Experienced law students give first-years the scoop

Labor Day weekend was hardly a picnic for first-year law student Ricardo Estrada.

Classes had not even started yet, and the Milwaukee native already faced a massive reading assignment that was handed to him at the previous week’s orientation.

“Oh my God, there is so much reading. How much of this do I actually have to do?” Estrada recalls thinking as he pored through his books. “It wasn’t even the first day of classes yet, so trying to read and understand everything was difficult.”

Estrada and his fellow first-years, known as “1Ls” within the UW Law School, had all seen movies depicting law students being publicly embarrassed by their professors when they were called on in class and weren’t familiar with the content from the previous night’s reading assignment.

But the way in which Hollywood depicts the life of a law student can stray from reality. Fortunately, Estrada could turn to more experienced law students for the straight scoop on how the Law School functions.

“The hardest part of beginning law school is the uncertainty,” Candace White Halverson, president of UW–Madison’s Student Bar Association says. “So second- and third-year students are trying to alleviate those insecurities, clear up confusion and offer a general helping hand.”

SBA has created two programs aimed at improving the learning environment for first-year students and making the Law School experience more collegial for all students.

A program in its first year — small group advising — assigns a second- or third-year law student to a group of first-year students. The student advisers try to alleviate the pressure new students feel by discussing topics such as the teaching styles of various faculty members, what to expect from certain courses, study methods and how to take exams.

Program organizer Binu Palal, SBA vice president for academic affairs, says the program is unique because law schools are traditionally competitive places where students are keenly aware of the importance potential employers place on class rank.

“We want to alleviate pressure and make this experience more human,” Palal says. “By having more open discussion on the topics that concern first-year students, we make them more confident (so) that they can succeed.”

New students also have the option of obtaining one-on-one assistance from more experienced students through SBA’s successful student mentoring program, which began four years ago. First-year students are paired with mentors who help them deal with everything from academics to social and personal issues.

“Mentors help new students with questions they might be afraid to ask, such as where to live, how the bus system works, parking and how to find your way around,” White Halverson says.

“Most importantly, the mentor is a friendly face among a sea of strangers.”

Ruth Robarts, the Law School’s assistant dean for student and academic affairs, says the student initiatives build upon a tradition in the Law School where students are encouraged to not only care about their own success, but also that of their classmates.

“There is a general movement in the Law School to get students more involved in issues that affect the climate within the school,” Robarts says. “It’s wonderful that there is someone new students can go to with questions that they may not feel comfortable asking a faculty member.”

Robarts says she and other Law School administrators depend on feedback from student mentors and advisers on what problems students are facing and how best to make improvements.

Estrada, who says he would also like to mentor and advise 1Ls after he completes his first year, says having the support of his classmates made him realize that his worries and concerns are not unique.

“It makes you realize that everyone feels the same way,” he says. “When you’re in a small group and everyone has the same concerns, it makes you realize that you are not that far behind.”