Law Made Simple

IF I KNEW THEN

Episode Two:

Every Level Requires Something Different
If I could sit beside the girl I was three years ago, after telling her that she would not need to consume the entire Constitution before entering university, 😂 there is something else I would tell her:
Don’t approach every level the same way.
I wish I knew that every level would require something different from me.

It is not necessarily because one level would be better than another, and not because one would be easier and another would be harder.
But because every level came with its own lessons, its own pressures, its own expectations and its own version of me that needed to show up.
When I entered 100 level, I already had one thing firmly in my head:Build your CGPA. The seniors had told us.“Don’t play with 100 level.”
“Build your CGPA from the beginning.”
And I listened.
I knew I couldn’t afford to be careless with my first year. I took it seriously because I understood that the beginning mattered.
But then 200 level came and I carried a lot of expectations with me. I had heard so much about 200 level. So many people can testify that they heard or are hearing a lot about this particular level.
A lot of “200 level is tough.”“Wait until you get to this course.”
“That lecturer… this ” “That course…that”
And honestly, there was this part of me that got  intimidated.
I had questions in my heart about the level. I wondered what it was really going to be like. I wondered whether I was going to be able to handle everything that came with it and somehow, without even realising it, I started approaching some of my courses through the lens of what I had already heard about them.
Then came the cases, and the cases, and more cases.
It started with Contract Law, then Constitutional Law, Labour Law(an elective), Nigerian legal system.
At some point, I looked at the number of cases I was expected to know and thought,“How am I supposed to keep all of these in my head?”
I was genuinely intimidated.I had come into university thinking that if I could read enough, I would be fine.
But 200 level started showing me that Law was not simply about reading.It was about understanding.
It was about knowing how to approach what you were reading.It was about learning how your own mind worked.
Somewhere along the way, something changed.
I decided I wanted to enjoy my courses.
Not just survive them.I genuinely wanted to understand why a case mattered.I wanted to picture the concepts. To connect what I was reading to something I could actually understand.
I started learning actively. I discovered something important:I learn better when I understand, picture and engage with what I am learning, rather than simply trying to remember everything.
The cases didn’t suddenly disappear, the courses didn’t suddenly become easy.However, they stopped frightening me in the same way and that changed something in me.
I also began to realise that I didn’t have to figure everything out by myself.I can say that becomes a game changer.This was something I wish I had done much earlier.
As I transitioned towards 300 level, I started intentionally seeking out people who had already walked the path.
People who had taken these courses, people who had struggled with them and still came out fine.
People who had actually succeeded.
They were also people who were patient enough to sit with me and break things down.

People who were willing to take my questions seriously, even when I thought I was probably asking too much.
Something changed, some of the courses I had built up in my head suddenly became less frightening.
Someone would explain a concept differently. Someone would tell me, “Don’t approach it that way. Try this instead.”
Someone would give me a perspective I had never considered.
At the end , it took only one conversation for something that had looked impossible to suddenly make sense.
That is something I would tell any law student coming behind me: speak up, ask questions.approach your seniors. Trust me they would always be ready to help. Find trusted people who have walked the path before you because sometimes, one sentence from someone who has already been where you are going can save you from months of unnecessary confusion.
Sometimes, the thing you need isn’t another three hours of reading  you might just need someone to show you how to see what you are reading Perhaps that was another way every level required something different from me.
At some point, I had to stop thinking that I had to know everything by myself.I had to learn to ask, to seek without being shy about my ignorance.
I had to learn to surround myself with people who could help me see further than where I currently stood.
Then 300 level came, and it came with another lesson entirely.More demanding courses,faith, more responsibilities, friendships.More things to carry at the same time.
It was no longer just about going from church to my hostel, from my hostel to class, from class to the library and back again.
Life had become bigger and I had become bigger too.
Looking back now, I realise that 100 level had taught me the importance of building a foundation.
200 level taught me how to actually find my way around Law and 300 level demanded that I learn how to carry Law alongside the other parts of my life. Without having to give one up for the other.
Your 100 level may not look like your 200 level.
Your 200 level may not prepare you perfectly for your 300 level.
Perhaps the most important thing I wish I knew is this:A difficult season is not a prophecy.
Just because one level didn’t go exactly the way you hoped does not mean the next one will be the same.Just because a particular course humbled you does not mean the next course will.
Just because your effort didn’t produce the result you expected this time does not mean your effort will never pay off and you have to learn not to allow one result to define the way you approach everything that comes after it.
You are allowed to adjust, learn change your approach.
You are allowed to become a different student because sometimes, the problem isn’t that you are not capable.
If I knew then what I know now, I would have stopped asking,“How do I survive this level?”
and rather ask“What does this level require from me?”
Every level stretched me differently,  introduced me to a different version of myself and perhaps that is the beauty of the journey.
So if you are entering a new level and you feel intimidated by everything you have heard about it, remember this:You are not entering that level as the same person you were before.
You can learn a new approach. Ask better questions,you can find better people. Again, speak up!
You can also  give yourself permission to discover that the level you were afraid of may not be as frightening as the stories made it sound.
Sometimes, what it requires is simply that you become willing to find out what that “different” is.
And maybe, three years later, that is one of the things I am most grateful Law taught me.
I did not just move through the levels.
The levels moved and are moving through me.

