Blog Entry 9

Student Blogs Meagan Hanna
Posted by Meagan Hanna
Meagan Hanna
Meagan is a May 2012 graduate of UDM Law. She was admitted to the Michigan Bar i
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on Thursday, 20 October 2011 in Student Blogs

This is going to be a long week. It is never a good sign when your Monday mornings start off with a cold shower because your family still doesn’t seem to know what time you wake up in the mornings…

I headed to school around 10:00 this morning to put in a couple hours of work at the library. At noon, I moved to a different part of the library for a couple hours to get my work together for the week, smooth out the rough edges here and there, finish up that last brief or two. I then headed to civil procedure class for an hour and a half and then to torts until 6pm. It is so frustrating when you leave school after dark and know you still have several hours of work ahead of you…I don’t know how the evening students who work full-time do it!

Things are starting to become crazy at UDM School of Law. Everyone seems to have had a collective realization that finals are quickly approaching and you can feel the tension in the air. This brings me to THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON I have learned in law school: KEEP OTHER PEOPLE OUT OF YOUR HEAD. I’m sure you have been told to always “keep an open mind,” but there are just times where you should just close off your mind and stop listening to those around you. Studying for your first semester exams is one of those times. There is no benefit to be derived from listening to those around you talk about how far ahead they are on their reading, how many hours they have put into their outlines or how brilliant their lawyer parent/neighbor/relative finds their latest ALTA assignment. Now is just about the time of the semester where I find myself attempting to retreat to my metaphorical bubble, focusing on what I need to do, based on my needs…and not letting myself get freaked out by the efforts of my fellow 1Ls, all as clueless about law school exams as myself. There are days where I seem to do very well with this, and days where, well, not so much. I will say one thing, I find my time much more productive when I stick to my own plan of attack, rather than worry about how I’m not doing as much as so and so.

My first final is coming up three weeks from tomorrow. Yikes!! First though, I just need to get through my final ALTA assignment. On that note, I’m sure you can figure out what my to-do list for the evening looks like…

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About the author

Meagan Hanna

Meagan is a May 2012 graduate of UDM Law. She was admitted to the Michigan Bar in November, and she recently joined the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s Office as an Assistant Prosecuting Attorney.

During law school, Meagan was active around the School of Law as the Law Review's Executive Editor of Outside Articles and the Vice-President of the St. Thomas More Society. She participated in the Criminal Trial Clinic, and took advantage of two internships with the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office and a summer internship with Judge Stephen Murphy of the Eastern District of Michigan.

In her free time, Meagan also serves as a member of the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary, enjoys tap dancing, and can't resist reading a good book.

Meagan genuinely enjoyed her time at UDM Law and she is passionate about talking to prospective students about her experience. Please contact the admissions office to obtain her contact information.