Two years ago, I watched as my mother ironed my clothes on the frayed wooden floors of our home in Queens in preparation for my first day as a summer associate at a Biglaw firm. I hadn’t realized that the only professional suit I owned was badly wrinkled from my travels between Boston and New York. Frustrated with the slow pace and sloppiness of my handiwork, my mom–like any other impatient mom watching her daughter panic over clothes–took over. She used the floor in lieu of our lack of a proper ironing board, wielding the same iron that we’ve had since we immigrated to the United States 20 years ago. Her wizened hands smoothed out the creases in my blazer, and I wondered how much time had passed while I hadn’t even noticed that my mom had grown old in the years she waited for me to achieve my dream.
Continue readingAuthor: Seung Hye Yang
Do This One Thing to Protect Your Sanity During Law School
One of the best pieces of advice I got in law school is to march to the beat of your own drum; in other words, pay little heed to what others are doing and focus on yourself. This has been invaluable in retaining my sanity and mental health.
Law school is designed to urge people to compare themselves to others. The unhealthy truth is that law school can be a breeding ground for comparative anxiety. Being graded on a curve means students are pitted against each other, because your own individual grade is adjusted based on how well (or not) your classmates have done. The uncertainty of job prospects also often incites fear in students; there is no guarantee that one’s actions will ultimately culminate into a result proportional to the effort put in. In this sort of environment, protecting your mental health requires a mindful effort, and the best way to do this is to tune out the noise and balance life to your needs.
Continue readingMentors: Who Needs ‘Em? (Hint: You)
Being a law student means you’re constantly feeling like you’re missing something, feeling like you have something due in a week or a final looming over the horizon of the semester. And when everything is so chaotic, it’s easy to forget that your legal career will consist of much more than the grade you get on your torts final.
As a 3L looking back on my law school journey, one thing I never knew would be so integral in my career development was mentorship. For 1L me, mentorship was merely a buzzword that was thrown around with no actual instructions on how to cultivate such a relationship. In fact, when you’re a 1L, you don’t really have the luxury to think about anything other than briefing cases for the next day—and therefore, I believed mentorship to be a chore, an extracurricular on top of everything else I had to do. I never anticipated that it would be one of my favorite parts of the legal journey.
Continue readingReflections as a 3L
When people told me as a 1L that law school would fly by in the blink of an eye, I never really believed them. It sounded like a tall tale at the time, when I was still trying to figure out whether Quimbeeing cases was worth it (spoiler alert: Quimbee is always a good choice and will save you so much time). But now as a 3L, I have to say that law school did indeed fly by–and as the end of my law school career approaches, I have much to reflect on.
Continue readingKorematsu v. United States Trial Re-Enactment
What makes law school worth it, in my opinion, is not the time spent with our noses buried in our textbooks or the late nights spent outlining for exams. It’s the everyday interactions you have with the people around you, and the spaces curated for you by fellow students who want to see you thrive and succeed in a comfortable environment. One such space is APALSA.
I have had the honor of being President of APALSA for the past school year. APALSA is the affinity group dedicated for law students who are of Asian-American and Pacific Island (AAPI) descent, yet it is so much more than that. APALSA provides a safe space for AAPI students to bond and socialize over mutual interests and backgrounds. In a predominantly white institution, it is easy to feel out of place as a student of color. APALSA aims to provide a welcoming environment where students can feel comfortable asking questions and having conversations that may be otherwise difficult to have with non-APALSA students. We pride ourselves on being an inclusive community, with most of our events being open to the general public so that they can share and partake in bits of our culture that we grew up on, whether through the delicious food we serve at general body meetings, the advice we offer during our attorney panels, or the social events we organize for students.
This year, APALSA undertook a project like no other: a trial re-enactment of Korematsu v. United States.
Continue readingStudent Org Spotlight: APALSA
What is your name, year in school, and post-grad plans?
My name is Seung Hye Yang, but I go by Shang! I am a 2L and I am working at Paul, Weiss this summer. As of right now I’m thinking of going into transactional work.
Can you give me a quick rundown of what APALSA is all about?
APALSA is a coalition of Asian-American and Pacific Islander students here at BC Law. In a predominantly white institution such as BC Law, it’s incredibly important to have a sense of community so we don’t feel lost or unseen. APALSA is a safe space for Asian-American students to come together and feel at home, even if it’s just a couple of times a month, because it’s a great reminder that we take up space at BC Law and that we are just as worthy to be here as anyone else! We’re also a very open community and welcome everyone to our events.
Continue readingStudent Org Spotlight: SALSA
1) What is your name, year in school, and post-grad plans?
Ayesha Ahsan, 2L, public interest law/civil rights litigation related to voting rights, criminal justice reform, racial justice, and immigrant justice.
Jonathan Bertulis-Fernandes, 2L, public interest appellate/civil rights work related to housing instability, disability, prisoners’ rights (it’s an evolving list…)
2) Can you give me a quick rundown of what SALSA is all about?
Ayesha: SALSA is a space for South Asian students to be in community with each other. Law school is a very white space and there are few South Asians in law school and in the legal profession generally, so we aim to create opportunities for our community members to feel comfortable and supported as they navigate this chapter in their lives.
Jonathan: What Ayesha said! I would just add that we really try to help build community and a “home base” for South Asian law students: both on campus but also with South Asian law students at other schools and members of the South Asian Bar here in Boston and Massachusetts.
Continue readingA Statement on the Monterey Park Shooting
Lunar New Year is one of the most important holidays for the Asian-American community. For Asian immigrant families in particular, it is a day to gather with family and friends, celebrate with good food and drinks, and prepare for an auspicious year going forward. The last thing that anyone would expect on such a joyous day is a mass shooting.
The Asian-American community was rocked by the sudden shooting in Monterey Park, California this past weekend. Ten victims, five men and five women, were shot dead in Star Ballroom Dance Studio, a Chinese-owned ballroom known for being popular with older Chinese-American patrons. This occurred during a local 2-day street festival for Lunar New Year. Ten others were injured, and the gunman fled and tried to re-enact the shooting at a nearby dance club in Alhambra before being disarmed by locals. The Monterey Park shooting marks at least the 36th mass shooting in the United States in January 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive, and the second mass shooting this year in California alone.
Continue readingStudent Org Spotlight: Jewish Law Students Association
What is your name, year in school, and post-grad plans?
My name is Abigail King and I am a 2L. I will be a summer associate at WilmerHale’s New York City office in 2023.
Can you give me a quick rundown of what the Jewish Law Students Association is all about?
As the only Jewish organization at BC Law, JLSA seeks to provide a supportive social network for Jewish students on campus. It is our goal to make sure that every Jewish student feels welcome at BC, no matter their denomination. To do that, we host Jewish holiday gatherings and heavily emphasize networking opportunities, professional development, and academic support.
Why did you choose to lead JLSA?
Continue readingStudent Org Spotlight: BC Law Republicans
What is your name, year in school, and post-grad plans?
Allyson Cavaretta, Class of 2023. My post-grad plans include working in the federal government on legal and policy issues pertaining to national security, compliance, emerging industries and investments.
Can you give me a quick rundown of what Boston College Law Republicans is all about?
Boston College Law Republicans provides connections for conservative/libertarian students to engage with political, legal, and academic leaders and enriches the law school experience with opportunities for learning and contributing to the public good.
Why did you choose to lead the BC Law Republicans?
Continue reading
BC Law: Impact 