IF I KNEW THEN

Episode One: If I Could Start Studying Law Again

Three years ago, I walked into university excited to study Law.

I really had no idea how much those three years would change me.

Back in Senior secondary school 2, I was still figuring out what I wanted to become. I had developed an interest in Government, and somehow, that interest led me to Law. So when I eventually found out that I would be studying Law, I was genuinely excited.

In my head, I was already preparing for the life of a law student.

Before I entered university, I promised myself I was going to know the Constitution. I was going to read it, eat it, breathe it. 😂

If someone stopped me on the road, I would confidently tell them, “Section this, Section that.”

I thought I was ready but alas,I wasn’t.

I came into university believing that studying Law was mostly about reading. I had always been a good reader, so I assumed the formula was simple:Read hard. Understand what you read. Write your examination. Get the result.

But somewhere between 100 level second semester and 200 level first semester, that idea began to fall apart.

I started discovering that sometimes, the amount of effort you put in does not immediately show up in the grade you receive.

You could prepare so hard for a course, walk into the examination expecting an A, and come out with a B.

Sometimes, even a C and then you begin to wonder, “But I read. What happened?”

There were also courses I thought I had barely put enough effort into, only to find out that I performed better in them than in the ones I had spent so much time preparing for.

Honestly, It was confusing, humbling and sometimes, it hurt.

There were seasons when I cried. There were seasons when I was stressed. There were moments when I questioned myself and moments when I simply felt tired.

But those seasons taught me something I didn’t know I needed to learn.

I learned how to survive. Studying law is beyond the soft girl life it’s actually giving your all to what it takes to getting what you want done .I learned that not getting the result I wanted did not mean I should stop trying.

I learned that one grade could disappoint me without defining me. I learned that sometimes, you simply have to get up, figure out what went wrong, adjust, and try again because there was never a point where I could tell myself, “I didn’t get this grade, so I’m not reading again.”

No, I kept going and I’m still going. Perhaps that was one of the first things Law was teaching me.

It wasn’t only teaching me how to read cases, understand principles or answer questions.It was teaching me how to keep going when things did not go according to plan.

Eventually, I realised something:

Studying law was never just about the books.I came into university thinking I was going to become a lawyer. I did not know I was also going to discover myself. I did not know I would learn so much more about faith, friendship, leadership, relationships, responsibility, confidence, purpose and resilience.

I did not know that somewhere along the way, I would become a different person from the girl who walked into university three years ago.

If I could sit beside that girl today, I think there is one thing I would tell her:You will not always be excited.There will be days when the excitement disappears.There will be days when your effort does not produce the result you expected.

There will be days when you cry, feel tired and wonder if you can actually do this.But keep going because you will learn that becoming a lawyer is not only about learning the law.

It is also about learning who you are while becoming one.

Perhaps, if I knew then what I know now, I would have spent less time trying to become the perfect law student…

and more time paying attention to the person Law was slowly making me.

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