The alarm sounds at 7 a.m., and Trish Hardy, a graduate of N.C. Central University, crawls out of bed to attend her 8 a.m. tutorials.

At 9 a.m. she heads to her first class at the NCCU School of Law.

Hardy, who majored in political science and English at NCCU, is starting her first year at NCCU’s law school.

Both she and Kristen Thompson, an English graduate with a concentration in media communications, said that NCCU’s law school provides a more open and intimate setting than those at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill.

But it’s still a struggle.

“It can be a competitive atmosphere because the classroom experience is competing against everybody for the top spot,” said Thompson. “I have even heard stories about hiding books in the library just so you won’t be prepared for class.

“In law school it is a goal to graduate in the top five percent of your class. It is the only way to be considered for a job.”

Hardy and Thompson said they are are surprised at the workload.

According to Thompson, her transition was very difficult.

“That’s why they say your first year is the hardest,” she said. “Just because you read doesn’t mean you’re studying.”

Thompson said she has to study intensely to really learn the material.

So does Hardy.

“It gets frustrating,” Hardy said. “As an undergrad it did not take much effort to catch on to the material.”

Hardy said she has an advantage as an English major because it has helped her analyze and interpret material.

“Just like you analyze stories in English to describe what the author is trying to say, you brief cases to interpret what the courts are saying,” she said.

Thompson said that English majors have a better advantage in their writing and analytical skills.

“Most test are essays that are scored on clarity and writing,” she said. “Your LSAT score, GPA, and area study means nothing when you walk in the class.”

Thompson said that in the beginning, she worried she would fall behind because she didn’t know much of the terminology associated with political science.

However, she said that analytical skills she polished in English classes have made things easier than perhaps for other political science majors.

Thompson and Hardy agreed that it would have helped to get more reading done before starting classes.

“If I had to do it over again, I would have read more over the summer and had myself more prepared for the course material,” said Hardy.

Thompson said she wishes she had read more as a child.

“It helps with test-taking skills,” she said.

In the end, Thompson said some credit is due to her undergraduate English teachers.

“The Department of English and Mass Communication prepared me well,” she said.

“Faculty members like Dr. Bob Nowell and Dr. Michelle Ware helped a lot.”