Stuff Law Students Like
It’s Not you – It’s the Unattainable Expectations Placed Upon You. Daniella Murphy
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’m taking you back to 2017 - before the turmoil that is 2020. I had begun my first year of law school at Macquarie University, and had been meet with the ooh’s and aah’s by those close to me after obtaining a place in such a prestigious degree. I felt satisfied that I had been accepted into a good course with good career prospects, or at least that’s what I thought. Fast forward several years, in the brunt of my double degree, and a feeling of inadequacy overwhelmed me. Even if I tried my best in all my units, and received good marks, I was not good enough. No matter how well I had done in any respect, I felt unsatisfied, inexperienced, and fearful of the future that was ahead. Some students that I have discussed this with tend to avoid talking about their feelings of inadequacy, so they don’t sound dim-witted or incompetent. Some students appeared completely self-assured and Ed.3 2020
confident about their future. Evidently, there is a huge disparity. Are the unconfident students just like that by nature? Or, do the confident students put on a mask to conceal the same inner monologues of self-doubt? Laura Empson, in her 2018 BBC article, describes the term ‘inadequate overachievers’. These are the kinds of people who are brilliantly successful and appear to excel in their chosen pursuits. Yet, completely undermine their own capabilities, and question their success often. I think we have all been there, a time when you think… am I really meant for this? For me, it was the time when I was dangerously close to failing Business Organisations, even though I had poured my entire soul into studying for the exam. After receiving my results, and realising I had done terribly, a friend of my just had to let me know he had received a Distinction grade. And just like that, yikes. The symptoms of ‘impostor syndrome’ are back… But wait, does it have to be this way? The idea that law students are always perfectly confident in their abilities and achievements is not the case for a lot of students. I’m trying not to sound too cringy here, but think about the all the incredible people in law who have come before us, have embraced the struggle, and wound up doing just fine. I’m sure that every super successful lawyer has felt a bit incapable at some point. At the day’s end, you are certainly not alone in these feelings. Discussing these feelings with friends and peers is an important step in normalising that it is ok to feel inadequate at times, in our pursuit to be the perfect law student. It is pivotal to remember that failure is part of the process of learning and growing as humans, and it needs to be accepted as such. Once everything is said and done, the best thing you can do as a law student is your best. Have a reality check with yourself every so often and try to remember that you are here for a reason.
“These are the kinds of people who are brilliantly successful and appear to excel in their chosen pursuits. Yet, completely undermine their own capabilities, and question their success often.
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