Things I would have done differently

Here is my second advice for incoming 1L's post. Here are a few things I would do differently if I could do the year again (which I wouldn't -- there's not enough money in the world... but anyway).

1. Exercise more: Law school is exhausting, but I shouldn't have used that as an excuse to cut back on my workouts. It only made me feel unhealthy and even more exhausted in the end. And there's nothing more frustrating than trying to get back into shape once you're out of shape.

2. Not get hooked on coffee: With all the free coffee that the school gave out in those first few weeks, you would have thought they got a commission for every one of us that got hooked on the stuff. Over-caffeination led to some of my less stellar moments this year. For example, trying to sit through a meeting with a professor after I had so much coffee that I had the jitters.

3. Study with someone else during first semester: First semester I didn't really make an effort to find a study group. Second semester, I studied with one friend for just a few hours 2 days before each final. (I studied on my own too obviously.) I found that it was much easier to keep on track when I studied with someone else -- I'm perfectly willing to waste my own time by procrastinating when I should be studying, but I didn't want to waste someone else's time. I felt like I got more done in less time. (My grades were about the same with or without the study group though.)

4. Be friendlier the first week of classes: I am going to something of a regional law school. 99% of my classmates went to undergrad at one of 2 schools. I felt a little like the new kid in junior high on my first day. I obviously wasn't rude to anyone, but I think I would have felt at home faster if I'd smiled and made small talk with my classmates a bit more during the first few weeks. Even though it felt like everyone knew everyone but me, I'm sure that wasn't really the case.