First-year law student at tier 1 NLU; terrible writer. I'm terrible at academics in general, but I really wish to be able to write well and maybe have those prestigious publications under my belt by the time I graduate. However, I have no idea how even the most fundamental aspects of the nation or the entire world operate.
I have no understanding of how the economy works, what GDP is, what is in the budget, or what the purpose of NCLAT is. I also have nothing to say in class when my classmates are shouting out so many sections and subsections and responding to the professor before he can even finish his question. I have no idea about anything.
I feel like a 10 year old listening to 55yo uncles talking all sort of politics and world affairs when I'm sitting with my batchmates, everyone knows so much. How do ALL of my batchmates know more than me, even in the subjects i thought i was good at?
With all that being said, what can I do to improve my writing skills, and to develop a basic understanding of things around me? I'm willing to start from the scratch. Would reading NCERT's of Polity, Sociology and other Social Studies subjects help?
Bruh if you're at a Tier 1 NLU you will be fine. Don't worry, especially about imposter syndrome. For instance, a person ranked 60th in my batch at Law School got a Tier 1 job on Day Zero a few years ago - very ordinary candidate, no publications, no moots, no ADR.
First of all, the fact that you asked this question and you have this worry ensures that you have won half the battle. Here are my two cents to get you all the way there.
1) The loud folks in your batch, who answer in class, hold seemingly intellectual discussions about world and Indian politics, sociology and other abstract concepts, may or MAY NOT know what they are talking about. Given you also do not know much (which is absolutely okay) you can never call them on their BS. Take it from someone who initially found it very hard to fit in, and eventually ended up doing just fine, most of these people are just some uber confident, english speaking Tier-I city kids who rarely know what they are talking. So, don't get into any inferiority complex.
2) Start reading. Anything and everything. Read the newspaper. FT/ET/Mint (app)/Ken/ Indian Express. Follow smart pages on your social media. And read because you want to know more about how this world works, not because you want to sound smart in front of your batchmates. Once you have gained a baseline knowledge and ability to form an opinion (I would give it 6 months), people around you will automatically know that you know your shit. Your perspective on who the guys in your batch will also radically change.
3) In terms of publications, start small. Read something in the newspaper that is related to law, go ahead and write a 1000 words summary piece on it. Try to have an opinion in your writing, but don't stop yourself from writing if you don't have an opinion. Write summary pieces. Explain amendments and analyze their impacts. Start sending them to easier publications such as Indiacorplaw, or some of the new age student run publications. Once you have 3-4 of those, you will have the confidence to take up larger projects and publish at more reputed places. It is all about starting somewhere. Once you do, sky is the limit.
4) Indulge in non-academic activities. I cannot emphasize enough on the importance of having an all round personality for you to be able to feel the confidence in law school and life in general. Please go out with your friends every chance you get. Play some sports with intensity and form bonds with your teammates. Fall in love. Party and party like you mean it. Once you start enjoying non-academic parts of law-school, you ensure that you will not run out of fuel in trying to do better on the academic front.
5) Try to do well with your grades, but don't fret too much if you can't get them up. I was in the bottom 20% of my batch at a top tier NLU, and all day zero law firms made me an offer. I am not saying that grades don't matter, life is certainly easier with better grades, but know for a fact that what is worse than low grades is low grades with low confidence. So, if you can't get your grades up, keep writing, participate in moots, ADR competitions, play sports. Essentially keep yourself busy and have faith that your grades are not a true reflection of your abilities in life. You will end up just fine.
If you listen to them carefully, you will realize that they are being pretentious. They too don't have sound understanding of anything - just presenting their superficiality in way which makes them sound intellectual.
No one in first tear knows anything. They are all faffing best they can and projecting confidence. Look at college not as a place to compete with others or obtain status- but as an opportunity to learn things. Don’t know what GDP is? Go to econ teacher ask them where to start. They want to help kids like you but they don’t get to cause the loud ones occupy class time.
Dude, relax. The person who was in the bottom 5 of my batch is now a partner at a top tier firm. Life has just started. I am 15 years into my career, I still don't understand how the economy work. Chill and enjoy your college days, you will not realize when these golden days are over
Lmao. I'm from a local law college and this one time, I happened to intern with someone from a Tier - 1 NLU. I had a slight complex because of his educational background and I wanted to appear smart and make intelligent conversation with him. Turns out, most of what he spoke was a show. He wore this facade, and on many occasions, I outsmarted him. I outperformed him at the internship as well. Moral of the story? Don't undermine yourself. Often, with these people, it is just pretense and confidence, not genuine intellect. Have faith in your abilities. You made it to a Tier - 1 NLU, you must have great potential.
Start with reading newspaper in hard copy not soft. Start with The Telegraph (though it's left leaning, the content and presentation is good and can be easily imbibed of you could avoid the left bias. You may not like reading it at the beginning, but grit your teeth and force yourself for 3-4 weeks. Do focus on the editorial page. You will start enjoying it after around a month. Once you are really into it, subscribe to the Hindu and TOI atop Indian Express. There will be editorials on similar topics within a window of 3-4 days in all the newspapers. Try comparing the different point of views and develop your own thinking process. Write it down. This process has to be done in isolation, away from crowd, silently. If you could do this for 6-7 months continuously, your understanding and writing skill will be much advanced than your peers. Also, though you are in first year, start reading jurisprudence. You can start with Fuller's law and morality. Then go to HLA Hart and then other nuanced/narrow topics. Don't restrict your reading to a particular line of jurisprudence, read widely. This will train your mind subtly and your comprehension abilities would have developed tremendously by 3rd/4th year. Training demands time and perseverance.
