I know its early but there are so many things I wish I had, or knew I needed before I started law school. Once you start, everything just takes off from there. You find yourself hurrying and rushing to make sure everything is done, reading for hours at days on end. At least that was the case for me. My first month I was trying to juggle figuring out how to adult, and balancing law school. It's a tough job and I'm still working on it. This is my first year being totally away from my family who has spoilt me by cooking my meals, doing my laundry, and everything else for. But as young adults we have to figure this stuff out, this is what we have to do and it's not easy but I am embracing independent life and loving the joys it brings. You will learn so much about yourself by doing so.
But throughout my first year, I realized that I was constantly ordering things I needed in order to make this transition a bit easier. Starting something new can be extremely challenging. But this challenge helps us grow, as cliche as that sounds and I can honestly say I know more now than I did before. These items are just to provide additional help to make your life easier.
In no particular order here they are:
White Board: I'm the type of person that needs to write everything out in order to learn and memorize it. Memory and comprehension of concepts is an essential skill to own in law school. This is also great for visual learners like me, because you can really see the concepts being drawn out as you write them on the white board. As for size, the bigger the better.
Highlighters: I suggest buying these in bulk if you can, and in different colors. You'll quickly realize that highlighters are vital to the life of a law student. As you're doing readings you'll be highlighting things so much and so fast, that you're highlighters will run low by week's end.
Thin Sharpies: Thin sharpies are great for writing in textbooks. I used them a lot this semester with constitutional law and I found easy to mark things up, and they don't smudge as much as pen ink does. If you're a casebook note writer like I am, these will be helpful to you. I got a 16 pack of them from Walmart.
Lots of tubberware: Buying meals gets expensive and it's also not healthy to do all the time. If you meal prep on one day having extra tubberware can help store that food so that you don't have to worry about making meals another day and can focus your time on school.
Headphones: You're going to need something to help you maintain focus. If you can't be in a library where its super quiet, or maybe you are and its not as quiet as you want it to be, headphones can help with that. Whether you decide to listen to focus instructive music or your favorite playlist the key here is to make sure you are staying focused.
Sticky notes: Get all sizes, the big ones, the small ones, medium sized ones. They will help you bookmark things and you can label them so you know what they are and stay organized. These come in handy for open note tests, which do happen in law school but can be trickier.
Yeti: A yeti has honestly been so helpful. It keeps things hot for an average of 5-6 hours. It helps you save money buying coffee, and saves your life when you're falling asleep in those morning classes. It also works for cold drinks too. Best of both worlds. I have this one in purple: All yetis also come with a warranty.
A sturdy backpack: If you thought your college books were heavy wait till you see your law school ones. I was the girl in college who used a tote to carry all my stuff around including my Macbook. My shoulder eventually got used to it, but I could not exert that pain on me in law school. Your casebooks are double the weight and you need them for every class whereas in college that wasn't the case. You need a strong backpack to make sure you don't hurt yourself. I have the Jester from the Northface. It's pink of course.
9. Printer: If you can, I suggest investing in a printer. There is nothing like realizing you need to print something due in an hour only to find out you have to pay for printing at school and at the local library. With the convenience of having your own printer, you can print as much as you want and save money. I have a pretty basic one from HP.
10. A journal: This is an exciting time in your life. You're only a student for 10% of your life. 10%!!! Keep records of it, whether it be in person or electronic. It's great for de-stressing and it's something I feel every law student should have. Write down lessons your professors teach you, or just your thoughts for the day. It's useful and therapeutic.
My goal with this guide is to give you some sort of idea of the items you're going to need to make your life easier. I hope this helped you in some way! You obviously don't need all of these things, but one or two could potentially help you. No matter what, at the end of the day, its you as a person that decides what is best for you. So if this isn't for you, then don't worry about it!
Happy supply shopping!
Alyssa