By: Sindy Ding-Voorhees
An LL.M. program for most non-U.S. candidates is something with multiple purposes. First and foremost, it is an intensive one-year long program of study covering various American substantive legal subjects. It also provides an almost exclusively English-speaking environment, which is a first for many people. Most importantly, an open, mingle-cultured (both legally and socially) society is right there, waiting to embrace you, whether or not you are prepared for it.
I am a foreign-trained lawyer who recently graduated from the LL.M. program at Fordham Law, which is located in midtown Manhattan near Columbus Circle—not a very quiet place! In this article, I will share my experience and give you some tips on what you, as an international student, need to do to make your year the most rewarding.
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“What does it take to be a global citizen?”
Primary Mental Preparation: Embrace the Differences
First you must realize that you have chosen a very unique and untraditional road. Being honest, objective, and adaptive about what you see and feel, not only to others, but also to yourself, is going to help you adjust more quickly to all kinds of differences in your new environment.
Keep your eyes and ears open; feel the personality of the city you are living in. Do so, and you will quickly find out that the everyday language of the average American does not include a whole lot of TOEFL or GRE vocabulary. The coffee shop is not a place for just coffee; happy hour is a time to meet up with new friends or catch up with old friends over beer; and people take football very seriously--you must be careful about which team you support! Cultural differences are like a series of invisible social codes. You have to put yourself into them in order to decode them.
At the end of the day, becoming a global citizen with high adaptability and independent conscientiousness becomes your winning ticket and your stepping stone to success--not just your superior lawyering skills or the statutes you learned in your classes. Beyond the classroom, you will learn how to conduct an informational interview, how to adjust the tone of your email, when the best time for a follow-up message is, how to master the art of small talk, etc. In short, you will “get” how to successfully survive in America. But to achieve that goal, you have to be open-minded; you have to dare to try to embrace the differences and be brave to face any awkward or uncomfortable moments you might encounter in your day-to-day life. Remember, nothing is difficult to someone with a willing mind.
No One Gives You What You Want Until You Ask
I’m not saying you have to have a thick skin, but you definitely need to be willing to take risks. You never know what will happen until you try. Creating opportunities rather than waiting for to come around is part of typical American culture. This applies to making connections with people, engaging leads, negotiating deals, and most importantly, applying for jobs, especially in a concrete jungle like New York City. Take this as one of your new principles and try to implement it from Day 1 of your law school life, because your LL.M. class is a mini society for you to practice.
Good thoughts don’t speak for themselves; you have to speak up and voice your opinion. Publishing opportunities don’t just come to you if you just let your writings sit in your computer. There are always ways to achieve what you want, and the power of finding them is in your hands. Making assumptions before even trying is never a smart move, because as long as you are willing to ask, the answers you get will always surprise you.
With these mental preparations in mind, I’m sure that you are about to find out the beauty of studying and living in the U.S. You will feel comfortable and have a lot of fun in the process of learning, making friends, and exploring possibilities for self-development.
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