Hi, I’m Nicole!
I’m really passionate about a few things, including animals, the ocean, and opening up about law school.
In case you were wondering, here’s what I look like on a semi-normal day…
I started this blog for several reasons, none of which is to brag about my overwhelming beauty, so moving on…
Let me share with you why I’m hoarding a tiny piece of the internet.
I’m on Al Gore’s world wide web so I can share with you the lessons I learned as a law student.
But first, let’s go back in time for a minute, way before law school.
Growing up, I was that kid who had medical encyclopedias and anatomy books, and perfectly healthy stuffed animals covered in surgical tape. I flew to New York when I was thirteen so I could shadow a trauma surgeon, and to Massachusetts for a pre-med conference when I was in high school.
If you haven’t figured it out, I was supposed to go to medical school.
Fast forward a few years to when I panicked in college. I panicked when I realized how much time and money it would take for me to become a doctor. As a kid, I hadn’t thought about these things. But, being poor in college, I was nervous about the commitments I would have to make as a medical student.
In my state of panic, I quickly declared myself a pre-law student. For those of you who know how much law school costs, you see the irony here.
No research, no conferring with career counselors. I just picked law school. I don’t know why. Maybe I was hungover that day.
Anyway, determined to stick to my inexplicable plan, I went to law school and graduated. I did all the things you’re supposed to do as a law student, like network, study, intern, volunteer, blah, blah, blah. But, somehow I ended up begging for employment offers after graduation. The search for my first job had been more painful than eating roofing nails–or Taco Bell–for a week straight. Why didn’t I just go to medical school like I was supposed to?
I eventually found a job (and currently have a really cool one!), but it didn’t stop me from being annoyed. The situation bugged me so much that I went back and looked at my resume. I tried to figure out what had been the hang up in my job search. I recalled the conversations I had in interviews, with my mentors, and with colleagues. Slowly but surely, one by one, the mistakes I had made in law school started to become clear.
Fast forward again to about a year and a half ago when I was hired by a large consulting firm to share my thoughts and ideas about law school. It was the perfect opportunity for me to vent and help law schools understand the problems students face before and after graduation.
Then this blog happened. I wasn’t done talking when the consulting project ended, so I decided to continue the discussion online.
As someone who was prepared to be a doctor–not a lawyer–everything about law school had been foreign and unnatural to me. But at the time, I thought I was doing everything right as a law student. Turns out, I had been clueless. This caused me a lot of frustration after graduation. That’s why I’m more outspoken about law school than most people.
On this blog, I share with you my ideas about being a student. I hope that as I write, I help others–maybe even you–find success in the practice of law.
I might also write about my dog.
And maybe about my boyfriend’s cats…
But for the most part, you’ll catch me giving all sorts of advice about being a law student.
And don’t be afraid to chat with me! Comment, ask questions, share pictures of my dog, you know, whatever. I won’t be offended if you like my dog more than you like me…
Either way, I hope you enjoy what you find in my posts.
Until next time,
– Nicole
lawschoolmethodology.wordpress.com 