Laid off and networking

Hi y’all! I’m an incoming 1L who got laid off after 1.5 years of working at a company this past April. Because I’m starting law school in August it was pretty much impossible for me to find a full time position that I would have to leave after 4 months. I reached out to firms asking for even an unpaid position and even applied for volunteering roles but nothing worked out. There was one firm who agreed to hire me as an intern but as soon as summer started they also asked me to leave because they had a bunch of college interns coming in (all of which were just relatives and friends of the attorneys who worked at the firm but I digress). Eventually I just gave up and got a job as a server. I signed up to a few networking events that are hosted by my school this summer without even thinking about my current employment state. How do I approach during networking conversations? Do I say that I was laid off or should I say that I left my job to prepare for law school? Should I mention my lowly serving position? I just feel like that employment gap may be perceived as a red flag on my resume. Any advice would be welcomed.