One L: The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School

Turow aims to represent the intense psychological and physical stress he and his classmates experience at Harvard Law School, and he makes clear in the Aftermath that many of his observations are applicable to first year students across the country navigating demanding law programs. Scott demonstrates how legal education differs from other academic programs through the intense learning demanded of students from day one. The case reports that use dense, depersonalized language become an instant barrier for students, and the first four-page reading assignment turns into hours of work for Scott as he tries to ferret out the facts of the case. The complexity of the reading assignments alone causes a frenzy among the students in the first week of school, leading to “complaints of insomnia, fatigue, stomach trouble, crying bouts, inflated consumption of food, liquor, [and] cigarettes” (48). Students wear themselves out trying to keep on top of course work, especially in the first week, that critical period of intensive learning. Even as students grow more comfortable with the concepts and language—and thus believe they’ll have more time to relax—professors assign longer and more complex cases to read, making the workload unrelenting throughout the term.

The scale and intensity of the work almost completely changes how the students think, even outside of school.