Master in Law Student Advice: Tips for Success at Penn Carey Law

For incoming ML students, this is something that I would leave you with. The program is going to be a lot more fun than you actually realize it will be. It will be challenging but in an exciting way and not in a way that is stress-inducing where you feel like it's overwhelming. I would say that you could apply this to any career. This program is pretty much the creme de la creme of all the things that make your job possible. There's a lot that you can learn and a lot that can make you grow as a professional. So no matter what career you're in, it's going to transcend that farther than you could possibly imagine. I think this program will really allow you to grow into the kind of full educational weapon that you can be and really be able to leverage all the various resources that Penn has to offer and you'll really walk away from this program as a more intellectual individual that can really contribute to society as a whole. If I could go back and, you know, talk to my past self, I would tell me, just go for it, Erica. Just take the JD classes. Just dive in. It is so rewarding and I got so, so much out of those classes. It's okay to be nervous but really dive in headfirst. Be confident. Remember that you belong here and get everything out of those classes as you possibly can. Follow your passion. Follow your interests. At least take one of the foundational courses to better acquaint yourself within the law school. I wish you the best and good luck. Thank you. I wish I knew how friendly and nice everybody was going to be. As a dual degree candidate coming from a different field where I know all that jargon but this is a complete new area and I'm like, I have no idea what I'm going into but I know I want to learn. Sometimes you feel afraid to ask questions but that's not the case here. Here it's important to ask those questions and being able to just study and learn these cases and talk about them with my classmates has really been invigorating. So the hardest thing for me was getting used to the shift in how you think. Legal thinking is very precise and structured. Once it clicks, it changes how you read, write, and analyze everything. By the end of the program, I approach problems differently with more clarity, more rigor, and more confidence. Many people say about think outside of the box but that's not true. That never exists ever. The only thing that makes you think more deeply and bring more ideas it is you get your box more bigger. Joining the Master in Law program, it is a way of how you get to understand more about modern law in the U.S. and that makes you very unique for the market. Biggest piece of advice would be to utilize the resources available to you between the folks at the Master in Law office, going to office hours, and getting involved. Be proud of what you accomplished. Be humble enough to know that there's always more to learn. And go be hungry. Go build something that is entirely your own.