The law is an ass. Making up your mind to take this line of study doesn’t come to you as a basket of fruits for you to devour. You are on vacation, young, excited and full of false expectations. You are over the moon for making the cut at a law school of your choice after passing your entry exam but you don’t know what is coming. Today, we unveil to you some of what any law student must expect in their career course.
1. Career prospects
Undoubtedly, law is a respected degree but its graduate prospects are not as good as universities like to make out. A law degree does not guarantee riches. As a fresh graduate, you will not earn as much as that age-old, but flambouyant, lawyer you read about everyday in newspapers.
2. It isn’t a smooth ride
You’ve most probably heard about this. Stories of red eyes from transnight reading, having reading lists of more than 100 cases for every course unit and being a bookworm are NOT FALSE.
As you pick your admission, brace yourself because the hustle is real.
3. Everyone will try to pawn free legal advice from you
If you were to receive a dollar for every legal question you will receive from friends and family, you might be a dropout billionaire like Zuckerberg. For some reason, people think that law students are overflowing fountains of legal knowledge to be tested at will. Get ready to answer questions about why legal terms are in latin, why Wiz Kid has not been arrested after a warrant was issued, and why lawyers wear suits.
4. Law school is intense
At law school, you are always competing against your fellow students for the best grades.
Some students will become extremely defensive and do everything they can purely for personal gain at the expense of others. There will be backstabbing and drama! Unlike high school, no one will wake you up to read. It is an individual struggle there and survival entirely depends on personal organisation.
5. Reading material costs a fortune
If you hate borrowing life and have to be self-sustainable, the least you will spend on law books and other reading material in your tenure will be almost close to your tuition. The expense of law textbooks hurts more than a break-up.
The only advantage you have right now is that lecturers are trying to blend in the modern world. Once in a while, they will avail documents and PDFs to class representatives for the benefit of all.
6. Second thoughts
At some point during your study, when motivation levels are low, and the mountain of cases to read is high, you will question your choice of career. A law degree will stretch you to your limits and test your commitment. I know many students who have dropped out of law degrees unable to cope with the intensity. Don’t make the decision over the choice of degree lightly. A law degree is expensive.
7. Sit down, be humble
Law school cares not whether you were the best student in high school, or if you came first in the entry exam. Even when you hold a diploma from LDC or joined the course as a degree holder, you will all start from the same level.
This is why students from little known secondary schools upcountry become hard nuts to crack in law school. They consider themselves underdogs and end up flourishing.
8. Stereotypes
You definitely have to be ready for these. And oh boy, there is many of them.
“Law girls are hard. I can never date from that section. It would make sense if they were hard but beautiful.”
“You guys read a lot. We imagine, you spend 26 hours of the 24 buried in your books.”
“Lawyers are cheats and devils. We all know Kanyamunyu killed Akena. Why would a lawyer even defend him?”
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