As my wife says, I have a law degree even though I never went to law school.  We got married the summer after she graduated from college and before she began her first year of law school.  When we were engaged, I was talking to an attorney about our plans to get married and then she would start law school and he said, “Interesting… you’ll become a newlywed and widower all in a couple of months.”  I laughed, but in the end he was right.

Here’s my three steps to surviving law school-

1) Help out.  This might take some work for some dudes, but if the newlywed house is going to stay together, it’s going to be by your work and not hers.  She won’t have time to do a lot of chores (especially that first year), so it’s up to you to take some of that burden when possible.  She still helped, but it should never be above a husband or a wife to cook, do the dishes, vacuum, the family finances, cleaning the bathroom, etc.  If there’s something that needs to be done, just do it… You’ll have no idea how much they’ll appreciate it.

2) Stay Out of Her/His Way.  This is specifically in the two weeks leading up to finals and the two weeks of finals.  If you have a wife, expect a lot of emotions.  If you have a husband in law school, I’m guessing you can expect a lot of grumpiness.  The best plan is to just vacate when possible and then meet-up with the significant other on the other side of Finals.

3) Distract Yourself.  Don’t have a hobby?  Get one.  I for one, tried to do some photography.  Still do, but now that my wife isn’t in law school, we now spend more time together.  I thought I spent time with her before, because I knew no difference… in truth though, we’re now spending time together for the first time.  Law School Wife was not the real person I married… it was some sort of weird hybrid of reality and studying all of the time. 

That’s it.  Fairly simple, but we survived.  I could see a lot of marriages that go through medical school or law school having a tough time.  The biggest thing I think for both sides to realize is to think of the other person and how they feel.  Both wife and I did a good job at that.  If you can figure that out, then it will go a long way.