Life of a Law Student

by Robby Canning

The University of Connecticut School of Law, like many law schools and other professional schools, typically offers classes four days a week, Monday through Thursday. Classes are dispersed throughout the day, some beginning as early at 8 AM or as late as 6:30 PM. Full time students take between twelve and sixteen credits a semester, which translates to the same amount of classroom hours per week.  On average professors tend to assign three hours of homework for each hour of class. Some quick arithmetic gives you approximately forty-five hours of homework a week. This work mostly consists of casebook reading, memo research and writing, as well as, hands on clinic work.

These time demands can be startling. Thus, many students treat law school as a full-time job, arriving at the library in the morning, coming and going throughout the day as they head to and from class (this means trudging back and forth across the same well worn path between Knight and Chase Hall), and returning home in the evening. Interspersed between classes are presentations by speakers, student group meetings, informational meetings, career services seminars, and faculty workshops. Whether it is the American Constitution Society, the Asian-Pacific American Law Students Association or the Jewish Law Student Association, there is usually a variety of student groups throwing events on campus each and every day.

Despite this hectic schedule, there are moments to take a break and grab a cup of coffee, throw a football across the quad or catch up with some friends. In the warm weather there is often nothing better than sitting in the sun in the chairs outside the library. Additionally, law students still know how to have fun. Many students play hockey on Monday nights or football or softball on Friday afternoons, stop by the bar for trivia on Tuesdays or find a happy-hour Thursday afternoons, or head over to Rentschler for a football game in the fall or the XL Center for a basketball game in the spring. Not too far away are escape destinations like Bear Mountain for hiking, the Hooker Brewery, and the Connecticut Science Center.

On top of traditional law school activities, many students are also working part-time jobs, volunteering in the community, pursuing recreational activities or pursuing networking or professional opportunities. All this makes for a very busy, but rewarding three years.