Student Spotlight: Carolyn Wendel '11
Horror stories of 1L year are the norm. You’re warned about it coming into law school, and most people, upon hearing you’re in your first year, encourage you to “just get through it.” And while it has been one of the most challenging years of my life, I almost feel guilty admitting the truth: I had fun. A lot of fun. And I think most of my classmates would agree. In between the all-nighters and occasional tears, we formed incredible friendships and amazing memories. Everyone told me there was something “different” about Notre Dame, and what I’ve learned is it’s not something that can be explained to someone before they experience it. You just have to trust it.
The first few nights of law school were a humbling experience; never before had it taken me three hours to read ten pages. At first you worry that you’re doing something wrong or that you aren’t cut out for this, and then you get to class the next day and realize it took everyone else just as long. If there is one comforting aspect of law school it’s that everyone is figuring it out at the same time. At Notre Dame, however, you figure it out not only with the help of each other, but also with incredibly accomplished professors who, despite their own projects, will honestly complain that their offices are not being visited enough and students should stop by more often.
I think it says a great deal about the law school and its professors that so many students choose to stay in South Bend each summer and work with professors, rather than returning to our homes in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, or the like. This summer I have the pleasure of working as a Research Assistant for Professor A.J. Bellia. I am conducting research for an article Professor Bellia is writing on a statute that, having lay dormant for nearly 200 years, has suddenly resurfaced, raising critical questions as to the original intent of the statute and its modern day application. In addition, I have researched and drafted materials for a federalism casebook Professor Bellia is in the process of writing. Working closely with a professor has allowed me to receive immediate feedback on my work and improve skills that will be critical to my practice as an attorney, benefits that I’m not sure I would have received elsewhere.
The greatest lesson I learned during my first year of law school is that real life doesn’t stop for three years. Law school is hard enough and then throw real life on top of it, and the importance of the people around you becomes immensely clear. Over the past year we’ve had friends marry, nieces and nephews be born, grandparents pass away, parents be diagnosed with cancer, hearts broken. And like all law students we pulled all-nighters, cried the night before finals, hoped for grades we didn’t quite make. The difference, however, is that we did it together, and at the end of my first year of law school I can honestly say that coming to Notre Dame Law School is probably the best decision I’ve ever made.
