“Imagine being in a goldfish bowl. The lid is sealed. Now imagine this goldfish bowl doesn’t sit next to the window of some retired professor’s country home. Imagine it sits in the middle of the hottest party of the century. Sure you can see it, you can hear it, you can even feel the vibration, but you just can’t live it. Enter the lives of law students.” –Love Uncensored.
It’s hard to believe but somewhere between beginning and finishing law school there is another world – a world full of social opportunities and even the odd whirlwind romance. Yes, despite the expectation of 12-14 hours of study each day and a generalisation of social ineptitude, some law students manage to attract a lover… I’m being dead serious!
So whether you’re a law student considering dating someone from your extremely insulated community of high achievers and stress nuts, or you’re a non-law student curious as to what a fling with a law student is like, the Survive Law team has a plethora of relationship experiences (both harrowing and heart warming). From one law student considering dialing 000 when she got trapped underneath a sleeping boyfriend’s arm on the night she had to complete a contracts assignment, to feeling jealous about partners enduring far less demanding degrees, dating while tending to your precious law degree can be absolutely terrifying and exciting at the same time (I think they call that adrenaline or something).
Here is some tried and tested relationship advice for those brave enough to take the plunge:
1. You will never win an argument. And if you try to get away with lying to us during an argument you will never get away with it; we remember every bit of evidence. File under: emotional blackmail.
2. Don’t be surprised if you witness countless breakdowns – it’s not odd to come home to your law student partner shaving off the remainder of their hair in the mirror while aggressive music plays them on.
3. No matter how many affirmations you throw their way, a law student will never believe you. In school they were the cream of the crop, but in law school no matter how hard they try they still believe that they’re failures. Insecurity and law students go hand in hand.
4. When your law student says they are “busy” everyday, they aren’t planning to break up with you through a drawn out process of abandonment – they are legitimately busy.
5. They find it hard to relax – winding down by going for a walk or watching a film together? They want you to believe that they are relaxed but swirling around in that mind of theirs are thoughts about all the study opportunities your company is denying them.
6. You will need to adapt to their ways of communication – if you are imagining hour long phone calls or constant text messaging between yourself and your law school lover, think again. The most revered form of contact in the law school is usually Facebook chat, because, yes, in-between those hours of computer study there are even more hours of procrastination via Facebook.
7. Don’t even think about summer love – when holidays loom so does summer semester and clerkship season. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Despite all our foibles, a relationship with a law student doesn’t have to be terrible, and there are magical success stories which illustrate how truly wonderful a law romance can be. Law students are engaging, determined and extremely passionate about their topics of interest, so if you meet the right baby lawyer and don’t mind their legal ramblings there is no doubt they can make a great partner and a true friend.
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