of the best things about law school is being able to commiserate with my law student friends because they understand where I'm coming from. While I bitch on my blog, I generally try to be nice and chatty with other law students in class, even if they aren't my "friends" because otherwise it can be uncomfortable. Why be miserable all the time if you don't have to be? I avoid study groups but I do belong to a group of friends that likes to go out for dinner or drinks after school every now and then. For example, my birthday is tomorrow and some of us are headed out after class for dinner and a drink.

I am sure there are students out there who are only in it for themselves, but I try to stay away from them.

I do get frustrated with law school sometimes. So I can see how it can be very isolating. I just feel bad that this girl hates being there so much. It must be so miserable for her.

On the plus side, when she told my friend how she felt, he went up to her and said, "Hi! My name is ____. You've just made a friend."