Hi, future 1Ls.
I hope you’re well, considering you’re only about a month away from starting law school.
Some of you are excited beyond measure, trying to consume every Reddit recommendation you can find. Some of you are stressed and already drafting warning notes to your loved ones about the person you’re about to become over the next three years.
Consider this my own warning note—one intended to level out both camps.
Continue readingHi future Legal Eagles,
I’m so excited you decided to join us this Fall. BC Law has truly been the best decision I’ve ever made (so far), and I’m sure many of you will share my sentiments.
But let’s talk logistics.
Continue readingI recently received a call from a recruiter with the Marines assessing my interest and eligibility for their law student program. After candidly informing the recruiter that I have never done a single pull-up in my entire life (this was in response to a question; I would not have offered this information unprompted), he asked me how fast I could run three miles. The answer is that I would never voluntarily put myself in a situation that requires running three consecutive miles.
Continue readingEternal January has ended, and Forever February has entered the picture. This winter has been particularly brutal, and, at least according to the baseless claims of that godforsaken groundhog, spring is still a long way off. Yet, sandwiched in the middle of what may be the dreariest month of the year is one of my favorite commercialized holidays: Valentine’s Day.
Continue readingLast week, amidst the frenzy of trying to finish my final memo, I crafted what I thought to be a fantastic plan for the upcoming Thanksgiving break: lock myself in my apartment until I develop a miraculous understanding of the rules of civil procedure, frantically apply for as many jobs as humanly possible, and purchase a pumpkin pie to eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
Now that I’ve submitted my memo and the initial mania has subsided somewhat, I can tell that the overconsumption of pie is likely the only realistic part of that plan. This is the paradox of Thanksgiving break for law students—on one hand, everyone is relieved to have some time off. On the other, it doesn’t really feel like a break with the looming threat of finals hanging over all of us.
Continue readingI recently asked one of my friends here at BC if he ever gets homesick and he responded with a definitive “no.” While I do think he was being purposefully facetious just to irk me, I did take a moment to consider how I’ve been more prone to homesickness than many of my peers. Most of my law school friends are from the area, with their families and close friends nearby. Meanwhile, my parents and many of my high school friends are back in Oregon, whereas the majority of my college friends from USC stayed in California.
Continue readingThe start of a new school year is a hectic time. Figuring out new classes, learning brand-new material, and readjusting to the school-year schedule can be a bit overwhelming. I have been finding myself jotting down dates, searching my emails for important information, and panic-texting a classmate or two to make sure I am not missing anything.
In an attempt to quell the chaos, I put together some pertinent administrative information for the semester. Whether it’s knowing when the next shuttle is arriving to get to school or having resources to learn more about different BC Law departments, this guide has helped me keep everything in one place.
The Admitted Student Guide is back and better than ever!
I found this 70+ page guide super helpful when I was an admitted student trying to figure out how to navigate everything around transitioning to law school, from legal terminology, BC’s campuses and departments, registering for classes, Law Library resources, and moving to Boston. Do you need to have a car to get around? Where are the best (or cheapest) places to eat? Where do most students live? What the heck is an Agora Portal?
The Law Student Association (LSA) and the Admissions Office put this book together to help answer all those questions and more. It’s a goldmine of information for new students, especially those from out of state.
Check out the new guidebook for the BC Law Class of 2023 here.
Studying for final exams in law school is stressful. The stakes are high, the hours are long, and the despair can…fester. I was generally aware of the pressure built into a grading system centered around distributive bell curves when I enrolled, but in my first week at Boston College the reality set in. Something terrible happened: I met my peers, and they were every kind of smart, impressive and terrifying. They were students coming from across the country and around the world, some from THOSE big name schools and others with remarkable professional experience.
Naturally I compared them to myself, the dumbest person I know. That was a bad move for my self-confidence, but sometimes you just have to keep moving forward. So, that’s what I did heading into finals season.
The coronavirus has impacted life around the globe, and it’s now hit Boston College where we live: the University has moved to online learning for all classes and students are required to leave campus (unless you file for an exemption due to travel restrictions, serious personal reasons, or university obligations). Here’s the official BC announcement.
We’re not alone in this: as most of our readers already know, universities are shutting their doors around the country for weeks, or in some cases (as with BC) for the rest of the semester. It’s the right thing to do to try to limit the spread of the virus and keep people safe, but we’re going to miss our daily BC Law routines, professors, and friends!
That said, the Impact blog isn’t shutting down. So keep checking back for more posts from us on all sorts of subjects, including our recent spring break service trip experiences. We’re all still here (at least on a virtual basis), and ready to bring more content your way. Stay safe everyone!
BC Law: Impact 