10 Affirmations to Repeat This Semester
Photo credit: NU Sci Magazine.
1. My professor thinks that my in-class participation was insightful and added to the learning environment.
When you regurgitated exactly what they just spent the last thirty minutes explaining, you made them feel heard and understood. When you then asked a hypothetical that had nothing whatsoever to do with that regurgitated information, your professor was stricken by your creativity and flexible thinking. They are writing an email to the President right now to recommend that you be nominated as the next Chief Justice of the United States.
2. “I produce value by reducing transaction costs.”
Coming directly from Professor Quinn’s Intro to Law and Business course, this reassuring phrase nearly brought a tear to this author’s eye. For those pursuing the Private Practice track, it can be hard to go through the constant wining and dining and free stuff acquisition, all while pondering The Big Question: Will I truly be able to create value for the shareholders in my post-grad career? Such doubts are natural, but this affirmation can remind you that even though you are a perpetual drain on corporate resources, you will have your moment of greatness once your clients girlboss too close to the sun (three counts of insider trading).
3. I don’t chase opportunities, I attract them.
This is best repeated between your second and third screeners of the day.
4. I am a chiller among gunners.
We’ve all been there. You asked a question more than once in class, and you ran into your classmates in the library immediately after. By the end of the day, the narrative is that you spend more time in office hours than with your kids, and you keep a pair of handcuffs in your backpack to chain yourself to a pit desk if the librarians try to kick you out at midnight. Always remember: the lioness is too behind on readings to concern herself with gunner accusations.
5. My pedantic approach to language is a strength, not a weakness.
If a grown-up has ever had to explain to you that correcting people’s grammar is a bad way to make friends, this one is for you. You have been waiting, biding your time, until you were put in a position where extreme attention to minute and ultimately inconsequential details becomes an asset. Too many “erm, it’s actually *they’re” comments may have gotten you banned from several subreddits, but with journal tryouts well underway, it’s your time to shine. You know exactly how to use a semicolon correctly, and someone has finally, finally, asked.
6. I can step out of the rat race any time I choose.
You just choose not to do that. It turns out the rat race has academic validation and high earning potential.
7. I can do five different extracurriculars and go to every Feb Club event, and also pass my classes.
The admissions advertisements were not lying to you, and you can have it all. Reducing your hours of sleep per night will have no adverse effects on your physical or mental well-being, and you will retain all of the information you learn this semester.
8. My mental health has stayed the same since I started law school.
Yeah.
9. People look forward to reading my GroupMe messages.
The thirty minutes you spent crafting that seven-word quip were not wasted, and they would not have been better spent with your career counselor. At least half of the chat members exhaled sharply out of their noses. They were just too intimidated by your aura to like the message.
10. I am not studying law because I can’t do math.
Your career options after college were incredibly diverse and not at all limited to language-centered occupations by your several failed attempts at passing calculus. Everyone watched you pull out your phone to look up how many minutes long your 8:30-10:00 class is. And they all thought, “This person totally could have gone to med school if they wanted to.”
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Staff Editor — Emma Lawson ’28
hzk2ny@virginia.edu