<p>Ha ha okay this title was totally stupid but whatever</p>
<p>How long did it take you to really "get" legal reasoning? I thought I had it in the first week of first year. I thought it was straightforward and logical and it suited my way of doing things. But now I feel lost. I can't see the big picture anymore. I just see the mammoth processes and all the individual steps and I just break everything down into a micro structure and I can't see beyond that. And it's getting frustrating. Last year (first year) was golden, I loved it. But this year is hell. Recently, after end of semester exams I felt like, for the first time so far, dropping out. It's so different to what it used to be, and I feel beaten.</p>
<p>What has been your experience? Did you ever feel like this? Do you know later year drop outs? I don't know any. A lot of people left after 1st yr first semester, but not many in second, and everybody seems to be going strong this year. Is it just me???? I don't want to feel like this about studying anymore, it suuuuucks. I don't really know what I'm asking for here, I just wanted to tell it like it was. yo! at least pretend you feel the same way, just for some moral support</p>
<p>here are a few thoughts, though take them with a chunk of salt as i'm only halfway through law school.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>law school itself seems very different than actually being a lawyer. you can like one and not the other. you can be better at one than the other.</p></li>
<li><p>you are not the only one who's lost. most of your classmates probably feel the same way.</p></li>
<li><p>I found it really helpful to sit down with my professors once i got my grades back and talk about what i did right and wrong. Almost none of my classmates did this, but I credit it with my grades improving each semester so far.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>I called my parents one night during my second year of law school, and told them I had decided to drop out. They were incredibly nice about it: "You've always shown good judgment, and we completely trust you to make the right decision for yourself."</p>
<p>I called them back the next day, and told them that I had decided to finish law school, even though I had decided that I didn't want to practice law.</p>
<p>That was nearly a quarter of a century ago. I have spent most of the intervening time practicing law with far great contentment than I ever experienced studying it. </p>
<p>You say, "I just see the mammoth processes and all the individual steps and I just break everything down into a micro structure and I can't see beyond that." I see that statement is evidence that you "get" legal reasoning very well. That's precisely what lawyers do. It's far less frustrating to apply that process to real world problems than it is apply it to hypotheticals in a classroom. Hang in there.</p>