Student Life

Yes, We go to School-Sponsored Social Events: Bar Review

/ Maria Colella / Leave a comment

It’s the second week of the semester and, more importantly, the week of the first Bar Review. It is conveniently, if confusingly, named “Bar Review” so that it sounds like you may be spending your Thursday evening studying for the Bar. Thankfully, it is really a night that the BC Law community takes over a local bar.

Bar Review is the perfect time to take a break and talk to some of your friends about something other than class. Unlike school-sponsored events in college that may have been sparsely attended, Bar Review is very well attended at BC Law.

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Bar Review at Tavern in the Square 1L Year (2014)

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Why It’s Okay for You to Ask Me About My Hair

/ Charlene Ochogo / 1 Comment

No, really, this isn’t a trap. It’s okay.

I got to thinking about this the other day at my bartending job when a customer made a comment on my hair.

She was an older white woman (we’ll call her Jane) sitting with her husband. Since we had all of ten customers in the bar at the time, I’d been shooting the breeze and answering questions from Jane and her husband, when Jane smiled and said, “Your hair is so gorgeous. How do you do it?”

Let’s begin with this: I have a lot of hair. Both the hair that grows out of my scalp and the hair that is only mine thanks to capitalism and the laws of possession.

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Taking a Leave

/ Caroline Reilly / 1 Comment

When I started law school, I didn’t think it would go like this. I thought the hardest thing I would have to face would be the workload, and my commute. The only thing I feared was my anxiety taking over, and making it hard for me to get by. I was scared, but excited, at the prospect of three years doing something I had been working so hard and so long to do.

When I started law school I never thought I would miss almost all of my 1L spring to a chronic illness I had only just learned I have. I didn’t think I would have to postpone my finals to accommodate surgery to get better. I couldn’t imagine I would miss almost all of my 2L fall to that same illness, after the first surgery didn’t work. And never, in all my wildest fears did I think I would be taking the spring semester of my 2L year off to have another surgery; my second in less than a year.

But here I am.

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Study Abroad, Travel Abroad

/ Maria Colella / Leave a comment

My recent trip with friends to Germany illustrates a larger truth about our BC Law community and the bonds we form here. The experience reinforced how a friendship born in law school can transcend the BC Law bubble—and reminded me of the importance of expanding our hearts and minds and getting away from the stress of studying for a while.

Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany offers an exchange program in International and Comparative Business Law to students all over the world. BC Law usually sends at least one student to the program. This year that student is Stephanie Ragland. She is a double eagle (she went to BC for undergrad as well). She is also a close friend of mine.

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A Time for Reflection

/ Ryan Murphy / Leave a comment

Note: I’m pleased to host a guest blog today from Ed Hanley, Class of 1986. Ed is tax director of a regional accounting firm in San Francisco. He started being involved as an alumnus in 1989 when he joined the Alumni Board as the young alumni representative. When he moved to Washington DC, he joined with Carroll Dubuq (Class of 1962) to co-found the BC Law Club of Washington, DC. He is active in alumni events on the West Coast and recently rejoined the board of the Alumni Association, taking partial responsibility for reunions.

Ed and his partner Bill split their time between San Francisco and Popponesset Beach, Cape Cod.

Reunion Weekend is an excellent opportunity to catch up with old friends, take in the sights and sounds of a campus so similar and yet so very different from years ago, and to remember why BC Law is such a special place. This year’s Reunion brought up so many memories for me—and a few surprises, too.

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These Shows May Not Have Been Written For You, But It’d Be Super Cool If You Watched Anyway

/ Charlene Ochogo / Leave a comment

We’re coming up on the 60th anniversary of the television becoming a staple in American homes. And I can’t be the only one who’s noticed the spectacularly colorful fall line-up of shows this year.

Marvel’s Luke Cage (Netflix). Insecure (HBO). Atlanta (FX).

But I’m already fearful for these shows’ longevity. Because there are some who feel uncomfortable by their very existence.

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What To Watch on Your Precious Study Breaks

/ Caroline Reilly / Leave a comment

In law school, our free time is precious, so how we spend it matters. Wasting time on a show you’re unsure you’ll like is just too risky. Never fear though, because I’m here.

I watch a lot of TV — admittedly too much. Everyone has their vice. Some people like a night out on the town, others treat themselves to a nice bottle of wine and some fancy cheese. I watch TV.

Here are my top suggestions for what to watch, whether you need some comfort, some time away from the law, or some inspiration.

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Humans of BC Law: Laura and Bernard Zapata-Kim

/ Charlene Ochogo / 1 Comment

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“We got married August 9th, 2014. We went to the Caribbean for three days, and then we came up to move in and go to orientation the next day. 1L year, we basically did everything together except go to class. We were both here that summer, and we realized that we both wanted the same thing: to go to a big firm and do corporate work. And then this past summer, our 2L summer, we were both in New York, and we’ll be going back there after graduation…with a baby! Continue reading →

You’ll Be Fine. Trust Me.

/ Caroline Reilly / Leave a comment

My first year of law school was hard for a number of reasons. I commuted from the North Shore everyday to avoid the debacle of finding an apartment, but this meant a ninety minute trip to school and back every day. To make my 9 am Torts class in the Fall, I would take the commuter rail into the city, and then an hourlong Green Line train ride to Cleveland Circle, where I would either pick up the shuttle or bum a ride from a fellow student heading to campus (thank you Colleen, and thank you Karla, you two saved me).

Imposter syndrome compounded my anxiety and I went from being someone who was hard on herself to someone who was impossible with herself. I was convinced that I wasn’t good enough, that I would fail my finals, and that graduating (or even making it to 2L year) wasn’t a given. I spent most of the year walking the ever-thinning tightrope of telling myself I deserved to be at BC, while not getting so confident that I would slip up and lose focus.

Then my dog died.

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Summer Associate, Week 1: 59 Thoughts

/ Charlene Ochogo / Leave a comment

Okay, so granted, I was also a summer associate last year.

Last summer, I wrote to you about what it was like to be a 1L at a firm and how much I was able to do despite how little we feel like we learn in law school. After having the honor of being asked back to the same firm for this summer, I decided to shake it up a little bit. I was feeling inspired by BuzzFeed’s recent posts of the same nature on Season 6 of Game of Thrones, so I decided to give you all an “unfiltered” peek into what my first week as a summer associate at a firm in Western New York was like, with some Michael Scott references peppered in — because, after all, I do work in an office.

  1. Heels hurt. I can practically hear my toes monologuing about why they hate me.
  2. Okay, but the way heels click across a floor makes you sound like a boss. I feel like I’m in the beginning of that Jordan Sparks song. Like, look at me, I’m important, I know where I’m going-
  3. Uh oh. Where am I going?
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