As your grades are coming in, you may be less than happy with how things are turning out. Use this to your advantage.
In all honesty, the best thing that ever happened to me during my college career was getting a C on my first English paper.
When I went to talk to the professor, a man who wore seersucker suits and looked like a cross between Mark Twain and Colonel Sanders, he said in his genteel Virginia-tidewater accent, “Is English your first language? Your name is Russian. Are you translating as you write?”
The unfortunate thing was that he was genuinely curious and English is my first and only language.
As painful as it was at the time, I truly believe that that C made me a better student — I learned that college was going to be a lot different from high school (where I got all As without doing much), figured out my mistakes, buckled down, and did a lot better in school than I probably would have had I never experienced that setback.
So, if you’re not happy with all of your grades — what should you do? First, please email your academic success office to set up an appointment to talk. Every year, students in your position raise their grades in the spring semester and throughout the rest of their law school career – however, those that raise their grades address issues head-on and come up with a plan.
Second, you should go over your exams with your professors. Contact them to see how you go about doing so. Without looking at your exams, you won’t know what the problem was.
Everyone on the faculty, staff, and administration at your law school wants to do everything they can to help you succeed. Take advantage of what your law school has to offer.
(Alex Ruskell)
