My advice to First Year Law Students that I made 2 years ago... seems appropriate as I am ending my law school career to re-publish this...

To the Entering class of 2004, Congratulations on making it this far. I
have one piece of advice. You are, no matter what your LRW Prof says, free
to use Westlaw. The benefits of such use have been well documented by
Judicial Doctorates. The rest of what I have to say has no basis other than
my wandering experiences through the first half of the first semester here
at Law School, which I will dispense now.

Enjoy the people and social activities of your ACE; oh nevermind; You will
not understand the joy of the people and social activities of ACE until it
has ended.
Trust me, people will look back at your behavior and never forget, or
forgive, it. If you place yourself in a position where people can notice
you, they will rip on you. Don't forget how fabulous you really are.
Your actions are not as reprehensible as others imagine.
Don't worry about what other people say about you for worrying is as
effective as trying to answer a question from Vetri with pure logic.
The real problems in your world will be those that you never considered when applying, but rather those created by the Law School teaching strategy where you only learn after the fact.
Do some reading everyday, even if that idea scares you.
Laugh.
Don't be limited in attendance to social functions, and don't forget how to spell ReNNies.
Play sports.
Don't waste your time with grudges. The year is long, and in the end, your grades are stacked up against everyone else's.
Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how, for I am a bitter, bitter man.
Keep your old notes, throw away students@law e-mails.
Introduce yourself to those you don't know.
Don't feel guilty if you don't know what kind of law you want to go into.
Some of the most interesting first years I have met don't know, and the most interesting thirds years had no idea.
Get plenty of sleep, you'll need it.
Take care of you laptop. You'll miss your e-mails when its gone.
Maybe you'll study, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll date a second-year, Maybe you won't. Maybe you'll get drunk in the lobby, Maybe you'll sing Karaoke at a Thunbar. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, because your choices will be scrutinized by everyone around you, but so will everybody else's.
Enjoy your lobby. Use it every way you can; don't be afraid of using it, or what other people think of you using it, it has the comfiest chairs you'll ever sit in.
Dance, even if it is at Brewfest and you are dressed as HuggyBear from Starsky and Hutch.
Read the cases, even if you don't brief them.
Do not read the Dissent thinking its a paper, it will only make you feel libeled.
Get to know your pre-law school friends, you never realize that soon you'll be "gone."
Be nice to your classmates, they are the best link to you at your best and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.
Be aware: friends come and go, and you MUST make an attempt to hold onto your old one's as well.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and parking spots because the further you get, the more likely you will need to move your car every two hours.
Study in the Library once, but leave before it makes you bored; study in the Lobby once, but leave before it makes you distracted.
When playing basketball 3-on-3, don't travel.
Accept certain inalienable truths, tempers will rise, someone you don't know will raise your dander, you too will get involved, and when you finish your first year you'll fantasize that when you were a First Year you were reasonable, your class was the coolest and you respected your Professors.
Respect your Professors.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a true friend, maybe you have a cool class; but you never know when either one might run out. (So far, they haven't yet!)
Don't mess too much with an entire class, or publicly scold several members of a class.
Be careful whose Outlines you buy, but be patient with those who supply it.
Outlines are a form of cliff-notes, dispensing it is a way of fishing the precious kernels of knowledge from pages and pages of notes, typing it up, explaining the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the Westlaw.