Student Life

Transferring to BC Law: “Getting to Legal Eagle”

/ Marx P. Calderon / 1 Comment

Don’t be afraid, the grass really is greener. Being the new kid is never easy. It’s especially difficult when you walk into a new law school where everyone has already developed relationships that come along with surviving the grind of 1L.

As soon as I set foot in BC Law, I was embraced by a student body that genuinely wanted me to be here. Within my first week I was assigned a 3L “mentor” (Greg Steiner ’15) to show me the ropes and answer any question I had about the school. The best word of advice from Greg was to join a softball team. He placed me on a team with his friends called “Oliver Wendell Homies.” That was my opportunity to mingle with the 3L’s and get to know the social environment at BC better. IT WAS A BLAST. Like peanut butter and jelly, who doesn’t love softball and beer?

Softball

“Oliver Wendell Homies”

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Yes, We Go to School Sponsored Social Events: Boat Cruise

/ Maria Colella / Leave a comment

When I was researching where to go to law school, many online resources referred to Boston College Law School as the “Disney World of Law Schools.” What does that mean? I remember thinking. In general, BC Law was known (in the cyber world at least) for having students who are nice to each other. I figured, if it’s the Disney World of Law Schools, maybe it will be kind of… fun?

To my elation, the analogy is apt. BC Law is fun. One of my favorite parts of BC from the beginning has been that the School, usually through the Law Students Association, throws social events. And, more importantly, people actually go to them.

1L: Boat Cruise 2014

I was having a conversation with a fellow 2L last week. “I was talking to some of the 1Ls and they asked, what’s the big deal with this Boat Cruise? Do people actually go to that? And I said: Yes! Everyone goes.” The line for tickets on the last day was at least 50 people long.

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It’s Raining Mens Rea! Week 3: Back on Track & Bonus 1L Team Name Rankings

/ Rob Rossi / 1 Comment

Don’t call it a comeback! This past Saturday, the bent-but-not-broken It’s Raining Mens Rea reversed its losing ways with an emphatic 10-3 victory over 2L stalwarts Lawyers, Guns, Money.

We don’t want to get too ahead of ourselves. But the win definitely called to mind a football game from October 5, 2014 that proved reports of the demise of a certain athletic powerhouse to be quite premature.  Details and a bonus breakdown of the newly unveiled 1L team names follow the break. Continue reading →

On Campus: Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan at BC Law

/ Elizabeth Blass / Leave a comment

If you’re familiar with the West Wing — which, if you’re not, what are you doing with your life — you’ll know what I mean when I say that “the Supremes” are a big deal in the world of law school. As any law student will tell you, you spend a great deal of time during your three years reading, talking and learning about what the Justices of the Supreme Court have decided and why.

Last week, the students at BC Law got to skip the casebook and learn straight from one of the sources herself: Justice Elena Kagan, the newest judge appointed to the bench. Justice Kagan answered questions from law school Dean Vincent Rougeau, as well as from students in the audience, and spoke about a wide variety of topics, including the importance of legal writing and being a woman on the bench.

As a Supreme Court fangirl, I gotta tell you — it was pretty freaking cool. Check out BC Law magazine’s article on the Q&A here, and a few photos of the event below!

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It’s Raining Mens Rea! Week 1: The BC Law Softball League Returns

/ Rob Rossi / 2 Comments

Being a lawyer is my second dream job. My first was succeeding Ted Williams, Carl Yastrzemski, Jim Rice, and Manny Ramirez in the long line of legendary Red Sox left fielders.

I’ve accepted the fact that I’ll never stand in the shadow of the Green Monster while raking in millions of dollars. But the BC Law Softball League helps me work towards my current dream job while coming as close as I possibly can to experiencing the original.

In this post, I’ll provide some background info about the way the league is organized and run. Then I’ll explain my team’s quest for redemption after a heartbreaking finish last year. Finally, I’ll include the results of this weekend’s games along with the standings, which I will try my best to update weekly until a new softball champion is crowned. Continue reading →

Things I Wish I Knew, Vol. 13: Things I hope you’ve learned

/ Charlene Ochogo / Leave a comment

Dear 1Ls,

First of all, how exciting is it that I can officially call you that? For so long, you were all “incoming 1Ls” or “almost 1Ls” or “soon-to-be 1Ls” and you finally made it! Tomorrow is the first day of your legal career (holy cow!) and I for one cannot thank you enough for letting me and every one of our talented BC Law Impact contributors be a part of your journey up to this moment.

I think I speak for all our contributors when I say that when we first started writing for the blog, we figured we would reach a couple dozen people — probably our friends and family who would click the links to humor us. But you truly have overwhelmed us, and certainly me, in the positive feedback for this pilot project. I cannot tell you how amazing it is to meet you all in person and to hear you say that you read one of my posts and how it helped you in such and such a way.

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Things I Wish I Knew, Vol. 12: Networking 101 – They can totally tell you just came for the food

/ Charlene Ochogo / Leave a comment

(Let me preface this post by mentioning that I like food. A lot.)

So I figured I would post this now because, believe it or not, some of you have your first networking events looming on the immediate horizon. (Hint hint: orientation.) And I know many of you are probably a little nervous about diving in headfirst into the networking pool, so allow me to provide you some water wings:

The food is a trap.

Well, not entirely. You see, whenever you go to a networking event, you’ll see delightful, delicious, and most importantly, free  food laid out all ready to be eaten.

The spread at a BC Law Admitted Students reception

The spread at a BC Law Admitted Students reception

We college students are adept at eating anything that doesn’t run away from us, so the temptation is almost unwieldily at times. But you must resist! I don’t know why these employers torture us with food we can’t possibly eat in a polite way, but I know that you too will be faced with your culinary kryptonite (for me, it was spare ribs), and have to just say no. Continue reading →

What You Need for 1L, Day 1

/ Elizabeth Blass / Leave a comment

Starting off my 1L year, I was several years out of college. This was anxiety inducing for several reasons, but one, in particular, I didn’t expect: I had no idea what an adult human being in graduate school needed to bring to class. Do I bring notebooks? Every single one of my 50-pound books? Maybe get my hands on a trapper keeper? (Fun fact: I 100% owned that trapper keeper in the 4th grade.)

To help you avoid the onset of organizational stress, and facilitate your inevitable Staples run, I’ve compiled a list of some items you may want to think about bringing on the first day.

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Things I Wish I Knew, Vol. 11: Networking 101 – So what do I call them, exactly?

/ Charlene Ochogo / Leave a comment

Dear incoming 1Ls,

It’s been a while since my last segment of TIWIK, and that’s primarily because I wanted to find a topic that would be most useful to you in the next month or so while you’re getting ready for orientation and school to start. (15 days! Whoo!) So I got to thinking and I remembered that my first year almost exactly a year ago, the first month was filled with what I soon came to regard as a four-letter word: networking.

If you’re anything like me, networking will be a totally foreign concept to you, and you really will feel out of your league for a little while. What is supposed to come from this?, you’ll ask yourself. What is the purpose of this except to make me feel awkward and have to stand in heels for two straight hours?

Fear not, friends. Because for the next few weeks, I will be doing a series on the do’s and don’ts of networking that will make you feel at least marginally better about putting yourself out there.

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