A Day in the Life of a 3L
Approximately 10 years ago, right as COVID was kicking off, I wrote a post detailing my average day as a 1L.
Things have obviously changed since then. I transitioned to Zoom to finish 1L spring, stayed online for 2L, and returned to campus with masks and COVID tests as a 3L. My class officially made it full circle as a “mask optional” policy went into effect for the entire campus last Monday, March 21.
In light of said circle, I thought it might be fun to compare my 1L day to that same day as a 3L - and boyyyy this exercise had me giggling. 1L me lived quite a frantic (if no less busy) lifestyle.
MARCH 9, 2020 (1L Mon) v. MARCH 9, 2022 (3L Wed)
MORNING
5:50 am Ben's alarm goes off & the day begins. The 5:50 wake-up is based on Ben's schedule, but once I'm up, I'm up. However, I'd be lying if I said I got up immediately....I usually hang out for another ten minutes, envisioning the day in my head and making a mental to-do list. On tough days, I use those ten minutes to list the things I'm grateful for!
LOL, I’m still asleep. Ben works remotely now and I don’t have class until 10:45.
6:05 Draggggg myself to the shower and crank a great podcast - usually My Favorite Murder or This American Life.
Still asleep.
6:20 Get my coffee brewing (good ole Trader Joe's dark roast with vanilla creamer) and blow dry my hair. I usually throw it in a ponytail; if I've got a little extra time, I might style it more. Then I sit down to coffee and hockey highlights before Ben heads off to work.
Okay, now I’m up. I brew a coffee (but Nespresso - 3L Riley is a bougie gal) and settle on the couch with my textbook and computer. I might be on call during Federal Courts so I always prep a ton the night before/morning of.
Also, SUPER cute that I used to style my hair.
6:40 Make-up!
6:50 Finish my coffee & check the bus schedule on mbta.com. My first class doesn't start until 8:10 but I generally catch the 7:09am or 7:12am bus. The school is always empty in the morning and I enjoy having time to settle in & start some work.
7:00 Ben leaves, I try five different outfits. Why? No idea. It's a total waste of time. But the weather looks nice so today I end up in jeans, flats, t-shirt, cardigan & leopard earrings.
7:08 Grab my bag (complete w/textbooks, notebooks, computer and water bottle) and walk to the bus stop. It's right across the street from my apartment and today is BEAUTIFUL timing - I only wait for a minute or two before #78 rounds the corner!
7:10 It's about a ten minute bus ride to campus and I usually get a seat in the morning. I use the time to work on a blog post or finish an instagram post if I've got one in the works. Then it's a three-minute walk from the bus stop to my academic building, Wasserstein Hall, right on Massachusetts Avenue.
Crafting blog posts during the week? Instagram posts…ever? Nah. My bus rides consist of email checks & blasting music to mentally gear up for my day.
7:22 I’ll admit, I have a favorite morning chair - I get quite perturbed when someone takes my spot. Not unlike the FRIENDS when their Central Perk couch is unavailable. Today I skim the cases we'll discuss in my first class, then open an application which is due on Wednesday.
8:05 Head to Round 1, Criminal Law. I prepped the Monday readings on Sunday and have both written notes and textbook for class. We aren't allowed computers in here so my notes are also hand-written!
9:10 Five minute break around the halfway point of class…thank goodness. Two hours is a long time.
I’ve been reviewing cases/taking notes/generally chilling at home this entire time. Around 9am (1 hr before I leave) I put down the books and go through the ‘getting ready’ motions: shower, make up, outfit, etc. Today I’m headed to the jail right after lunch so I’m in business casual attire.
10:11 We ALWAYS get out of Crim one minute late. My second class starts immediately so I have to roll on upstairs, put my things down, run to the bathroom, and fill my water bottle. That remaining nine minutes is barely enough time.
I hop on the 10:03 bus to school, get there around 10:15. I then head to my clinical office to print my Fed Courts notes, swing by the common space in Wasserstein to chat with a friend, and walk to class together.
10:20 Constitutional Law begins - this class is an hour and twenty minutes long. It's not Wednesday so I can volunteer to speak in this class, but won't be cold-called. And luckily we ARE allowed laptops in Con Law, so I take these class notes on Google Docs.
Federal Courts class begins at 10:45 SHARP. The prof doesn’t allow laptops in class so my in-class notes are all handwritten. As luck would have it, I’m on the ‘for sure’ cold call list today. Definitely less freaked out than my 1L self would’ve been but…not by much.
11:15 Another quick, 5-minute break. My Con Law professor doesn't let us leave during the class so ALL eighty of us run to the bathroom/get coffee/eat a snack/mentally recover. Then we get back to it.
Five minute break halfway through Fed Courts. I’m scheduled to be called last so the tension is ✨ rising ✨.
11:45 Class ends, FINALLY. My next class isn't until 3:20pm but I usually stick around campus instead of heading home. Unfortunately, it's not three hours of down time! I have a lot to do on this particular day so I skip lunch talks and walk to my favorite cafe in Harvard Square.
