Prior to law school, I heard rumors about how competitive law school would be – like classmates ripping pages out of books to make sure you do not get ahead of them. As a first generation law student, these rumors terrified me. While law school is competitive, the community at Seton Hall Law School is nowhere near the rumors I heard.

Everyone at Seton Hall Law is extremely helpful. Even now, during COVID. If upper-class students see a 1L (yes, it is easy to tell if someone is a 1L) they will approach them and introduce themselves and let the 1L know if they need anything DO NOT hesitate to reach out. We are all here to help each other succeed because we are proud to be a part of the Seton Hall Law Community.

This does not mean there is no competition. Your colleagues and classmates are your friendly competition, and my experience is that everyone is willing to go out of their way to help. I have not heard of anyone who has had issues finding outlines or study groups when they needed that extra help. I currently have three roommates that are also Seton Hall Law students, two of them are 2Ls and one is a 3L. One of them was in the same section as I was during my 1L year and the other was not, but we still helped each other by sharing outlines and study guides.

The rest of the law school community is very responsive to student needs and willing to go out of their way to help any student. One of the mottos our Dean abides by is “One student at time” which is 100% true. I recently had a meeting with Dean Boozang because I am looking for summer jobs back on the West Coast, and we discussed how I am going to market myself to law firms on the West Coast while attending a law school in New Jersey. This is the Dean of the law school, who took time out of her schedule to talk through and take an interest in my job search. Thankfully, I have had many interviews and things are going well. I honestly do not think I would be in the position I am in today without the support of the Seton Hall Law community. I am committed to this community and my time here has taught me that we are in this together because we are Seton Hall Strong.

- 2L Mateo Diaz and his emotional support dog Ace

Photo by Hannah Busing on Unsplash