Haili Nelson ’25

1. Go outside!

Law school is all-consuming and constant. Take breaks. Go outside. Touch grass. Reconnect with who you are and what matters to you. One thing I love about Northeastern Law is that we’re comprised of three different buildings. When you are coming to class from the library, pop outside! Rather than go through Cargill, pop outside to the courtyard between buildings. It’s a refreshing hit of Vitamin D and a nice two-minute break in the day.

2. Remember who you are!

Before coming to law school, you should have a semi-strong sense of self and a purpose for going to school. Without a guiding light in your life, school becomes infinitely more challenging. The recipe for success is remembering who you are outside of school! Know what activities/people/things bring you joy and make time for them. Make time for yourself. You will feel yourself changing in school, and that’s natural. Be open to change, but to avoid drowning in the possibilities of the future, know a bit about who you are and what you want to contribute to the world.

3. Make time for joy!

Whether it’s going to the gym, hanging out with friends or walking around Jamaica Pond, make time for joy. School is hard and it’s easy to get sucked into the law school bubble. Don’t forget that there is joy and light outside of school. Even if the only people you know in Boston are from Northeastern Law, go out with them! Get together outside of school. Take time to form genuine, reliable friendships. Joy is priceless and when times get hard, always strive to find joy in the little things.

4. Eat!!! Drink water!!!

Schedule time for lunch every single day! Schedule time to eat and do nothing and check in with yourself; even if it’s just seven minutes in the middle of a hectic day. You will be more focused and productive when you have a full stomach. It’s easy to stop eating in times of stress (or eat unhealthy foods) but it is when times are most stressful that it becomes most important to eat and fuel your body.

5. Find your people!

It’s easy to forget that there are students at Northeastern Law outside of our section; but there’s a whole wide world waiting for you! Join student organizations, check out different affinity groups, hang out in the commons (if that’s your thing). I find the Commons can be a bit chaotic, so student org meetings are where I really get to connect with my friends and remember that there’s life outside of doctrinal classes. Law school is hard but with the support of a strong social network that empowers and encourages each other, the semesters will pass by in a breeze.

6. Take care of yourself!

In case it isn’t obvious from my earlier points — take care of yourself! Short-term sacrifice for long-term gain is valid; but you cannot and should not sacrifice your health or mental wellbeing. Join a gym, go outside, schedule breaks, get active! Those are all things that it felt like I didn’t have time for during 1L, but once I got a break on co-op and came back to Northeastern Law as a 2L, those things became crucial to my survival. It was hard for me to imagine spending time NOT studying, but trust me, you need to invest in yourself first.

7. Sleep!

Sleep. Sleep. Sleep. Law school taught me that some days, wanting to be asleep by 9 pm was a valid, attainable goal. Your body cannot function without sleep! You’re not who you were as a freshman in college — all-nighters don’t hit the same. You can be so much more present if you get quality sleep.

8. Organize yourself before school starts!

Whether it’s finding a therapist who you work well with or going to the doctor or getting diagnosed for that learning disability you’ve always kind of thought you had — get it done! Law school is time-consuming, and you need to take the time before school starts to create systems for success. Practice meal prepping and note taking and calendaring before school. Remain flexible while in school and don’t be afraid to try new notetaking techniques or different calendaring systems, but having a solid foundation to work off of is so valuable.

9. Prioritize understanding the materials!

I encourage all law students to create their own outlines during the first semester of school. You’ll see that after fall semester, things start getting busier. LSSC picks up, co-op applications start taking over, you take on more responsibility with your various extra-curriculars. By the time spring semester, you’ll understand what it takes to create a successful outline and know what you need to be successful. At that point, you can probably annotate an outline found in the SBA Outline Drive (or an outline drive from an affinity group) and be just as successful. It’s not about reading every page or briefing every case; it’s about understanding what’s happening in class. Review sessions are a gift from above, and with the help of your TAs, you’ll understand everything you need to before the end of the semester.

Tip from a non-Quimbee-er: I never purchased Quimbee. If I didn’t read for a class, I came to class prepared to take the most detailed, organized notes of my entire life. I’d rather be present and focused in class than pull an all-nighter just to barely comprehend the materials (and then nod off in class)! If I didn’t take good notes or still didn’t understand, I would go to my TA’s office hours.

Also: Oyez.org is a free website similar to Quimbee for SCOTUS cases. It’s great! Use it!

Also also: Find supplements! Chemerinsky’s constitutional law supplement carried me throughout the semester. The Short and Happy Guide to Contracts was a gift. Find supplements!!!

10. Your wellbeing matters more than school!

You matter. Your mental health matters. Your peace matters. Your joy matters. Law school is important and investing in your future is valuable, but YOU matter first and foremost. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Success requires balance and you need to take care of yourself along the way! Life moves quickly and you don’t want to look back at this time and regret that you didn’t connect enough with your peers or try that restaurant you always wanted to but never made time for. Remain present enough to embrace the future you’re working towards. Nourish yourself! You come first!