Before you ask, yes. I am still technically a 1L, which makes writing something like this feel a little premature. But as the semester starts to wind down (26 days left but who’s counting, right?), I have found myself reflecting more than I expected.
Continue readingAuthor: Isabella Calise
Your (Unofficial) Guide to St. Paddy’s Day Weekend in Boston
Yes, it’s Saint Paddy’s — not Patty’s.
I’ve somehow managed to write about something law-related in every article I’ve contributed to this blog so far. Today, however, I’m choosing joy. Coming off of spring break and realizing that morale is still… let’s call it… fragile in Crim Law, I think it’s time we talk about something more exciting than case briefs and writing competition materials.
Continue readingRealistic Resolutions for a 1L (That I Might Actually Keep)
By January of 1L year, the idea of a “New Year’s resolution” feels ambitious at best and slightly delusional at worst. After surviving fall finals and learning, the hard way, what doesn’t work, I’m setting a few resolutions for second semester. Nothing revolutionary, just realistic enough that I might actually end up doing them.
Continue readingLessons from a Jesuit Education: Growth, Purpose, and the Practice of Law
Because, I, too, once didn’t know what a Jesuit education entailed. Now, I can’t imagine who I’d be without it.
By way of background, I’ve been a Catholic school kid pretty much my whole life—since second grade, technically—and I actually liked it. When my parents offered to switch me to the local public school after we moved when I was nine, I chose to stay where I was. I wanted to keep wearing my jumper and tie (yes, girls could wear ties too) and keep going to religion class.
Continue readingI Survived the Waitlist—and You Can, Too
Because the admissions cycle is hard enough, here’s a little story of having hope during (and surviving) the process.
When the word “waitlist” appeared in bold on my decision portal, I slammed my laptop shut so fast it nearly caught my fingers. I had braced for rejection, prayed for acceptance, and instead landed in the purgatory no one prepares you for. I’m not a betting woman, but if you had asked me then whether I thought I’d get in, I would’ve said no. Still, seeing it stung.
Continue readingDiscovering Advocacy Before the Courtroom: My Journey to Law School
One Monday morning in the summer of 2022, I was greeted at work by my boss eagerly telling me today I would be meeting the defendant in the self-defense case I just started working on. After anxiously waiting until lunch, I watched with surprise as a young boy—barely five foot seven and still sporting a baby face—walked through my door and told me he was just seventeen yet was being tried as an adult for second-degree murder.
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BC Law: Impact 