OAS: Coaching You Through

By Antoinette Pierre-Louis, J.D., M.B.A.

Many law students enter law school anticipating the competitive atmosphere of having to fight to survive. They may picture themselves much like tributes in The Hunger Games, fighting each classmate to gain the upper hand in this new terrain and hoping to be a victor. They have been plucked from their respective homes and dropped into a tumultuous arena of unknown obstacles –law school. Indeed, for many this is their first time being away from home, on their own as an adult. Now add in the rigors of law school, their most perplexing educational experience yet. Fortunately for them, this is not The Hunger Games, and they are not tributes fending for themselves to stay alive. One of the things that makes NCCU School of Law unique is the students and faculty view themselves as a family – a team of Legal Eagles. That is what sold me on working for NCCU School of Law when I started here over two years ago as an Academic Success Specialist in the Office of Academic Success (OAS). The OAS is one of the first offices to interact with our students on their law school journey and one of the last offices that supports them during their bar preparation.

I often use sports references when talking to my students about how to navigate this law school environment. My most recent reference was that I was like a coach. I am coaching them through a challenging three years of their life and providing them skills they never thought they needed. The skills needed for each game day (test day) may consist of writing an effective analysis, outlining, time management, and other test-taking strategies. I have demonstrated to them it is not enough to know the information, they must know how to apply it to any game day scenario, that is the ability to apply the rules to any test hypothetical. They begin to see that every chance to practice and each assessment is an opportunity to improve those rule application skills. Much like athletes run scrimmages and drills to condition themselves for games, their individualized practice is preparation for their assessments. Each game prepares an athlete towards their goal of winning a championship. Each law school assessment is in preparation for their biggest championship game – the Bar Exam.

The OAS staff begins coaching students early on whether through Performance Based Admission Program (PBAP) workshops or Pipeline workshops, or the Summer Start Initiative (SSI). OAS continues to train and support our team of Eagles through Critical Thinking (CT) I and II, Advanced Legal Analysis (ALA), Animal Law, PASS, Comprehensive Legal Analysis (CLA), and Invest in Success (IIS) which supports graduates during Bar Prep. Each program focuses on different skills our students will need to be successful in law school and on the bar exam. ALA for example focuses on Multi-State Bar Exam (MBE) multiple choice strategies through review of substantive courses like Civil Procedure or Real Property. However, the course is not just bar review, it is skill intensive weekly practice that allows students to become more proficient with strategies they can use in substantive courses. PASS is akin to ALA, but focuses on Constitutional Law and Evidence, two subjects that often pose a big concern to students. We recently added an Animal Law course that explores MultiState Performance Test (MPT) writing strategies as well as the substantive animal law. The MPT tests lawyering skills and critical thinking within a closed universe which provides multiple sources of facts and laws where students must decipher what information is needed to answer the question posed. The MPT can be intimidating to some, but I remind my team they have everything they need to succeed. During IIS we support graduates, along with our team of graders and accountability coaches, with weekly practice and workshops geared towards sharpening their abilities to surmount the big championship game. To further our graduates’ preparation, OAS collaborates and enters contracts with Bar Prep companies allowing us to offer reduced cost, if not free resources, practice materials, and tutoring.

Our office is a team of coaches providing guidance and strategies to our students every step of the way. By the end of their law school journey we become their cheering section reminding them of the hard work and commitment they poured into their studies to get them to this point. Like all great coaches, we do not take credit for their success, but praise them for the determination and commitment they exhibited to accomplish their goals and thank them for trusting us during this training process.