What I Want to Do Differently Next Semester

December 29, 2019

I wanted to dedicate a post to all the things I want to change in my approach to law school.

Now that I have one semester under my belt, I can better determine what works for me and what doesn’t and I’ve picked up a few things I want to implement, and see if they allow me to be a better student and make my time in school more efficient, since there’s really no way to make it “easy,” or to master it.

First things first, self care. I really want to work on working out at least 2-3 days a week. I prefer to work out early in the morning, so I’d wake up around 5:30 and be in and out of the gym by 6-6:15 so I can shower, eat and get ready to be in the library by 8-8:30 on my 9 am class days, and everything one hour later on my 10 am class days.

I would like to set a schedule for working out weekly but until I know my teaching schedule I can’t fully plan this yet. I’m thinking Monday, Tuesday, Thursday for now.

And I want to meal prep dinner more often, as well as breakfast (I’m thinking overnight oats and pre preping my smoothies).

I also plan to bubble bath/soak once a week to relieve my muscles and relax.

Personally, I upped how many dance classes I’m teaching a week, not only for more money but also more time away from school. Teaching also gives me an additional workout, and because where I teach is a nonprofit, the network opportunities are great too. Its an all around win for me. And the kids are amazing, and so is my boss.

Professionally, I have joined the Knoxville Bar Association’s Diversity in the Profession committee alongside one of my Latina lawyer mentors and I cannot wait to continue working with her and meeting fellow latinos, and diverse lawyers in Knoxville and working to improve my community.

In school, I want to continue working with LLSA on the initiatives I have created with our local Legal Aid and hispanic organizations to reach our fellow Latinos and allow the opportunities to receive legal help. I also volunteer whenever I can with events hosted by other organizations.

Academically, I really want to get serious about organizing myself even more. In my Dos and Don’ts post I shared how I created folders on my computer and how I organize my binder and Evernote, but I want to get even more organized.

To do lists are my saving grace, I have a million sticky notes on my desktop during the semester and a massive to do list on the notes app on my phone, open on my desktop side by side, but I suck at using my planner.

I use the calendar app on the computer and phone religiously but sometimes writing it down in my to do list or on a sticky is the only way I remember, and also deleting a task when I’m done with it helps me so much so I want to try to use my planner daily. Especially since I customized it and paid a lot for it. In fact, if you want a discount for a Plum Paper planner, share your email with me in the comments below, so I can send you a referral link for 10% off!

I also want to be better at outlining, I finished mine fairly early, rough drafts were done before Thanksgiving, but I could be better at doing them periodically as we finish a chapter to topic, so I plan to be more efficient doing this.

On a day to day basis, I want to print out my case briefs and reading notes before class, so I can handwrite class notes around them, and keep them all in the tab for that class in my binder so when it comes time to outline and study, I have everything organized in one place and I’m not using control f to find something every 10 minutes.

I also really want to work on being a better student in class. My focus is terrible if I’m bored, or distracted by my phone or something random like my nails or a split end. Yes I’m aware it makes me sound vain but I am a girl and I pride myself on looking nice, most of the time (if you go to school with me please don’t comment lol).

And I want to continue going to bed early, usually around 10:30-11 if I can help it. This allows me to feel refreshed and well rested when I wake up before 6:30 in the morning. Another thing, I want to make my bed every day. I did really well with this but then halfway into the semester I got lazy and honestly I felt like a slob when I got home if I didn’t, again productivity.

Also not every day, but more often, I want to dress up. At the beginning of the semester I shared a what to wear to class post, find it here, and I started out strong, and then with all my mental health and pain post accident it went out the window. Also come finals it was all about leggings, and that’s ok. But during the semester itself, I want to be better at wearing nice clothes to school. Not only do I look put together and professional that way, I feel a lot better about myself when I do. Also I can say I was productive, if all I did that day was make my bed and put on makeup and a pair of jeans. Brushing my hair may be extra but at least then I can say I didn’t look like a troll.

This seems like a tall order but I know that some of these improvements are minor and not all will happen, at least not right off the bat. But even implementing one or two new things will be a welcome change and improvement and I can’t wait to feel more productive and efficient.

If you’re thinking of applying to law school, or are interested in doing so in the future, please feel free to send me any and all questions on any part of the process or experience, so I can continue to share posts to help the future lawyers in all of us. And if you’re a fellow law student, please share any tips of your own, I’m always looking for new ways to improve!

I hope everyone had a happy holiday season and I’m wishing you all a happy new year. 2020 is gonna be a great year for everyone, thanks for reading!

xo Kayla