Student Life

Food Review: Too Many Burritos

/ Travis Salters / Leave a comment

Last month, we launched a spotlight series focused on local foods, because no one should need to search far for good food. We started with a quintessential American staple — bagels. Today, we turn to a food that serves as the perfect quick lunch or dinner when you’re heading to or from campus – BURRITOS! Keep in mind, as we mentioned in the first review, the locations we’re critiquing are narrowed to those in the immediate Newton area surrounding the BC Law campus. 

We (Tess Halpern and Travis Salters) traveled to six different restaurants for burritos in the span of approximately two hours. To keep our orders consistent, we stuck to one chicken burrito, typically with lettuce, pico de gallo, rice, beans, and cheese inside. Needless to say, we didn’t feel our lightest after this experience. May our sacrifices serve the people! 

Read on…

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What’s Law School Really Like? Let Me Tell You.

/ Michael Deere / Leave a comment

When I was applying, I brought my wife to Admitted Students’ Day. It was a Big Deal. We both dressed up. She sat with me through the mock class. We had lunch together in the cafeteria. She came to the panels, went on the tour, and generally learned as much about law school as I did. It was a good day. A really good day. And though I learned a great deal, I still wanted to know: what’s law school really like? How do people dress for class? Is cold-calling really as bad as it seems? Will I make friends? Are the professors like Kingston in The Paper Chase? That kind of thing. 

I think what I was looking for was the law school equivalent of those really detailed product reviews on Amazon that you just kinda trust. You know the type. The reviewer always sounds like they really want to like the product, but they’re just not sure. They go over the results of their research. They compare models. And they’re always weirdly specific about little things: “yeah, I ran the Samurai Slicer on full speed. Noticed a slight wobble, but that’s pretty standard on models like this one that use a polymer base instead of steel.” It sounds authentic. It sounds real. 

Where was that for BC Law? Not the HR presentation, not the Tour Talk, but the weirdly specific Amazon review. Well, guess what? It’s right here. So after you unsubscribe from the r/lawschooladmissions subreddit and join r/lawschool, take a moment to yourself, crack open a Success Beer, and read on to find out what BC Law is really like…

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Spinning Through Law School

/ Melissa Gaglia / Leave a comment

“Hype yourself up, before you psych yourself out!”  These are the words that I constantly yell at my peers . . . in the spin room. This past August, I became a certified spin instructor. My decision to become a spin instructor was encouraged by my classmate Ben Minerva. Ben knew that I was going to spin classes daily and questioned why I did not just become an instructor.  Fast forward after months of training and making playlists, and I have been teaching spin classes at Boston College’s Margot Connell Recreation Center four times a week. 

The highlights of my week have often been filled with moments from my spin classes. Spin has acted like a safe haven for me from the stresses that come with being a law student. Someone once told me that the feeling of being nervous is identical to the feeling of being excited. I use my spin classes as a way to channel my law school fueled nerves into the exciting energy that comes with teaching a spin class. My spin classes have also been a space where I have grown so much as a person. I learned how to find and use my voice, how to troubleshoot problems on the spot, and how to build trust and rapport quickly with those who barely know me. All of these lessons, in my opinion, are transferable to my legal career. 

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The 1L Summer Internship Search: Four Things to Keep in Mind

/ Tess Halpern / Leave a comment

When I was a 1L, I thought I would secure my summer internship over winter break. However, I quickly realized that was a bit of a pipe dream as I kept applying to opportunities and getting little response. I wasn’t too concerned until February rolled around, when I started to fear it wouldn’t happen for me. I was a hard-working student! I had good grades! What if I never got an internship?!

If you’re at this point in your 1L summer internship search, be sure to remember the following:

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Student Org Spotlight: APALSA

/ Seung Hye Yang / Leave a comment

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.

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Check out the BC Law Ski Trip on TikTok

/ kristievhoang / Leave a comment

Each February, The Law Student Association holds a beloved annual tradition at BC Law: ski trip. Dozens of students head to the mountains in Killington, Vermont, to bunk up together in condos and hit the slopes before finding great restaurants and bars at night to socialize.

This year, we featured the ski trip on our brand new TikTok channel. Check that out–and all the rest of our great content on the channel!

@bclawonline

Got away from the casebooks for a weekend 🚡 #ski #vermont #lawtok #lawschool #IAmBCLaw

♬ original sound – Boston College Law School

Go to @bclawonline for more TikTok content from BC Law, from faculty talking about the latest legal news to a day-in-the-life of students.

The Most Important Advice I’ve Received about My Summer Job Search

/ Michael Deere / Leave a comment

Along with every other 1L, I am applying for a summer job. I’ve been to networking events, workshops, panels, and how-tos. My notebook overflows with well-meaning advice and guidance. The problem is that none of it applies to me. I don’t have a resumé; I’ve never had one. 

I’m what people call a “non-traditional” law student. I came late to law school after building a career as a professor. I did have a distinguished undergraduate career, filled with awards, accolades and accomplishments. But I can’t put those things on my resumé. That was twenty some years ago. It would look weird, my notebook says. Out of place (underlined). They were important things. Bright, big things. They mattered then, and they matter now. But it won’t help me land a summer job. Employers don’t want to see that, quotes the notebook. So, /select/highlight/delete, and just like that, parts of my life are cut away. Besides, I need that space so I can focus on my strengths (circled; exclamation point). Because the resumé manuals tell me I have to…wait, where is it…oh, right. Lead with my core competencies (question mark). And above all, circled and twice underlined and given arrows all around it, the number-one-most-important-thing-to-remember-is…just be yourself!

But the problem with being yourself is that it’s hard to know who that is.

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The Law of Everything

/ Thomas R. Blakely / 1 Comment

A consistent theme of my past three years in law school has been the parallel between learning the law, and how both its practice and pretense have seemingly become the epicenter of everything. 

It’s not just what has become something of a national sport of canceling, suing, impeaching, boycotting, censoring, deplatforming, overriding, misinforming, deposing, doxxing, room-reading and of course, vibe-checking—but also the tendency of today’s political and legal intelligentsia to continuously find new things to complicate and extend “the law” into.

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Student Org Spotlight: SALSA

/ Seung Hye Yang / Leave a comment

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.

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4 Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Panopto Recordings

/ Tess Halpern / Leave a comment

When classes went remote during the Covid-19 pandemic, Boston College installed cameras in every classroom to record lectures. These videos are designed to encourage sick students to stay home, as they can now do so without falling behind on classes. However, there are many other ways to use these recordings to your advantage! Here are some tips for using “Panopto” this semester.

Review Material While Outlining

This seems like a no-brainer, but it’s probably the best use of Panopto recordings out there, so it’s worth mentioning. You won’t be able to watch every class lecture during finals week, so you shouldn’t rely on these recordings too much as the semester begins winding down. However, watching a class or two to refresh your memory on particularly challenging or confusing topics could be really useful.

I tend to only use these recordings during finals prep when I’m reviewing notes that no longer make sense to me. Going back to the Panopto from that class and watching the short clip where I took those notes can clear up a lot of confusion. This is a great way to quickly resolve an issue without halting your study progress to meet with a professor. Getting to the bottom of the confusion on your own will also help you remember the material better than you’d be able to if a peer simply told you the answer.

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