As a first-year law student, Jodie Comer found help and encouragement from people she didn’t expect: upperclassmen.

“The second- and third-year students were supportive with advice. They would give me their supplementary materials from their first year,” she said. “The atmosphere here is encouraging; people want you to do well.”

She discovered that getting involved in some of the law school’s many student organizations helped her meet some of the second- and third-year students who were eager to help her succeed. She joined the Student Bar Association, the Family Law Society and the Tax Law Society and played intramural softball and soccer.

It was easy for her to make friends in the classroom, too, especially since first-year classes are organized in such a way that students have the same classmates in every class.

“We had so much in common because all we had all day long was studying,” she said. “I had a great experience even though I had more work than I ever imagined. It was comforting to have friends who were going through it as well.”

Now in her second year, Comer remembers the help she received when she was new.

“Because everyone was so helpful my first year, this year I went to the first-year orientation and tried to meet as many new students as I could,” she said. “Now I’ve given a lot of first-year students my supplemental study aids. I try to be as helpful to them as people were with me.”