Student Life

How To Be A Lawyer While You’re Still in Law School

/ Elizabeth Blass / 2 Comments

As future law students, I’m sure you’ve all heard the rumors and stereotypes about law schools. They run the gamut — from the terrifying and incorrect (“EVERYONE IS SO COMPETITIVE AND NO ONE IS FRIENDLY AND IT’S IMPOSSIBLE TO GET AN A YOUR FIRST YEAR”), to the hilariously accurate (“Law school is high school for adults”), to the tongue-in-cheek (see, for example, Thought Catalog’s take on the 19 People You Meet in Law School). But the stereotype that most stuck out to and worried me as a prospective student was what I’d like to call the Myth of the Library Lockdown. That is, by heading off to law school, you are essentially signing yourself up for three years of good ol’ book learning, tied to a library carrel, buried under 200 pounds of Supreme Court opinions and study aids.

Don’t get me wrong. As a former English major, I can get down with the heavy reading. Chaucer, Shakespeare, and I used to be great pals; I can handle my fair share of tiny print. But that’s not why I wanted to come to law school. I taught for three years after college, came to law school with a really specific focus, and knew I wanted to get right to making an impact in real people’s lives. I was really nervous that law school was going to feel like a fruitless and frustrating gesture, a means to an end I had to just get through in order to do the work I am passionate about. But that’s because I didn’t know about clinics.

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Life at BC Law: Working During the School Year

/ Luciabc / Leave a comment

Working at BC Law’s Admissions Office I often hear from prospective or accepted students who are wondering about whether they can work during the school year while attending BC Law. I remember when I was getting ready to go to law school I thought I would try to work my first year. I worked all throughout undergrad, so I expected that it would be the same in the law school. After starting 1L year, however, I realized that there were a number of reasons to hold off and wait for my second year before getting a part-time job.

Most importantly, something I didn’t know before I got to law school is that students are highly discouraged from working during their 1L year. I think there may be an ABA rule about this but I’m not completely sure. In any case, you’ll be adjusting to a new way of learning and studying and it is best to devote yourself to your classes. I know a few students who have quietly worked a few hours a week at service industry jobs they had before school, or gotten a cushy job at the library, but the general consensus is that it is wise to steer clear of working during 1L year. Your grades during this year are extremely important so it is best to hunker down with the books and use your time outside of the library to get to know your new classmates.

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Life at BC Law: Snowpocalypse

/ Luciabc / Leave a comment

Having gone to college in southern California and grown up in the Pacific Northwest people often ask me how I’m adjusting to the weather in Boston. While it can be hard to beat year-round access to an outdoor pool (thank you Scripps College) I’ve held up just fine in the New England. I love seeing the seasons change, and after some extensive Amazon shopping for new cold weather accessories I can honestly say that I look forward to the winter time here. The cold and snow can actually be kind of fun- especially when we get a snow day!

The snow-covered streets of Cleveland Circle in 2013.

The snow-covered streets of Cleveland Circle in 2013.

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Life at BC Law: At Home in Cleveland Circle

/ Luciabc / Leave a comment

When I was looking at law schools a few years ago one of the thing I wondered about the most was what day to day life would be like at the different schools I was was considering. I couldn’t be happier that I ended up at BC, and after two and a half years here Boston is really starting to feel like home. Part of what makes the BC experience so enjoyable is the community here and  the opportunity to explore Boston with classmates. I’ll be writing about student life in general, including a variety of favorite activities in and around Boston. To start out with here is a little run down of favorite BC Law spots in Cleveland Circle.

Cleveland Circle is where a majority of BC Law students end up living, and it is perfectly situated between school and jobs downtown. I love living here because I feel like all of my friends are only a five minute walk away, which comes in handy when you need to catch a ride to school!

The Reservoir

The reservoir is one of my favorite parts about living in Cleveland Circle. In between Cleveland Circle itself and BC’s main campus is an old reservoir that the city turned into a park. The mile and a half loop is perfect for jogging in good weather and the views of the main campus and downtown Boston can’t be beat. When I need some exercise or just a little relaxation time the reservoir is my favorite place to go.

IMG_0401

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Things I Wish I Knew Vol. 1: Where and what is Boston?

/ Charlene Ochogo / 1 Comment

Since you’re interested in coming to BC (and rightfully so), you probably have a vague understanding of where Boston is — although if you’re coming from the south like I was, that understanding is limited to “up there somewhere.” But chances are, unless you’re from the area or have lived here, you don’t actually know what actually constitutes Boston and then what’s “Boston.”

See, you want to come to Boston College, the happiest law school on earth, but what you don’t realize is that BC Law isn’t in Boston; it’s in a town outside of Boston called Newton, so I guess technically we should be called Newton College, or Kind of Boston College.

Why does this matter? To native northeasterners, it probably doesn’t. But a large portion of our school is from out of state (and out of the country): California, Korea, Kansas, and my homestate, Florida. And traveling to Boston (and what I like to call the “Boston imposters”) to figure this out is expensive and time-consuming. Fear not: I’ve boiled it down to a couple of salient points.

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Semester Resolutions

/ Rob Rossi / 1 Comment

“Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long

after the excitement of the moment has passed.” – Cavett Robert

The sentiment expressed above has been a guiding force in my life ever since I googled it a few minutes ago. In all honestly, New Year’s resolutions have never been my thing. Typically I’ll make a few, spring semester will start, and yeah, that’s about the end of it.

This year, however, I am obligated resolve to be different. And not just because I made a promise to be an author for this blog. Or because as a result all my resolutions will be online for my friends to make fun of me with whenever they’re bored in the library.

No, I am writing down (typing out, whatever) realistic goals so that they will turn me into a more productive law student this semester. And if this is actually working come May, maybe we’ll extend it for all of 2015. Anything can happen.

Now, without further ado and presented in reverse order of importance to increase dramatic effect…

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Finally Finished Finals!!

/ rwmakawa / Leave a comment
This is the face of unbridled joy.

This is the face of unbridled joy.

I promise I’ll stop with the alliterative “F” titles. It’s nice to be able to put another semester in the books, and spend some quality time with family and friends back home! It’s always surprising how fast the semester ends, and also how much you’re able to learn in 13 weeks. Learning is the fun part, and preparing for The Law School Exam is…well, the non-fun part. It’s important to realize that exam season is a marathon, not a sprint, and even though you don’t get a cool medal, it’s such a great feeling to cross the finish line and know that you’ve put your all into it.

If you had a slate of classes like I did, your exam prep probably looked like this…at a minimum:

Finals Prep

 

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“Food” Fuel For Finals

/ rwmakawa / 1 Comment

Note: watch this space for more from the contributors of BC Law: Impact in the coming weeks!  Here is a preview of some of the commentary we’ll have here:

Coffee and candy. Two things I absolutely must have during finals. Luckily the Law Library supplies us with an endless supply of candy (and Whoppers, which really isn’t candy) at the front desk, and the cafeteria gives us free coffee.

Nobody wants Whoppers.
Rare full candy bowl siting!

The trick is not finishing either of these two things before you leave the library or dining hall (it’s really impossible, though).  Sometimes you just have to be a little clever…

All I wanted was a Venti.

All I wanted was a Venti.

 

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