An empty vessel makes much noise. Most of your classmates knowledge is introduction to the subjects be it economics, IR , Polity , Laws. Not of much use. So relax.
What you can do:- Gain competence in your field. It may be Corporate law , it maybe to become an IAS , commercial law etc. Be specific and narrow down your choices.
Let them show off. Let them make noise. You focus on class and mute your colours. Be a sponge and absorb. Read and write dailyfor 3 hours in a device free environment and dont tell this to anybody. Just you, your thoughts, your study and your goals. Happy reading.
1. Shake off your anxiety and self doubt by just immersing yourself in everything you do. Make friends. Speak to people. Don’t be afraid of looking stupid. Enjoy yourself and enjoy life.
2. Pay attention to people. You never know what a random conversation or time spent with someone will lead to. People can sense genuine interest and care and will respond to you accordingly.
3. Focus on publications and moots only if they tickle your brain. If you find it dull and want to get into this space from a job perspective, don’t. We do not care about the publications or moots a law student has
I have no understanding of how the economy works, what GDP is, what is in the budget, or what the purpose of NCLAT is. I also have nothing to say in class when my classmates are shouting out so many sections and subsections and responding to the professor before he can even finish his question. I have no idea about anything.
I feel like a 10 year old listening to 55yo uncles talking all sort of politics and world affairs when I'm sitting with my batchmates, everyone knows so much. How do ALL of my batchmates know more than me, even in the subjects i thought i was good at?
With all that being said, what can I do to improve my writing skills, and to develop a basic understanding of things around me? I'm willing to start from the scratch. Would reading NCERT's of Polity, Sociology and other Social Studies subjects help?
First of all, the fact that you asked this question and you have this worry ensures that you have won half the battle. Here are my two cents to get you all the way there.
1) The loud folks in your batch, who answer in class, hold seemingly intellectual discussions about world and Indian politics, sociology and other abstract concepts, may or MAY NOT know what they are talking about. Given you also do not know much (which is absolutely okay) you can never call them on their BS. Take it from someone who initially found it very hard to fit in, and eventually ended up doing just fine, most of these people are just some uber confident, english speaking Tier-I city kids who rarely know what they are talking. So, don't get into any inferiority complex.
2) Start reading. Anything and everything. Read the newspaper. FT/ET/Mint (app)/Ken/ Indian Express. Follow smart pages on your social media. And read because you want to know more about how this world works, not because you want to sound smart in front of your batchmates. Once you have gained a baseline knowledge and ability to form an opinion (I would give it 6 months), people around you will automatically know that you know your shit. Your perspective on who the guys in your batch will also radically change.
3) In terms of publications, start small. Read something in the newspaper that is related to law, go ahead and write a 1000 words summary piece on it. Try to have an opinion in your writing, but don't stop yourself from writing if you don't have an opinion. Write summary pieces. Explain amendments and analyze their impacts. Start sending them to easier publications such as Indiacorplaw, or some of the new age student run publications. Once you have 3-4 of those, you will have the confidence to take up larger projects and publish at more reputed places. It is all about starting somewhere. Once you do, sky is the limit.
4) Indulge in non-academic activities. I cannot emphasize enough on the importance of having an all round personality for you to be able to feel the confidence in law school and life in general. Please go out with your friends every chance you get. Play some sports with intensity and form bonds with your teammates. Fall in love. Party and party like you mean it. Once you start enjoying non-academic parts of law-school, you ensure that you will not run out of fuel in trying to do better on the academic front.
5) Try to do well with your grades, but don't fret too much if you can't get them up. I was in the bottom 20% of my batch at a top tier NLU, and all day zero law firms made me an offer. I am not saying that grades don't matter, life is certainly easier with better grades, but know for a fact that what is worse than low grades is low grades with low confidence. So, if you can't get your grades up, keep writing, participate in moots, ADR competitions, play sports. Essentially keep yourself busy and have faith that your grades are not a true reflection of your abilities in life. You will end up just fine.
Calm down. And, just work on yourself.
प्रायेणाडम्बरो महान् ।
न हि स्वर्णे ध्वनिस्तादृग्
यादृक् कांस्ये प्रजायते ॥
Often , the essenseless things make greater show-off . Cheap and hollow things make more noise than the worthy as Brass makes more noise than gold .
Also, though you are in first year, start reading jurisprudence. You can start with Fuller's law and morality. Then go to HLA Hart and then other nuanced/narrow topics. Don't restrict your reading to a particular line of jurisprudence, read widely. This will train your mind subtly and your comprehension abilities would have developed tremendously by 3rd/4th year.
Training demands time and perseverance.
What you can do:-
Gain competence in your field. It may be Corporate law , it maybe to become an IAS , commercial law etc. Be specific and narrow down your choices.
Let them show off. Let them make noise. You focus on class and mute your colours. Be a sponge and absorb. Read and write dailyfor 3 hours in a device free environment and dont tell this to anybody. Just you, your thoughts, your study and your goals. Happy reading.
Ashlesha
2. Pay attention to people. You never know what a random conversation or time spent with someone will lead to. People can sense genuine interest and care and will respond to you accordingly.
3. Focus on publications and moots only if they tickle your brain. If you find it dull and want to get into this space from a job perspective, don’t. We do not care about the publications or moots a law student has