(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

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 →

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.

Continue reading →