Fordham Law School’s third annual spring orientation expanded this year into a two-day format, taking place on Jan. 18 and 19 for day division students. The theme for this year’s orientation was “Starting the second semester strong: Strengthening the individual, strengthening the community.”
For the third year, the program focused on diversity and inclusion, while also adding sessions devoted to other aspects of professional identity development. Evening division students attended DEI programs on Jan. 18 and 19 and professionalism programming specifically tailored to their unique needs, concerns, and considerations on Jan. 24. “We focused on ways in which students can start their second semester with greater comfort and greater confidence in a stronger community,” said Professor Linda Sugin.
New programming highlighted the importance of growth mindset to student success and happiness. “It is critical to address the mental challenges of law school at this time of year, when students may feel discouraged by fall semester grades,” explained Jordana Confino, senior director of professionalism and special projects. “Rather than seeing one’s aptitude as fixed or predetermined, a growth mindset allows the student to shift their attitude towards success and believe they are capable of development.”
“The concept of growth mindset is essential for learning,” Confino continued. “As students come back for the second semester, we’re hoping to set them up with an attitude of focusing on what they can learn from their performance in the first semester, and what steps they can take to do better going forward. It’s important to help them recognize that, while law school has a steep learning curve, they deserve to be here, and their futures are in no way determined by a grade that’s perhaps lower than they’d hoped.”
Professionalism Fellows Foster a Sense of Community
“Another thing we wanted to address in this orientation is the perceived by many students to continuously ‘armour up,’ pretending that everything is perfect, and that they have everything under control because they feel like they’re being judged,” Confino said. “This leaves them feeling that no one in the Law School community knows the ‘real’ them.”
In response, Confino and Sugin worked closely with this year’s cohort of professionalism fellows, who developed content for student-led, peer-to-peer workshops. Those workshops, according to Confino and Sugin, were designed to have 1Ls openly share their stresses and challenges with one another in small groups, to demonstrate the commonality of their experiences and foster a better sense of community and understanding.
“I think the most important thing we can do—as student leaders, as professionalism fellows, as Board of Student Advisors mentors—is give students a space to voice their feelings and concerns and to let them know that those feelings are being heard understood, shared, and appreciated,” said Professionalism Fellow Kimya Zahedi ’22.
The small group-sessions were also designed to help students identify tools for self-care and to set measurable goals for the semester. Students learned about resources within the house system (such as those provided by Career Planning, Student Affairs, Alumni Relations, and the Counseling and Psychological Services), and were encouraged to reach out to people at the law school who can help them work towards achieving their goals.
“Untangling” Fears in Lawyering
Heidi K. Brown, acclaimed author and director of Brooklyn Law School’s legal writing program, led sessions on how first-year students can “untangle” their current fears and cultivate a culture of fortitude within the Law School moving forward. She shared her own experience of conquering public speaking throughout her litigation career, as well as why she feels passionate about helping law students and lawyers “find their authentic lawyer voices.”
“During my first year of school [at the University of Virginia School of Law], I grappled with my identity, asking ‘what’s my purpose here?’” said Brown. She sometimes froze when cold-called upon in class and got a C+ in criminal law. “I knew I could do the work, but the performance aspects were giving me some trouble.”
Upon graduation, Brown was extended an offer to continue working at a boutique litigation firm in Northern Virginia where she had worked the two previous summers. She recalled how, at that time, opposing counsel would often stare her down across the table, objecting to all her questions.
“When I think back to those times, I think, ‘Wow, I really wish I had known more about myself’ and had been more self-aware to understand how the emotion of fear works, because there wasn’t anything wrong with me,” Brown said. “I just needed a little more guidance to understand why certain performance scenarios in law school and in law practice rattled me more than they did other people.”
Brown, who has also studied the concept of fear and has sought to understand how to untangle fears for more than a decade, offered students various strategies for better understanding their feelings of fear, anxiety, and disappointment, and how to build confidence.
“I don’t want any of you to have the fear that I had—that, ‘Oh man, what if I’m not cut out for this practice?’ moment,” Brown said. “We need to understand how our emotions, brains, minds, and bodies work together, not against each other, to make us the best advocates we can be.”
Alumni Share Ways to Work Smarter, Not Harder During Law School
Joseph Landau, associate dean for academic affairs, moderated an engaging panel discussion titled “Roads to Success,” in which three alumni spoke about their experiences navigating law school and their career paths. The invited alumni, who all exhibited and continue to exhibit growth mindsets, included Denis Nolasco ’17; Dylan Rico FCRH ’13, LAW ’16; and Alexander Zozos ’14.
Rico shared that good grades had always come “fairly easy” to him in college, but that it was a “tough pill to swallow” when he did not perform as expected during his first year of law school. “I think that’s because I was studying harder, not smarter,” he said. “I wasn’t necessarily trying to understand the concepts that the readings were trying to impart. I was just trying to memorize knowledge and apply it like I would do in a college-level exam—and I think that was to my detriment.”
“I regret not reaching out to my peers and professors more, not interacting with others more, [and]not asking for help or feedback—which are things I now do in my practice,” Rico added. “Whenever I have a question, I don’t just spin my wheels and try to figure it out. I will generally reach out for help and ask people questions.”
In a similar vein, Zozos talked about how his 1L year was nothing like he envisioned. “I had a great time in law school, even though I had below-average grades, didn’t make a journal the first time around, and was rejected by moot court,” he said. “But I’m still standing.”
“It’s not about the punches that you take,” he added. “It’s about how you react to those and then you continue to persevere.”
With that in mind, Zozos encouraged students to use their time in law school to figure out what they want to do in life. “Try to define what your interests are and move towards them,” he said. “By thinking critically about what you want and don’t want, informed by your classes, classmates, and the Fordham network, you will develop skills, habits and resiliency that will serve you for the rest of your life.”
Nolasco, a strong proponent of mental health awareness and counseling, spoke to how professors and counseling resources at Fordham Law helped her navigate both law school and the grieving process when she lost her brother during her 2L year. “Sometimes there can be some taboos around seeking help when it comes to mental health, but I can tell you that you can reap significant benefits,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to tap into those resources. They’re there for a reason and, unfortunately, they go underutilized a lot.”
Nolasco says that setting aside time every morning to focus on the day ahead—whether through meditation, outlining things you’re grateful for, or setting a goal for the day—can make all the difference. “What I invite you to do, particularly during law school, is to figure out things that bring you joy, so that you can tap into those things during moments of stress,” she said. “The sooner you can understand what brings you happiness and helps you decompress, the more successful I think you’ll be both as an attorney and as a whole human.”
