I am not your stereotypical law student. Confidence bordering on cockiness, argumentative, heavily opinionated and an attitude which calls out ‘I know what I’m talking about’. These qualities are unfamiliar to me, and its been a long journey to build my confidence to a level which I am happy with.
Ironically, I am a smart student. My GPA sits above a 6 and I’ve got a few scholarships tucked under my belt, along with membership to Griffith’s Honours College- an institution fostering support for the top 2% of students.
However, the ability to back myself does not come naturally. In tutorial group work, I am the first to humorously announce to the group I have no clue what’s going on and, in most circumstances, no one else does either. Although I’ve often found that law students, stubborn as they are, tend not to acknowledge that they too don’t know what the hell is going on.
This leads me to a discussion that took place one night at the Uni Bar in my first year of Law. After chatting to a fellow law student (a sort of person who is so arrogant and over-confident that you just want to cringe), he asked me what my GPA was.
‘It’s a 5.5’ I told him.
He looked bewildered. ‘Only 5.5? With your type of personality, you’d need to be getting a GPA of 6 or above to be getting anywhere in this profession.’
I was shocked. ‘But don’t you only have a GPA of 4?’ I replied.
‘Well yeah, but I’ve got the personality for this profession. I’ve already got a job working at a firm’.
I felt deflated and stunned that someone I barely knew would so blatantly label me lacking in the necessary traits to flourish in this area of work. Not only did he do this, he did so in a way that skilfully pointed the spotlight on my own insecurities (being that my personality was too ‘soft’ to be studying such a difficult degree).
Yet as the years progressed I grew more comfortable in my studies, and my GPA continued to steadily rise. I spoke out more in lectures and tutorials and realised that I did in fact have the skills it took to understand and engage in conversations and debates.
Although it took me a while, I realised that this guy was completely wrong.
A 2010 study conducted by UCI psychologist and Law Professor, Elizabeth Loftus reveals that lawyers tend to be overconfident.
While confidence in oneself is an important quality in the legal profession, excess confidence can lead to decision-making shortcuts and an inability to adapt.
In fact, overconfidence is thought to clog courts with unnecessary cases and damage the relationship between clients and attorneys. Further, attorneys with higher expressed levels of confidence are more likely to fall short of their goals.
I’ve come to realise that over-confidence in law students can hinder performance and damage relationships with other students and even professors.
Instead, here are three qualities I have found valuable as a law student
Effective communication
The legal profession, like a lot of other professions, requires constant communication. Whether it is between your colleagues or with your clients. The same goes for law school.
When using effective communication, you are more likely to build positive relationships with your clients, colleagues and peers. This is essential to succeeding in your studies and in your future area of work.
Time management
There are times at university where you will be juggling class attendance, assignments, upcoming exam prep, your job, personal life and maintaining mental and physical health. Essentially, a hell of a lot of sh*t.
Being able to effectively manage your time will save a lot of tears and stress. I find planning is the key- whether through making daily to-do lists or planning out your weeks
Dedication
Above all, its important to be dedicated and committed to your work. Don’t get me wrong, I know plenty of people who are skilled in the art of pulling all-nighters and whipping up a near-perfect 3 000-word essay in one night (… the bastards). But in any case, if you want to set yourself up for a fulfilling career, you need to know a bit about dedicating yourself to a set task and seeing it through.
All in all, sometimes its best not to listen to overconfident, okay I’ll say it.. dickheads hanging out in a bar. Trust and work to your strength, whatever they may be.
Typical Tegan 