AFTERNOON
12:00 I settle into a counter spot at Tatte (a local coffee shop) to do the following:
Work on my application
Re-skim the material/my notes for my afternoon class (which I read on Saturday)
Start to read and take notes for Wednesday's Torts class*
Finish Fed Courts at 12:25 and, by the grace of God, escaped my cold call. I’ll be the first one up after spring break instead (and I know exactly what’s coming - hallelujah)…and my first without a mask since March 2020!
Instead of heading to Tatte, I head to the upstairs cafeteria to grab lunch with a few friends from my 1L section. It’s starting to hit us that our time together is limited and anyway, it’s far more fun to gossip over lunch than do work.
1:45 Pack up my things and head back to the law school campus for office hours with my criminal law professor. Office Hours are a way to ask questions outside of class, one-on-one with a professor, and I scheduled a fifteen-minute slot to clarify a few concepts with her.
I wrap up lunch and head back to my clinic office, exchanging my heavy textbook for just a case file and my laptop. I answer an email, update two of my case logs, then head to the Harvard T stop. Destination: Nashua Street Jail.
It’s about a 45-minute trip (10 min walk/Red Line/Orange Line/7 min walk) so I use the time to read for class and/or get work done. On tap today, my Minnesota bar application + prep for court tomorrow (it never ends!).
2:15 Wrap up my meeting and head back to Wasserstein Hall. For the last hour before my third class, I finish my reading for Torts and get working on a memo for my research and writing class.
3:20 My third and final class of the day starts, Comparative Legal Institutions. This one is an hour and a half with no break - it's also compromised of 1L, 2L, 3L and LLM students, and is a solid mix of cold-calling and volunteers. Computers are allowed!
Right around now, I’m fully checked in with the jail and getting ready to head upstairs.
4:50 FREEDOM!!!!! I walk five minutes to the bus, then wait another five or ten minutes for #78 to show up. This bus is always very crowded on the way home, standing room only. And the trip usually takes fifteen minutes instead of ten.
EVENING
5:20 Get home, immediately change into sweats (duh) and start dinner if we don't have leftovers - tonight is Sloppy Joe's. Ben is already home but has schoolwork too, so we mix it up quickly and throw the whole mess into the crockpot. He goes back to studying and I get my yoga stuff together.
Instead of getting home at 5:20, I’m just leaving the jail. I walk back to the T and prepare for even longer commute home - Orange Line/Red Line/bus ride back to my apartment. Back to that bar app.
5:50 Take Ben's car and head to Corepower Yoga - I'm always a little crunched for time here but it works out! The yoga studio is close so I only need a few minutes of transit.
6:00 CorePower Yoga 2 at Fresh Pond, let's goooooooo. Hot yoga is more than a workout for me - it's a school-free meditation zone. No matter how much I have going on, or how stressed I am, yoga always helps.
Around 6:20, I hop off the bus and walk into my apartment for the first time all day. It’s short-lived though; I have a 7-9:30 weekly session at the Harvard Kennedy School with the Center for Public Leadership.
I change into less formal attire (jeans and a sweatshirt), drop my bag, and drive back to HKS around 6:40.
7:10 Head on home, straight for the shower and dinner.
I’m at HKS and noshin’ on some pizza. We always love a free meal.
7:30 Housekeeping! This is where I a) clean up for the day and b) prep my things for the following morning. Wipe down the bathroom and put everything away, fold/hang my clothes and start laundry, clean up after the sloppy joes, etc. I'll also take my Monday stuff out of my bag and replace it with my Tuesday books - basically the same materials, with some swapping of reading packets and an additional folder for my fourth Tuesday class.
8:00 Settle back onto the couch with Ben; he sits and watches YouTube videos (or The Office) while I mess around on my computer. This is when I do "non-intensive" work - today was completing that application and doing a little work on the blog. Other days, it'll be working on essays. But not studying - at this point, my brain is shot.
9:15 Around this time, we'll start getting ready for bed. That's a three-step process on my end; then finally - finally - hop in bed.
9:30 Fun Reading Time! Apart from yoga, this is my favorite de-stressing tool. I try to keep my reading material varied (My last three: I LOVED Educated, appreciated & struggled with So You Want To Talk About Race, and didn't care for The Rules Do Not Apply). Right now I'm reading an oldie called How to Win Friends & Influence People, which has been great.
Finish the HKS session and prepare for the 10 minute drive home. Definitely dragging by now, but it was great to see other vets and get a sense of community at the end of a long day.
10:00pm Not a hard and fast time, but the approximate 'lights out' point each night. I'm definitely more of a morning person than a night owl, and am exhausted by 10. After making sure Ben has his alarm set, we go to sleep and prepare to do it all over again.
I have court bright and early on Thurs (the session starts at 9am and it’s a solid 30 min drive) so I make sure everything is ready to go before prepping for bed.
3L BLUF: A 10:30 lights out is an absolute win.
And there you have it! 1L Riley was totally consumed by classes but apparently had time for yoga/other non-school activities in the evening (?). 3L Riley is just as tired, but taking less classes/doing real work/living an overall less hectic, if similarly busy, lifestyle. All I can say is: it’s amazing how much you can accomplish when you’re not in the classroom!
