Life Beyond the Books, Part 1: Extracurricular Activities
Posted by Aaron on Jun 21, 2007
Despite what law school fearmongers purport, you actually will have some free time during your first year. It might not be a lot and you might feel guilty during it but it will exist. Luckily, there are a number of student organizations that would love to help you occupy it. In addition to occupying that bothersome free time, getting involved allows you to put something in that ìLaw School Activitiesî column of your resume, which is good because your undergrad activities donít really carry a lot of weight once in law school.
During undergrad, I wasnít that involved in student organizations. I attribute my lack of invovlement to working part-time and rowing on the University of Delaware Menís Crew Team. Despite my student organization-less past, I desired to seize upon the new beginning that law school provided. Starting law school, I promised myself that I would have no regrets about law school. This ìno regretsî mantra applied to everything from how hard I studied to who I met and how involved I got in extracurricular activities. ìNo regretsî was my Marshall Plan, but instead of preventing the spread of Communism to Western Europe, I was trying to stave off any lack of motivation and the effects of burn out.
Fortunate for me and my Marshall Plan, Widener has a superabundance of student organizations. Also fortunate is that the school makes efforts to expose the new students to what groups are out there. During the first week or two of classes, the law school has what they call Table Day. During Table Day, all of the student organizations set up tables along the main corridor of the law building. If you love brochures and pamphlets, then be sure not to miss table day. Along with allowing a person to add to their brochure collection, Table Day gives you a chance to talk to the people in the organizations and see what they are all about. During Table Day I got information for the Alternative Dispute Resolution Society, signed up to play flag football, and signed up to be a Student Ambassador.
The Alternative Dispute Resolution Society (ADR) was the student organization I enjoyed the most. Using a quote from the ADR website: ìthe Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Society aims to promote the study of negotiation techniques, client counseling, mediation, and arbitration.î The ADR isnít an everybody who wants in, gets in kind of student organization. In the Fall, they hold a negotiation competition and decide based on the results of that competition who gains admittance. The negotiation competition was fun and the first time I felt like a lawyer in training and not just a victim of the Socratic method. Also, being selected as a member of ADR makes you feel like you really accomplished something. In fact, I enjoyed being in ADR so much that I am the Competition Chair for next year. So, I will be planning the competitions that I got to participate in last year.
The flag football league was organized by the Sports & Entertainment Law Society (SELS). While I did participate in their flag football league, I was not a member of the SELS. Flag football started in September some time, and lasted nine weeks, I think. I signed up with a few friends thinking that law school kids wouldnít take it seriously and it would be a friendly, non-physical, backyard football game. My logic was flawed. Our team ended up 0-9. I attribute our winless season to our team selection. You see, our team was chosen based on location. Bacically, if you sat within five seats of our team captain on sign-up day, you were on the team. However, we havenít forgotten the lessons learned and plan on holding try outs for next year which, combined with our excellent position in next yearís flag football draft, should make for a comeback 2007 season.
I also mentioned that I signed up to be a Student Ambassador. Student Ambassadors give tours of the campus, and are required to take a blood oath to always love Widener University School of Law. Of course, I am kidding, sort of. Despite the oath, being a Student Ambassador isnít that involved. In fact, I only gave one tour last year, and that was voluntary.
In addition to the student organizations I joined on Table Day, I also got involved in the Student Bar Association (SBA). The SBA is the student government of the law school, replete with president, vice-president, secretary, etc. First-year students can become involved with the SBA by being elected as a First-Year Representative. Basically, somebody from the SBA came into our room during the first week of class, told us we should run for the position, and left us to engage in a heated election battle. I ended up making the cut and became one of two First-Year Representatives for Section C. I was lucky enough that the election occurred early enough in the semester that nobody had time to see how annoying I was. My job was to air grievances of my classmates and help during the many student activities the SBA plans. Not a bad gig.
In ending, these are only my experiences and involvements, which constitute just a fraction of the organizations that are out there. In fact, there are so many organizations that it can be easy to become too involved with extracurricular activities.
Feel free to ask questions by emailing aaronsblog@mail.widener.edu or clicking the discuss link.
A Roof to Sleep Under: Housing
Posted by Aaron on Jun 18, 2007
Just like where you go to law school, your choices of living situations while in law school can be just as varied. The choice ultimately boils down to your own personal situation and what works best for you. The best choice for me was living on-campus in the dorms.
Not only was the dorm the best choice for me, it was the only choice. Well, it being the only choice isnÔøΩt exactly true. I had the option of living at home and commuting to school but for many reasons I chose not to. The main reason was simple economics. I didn’t have the money to get an apartment on my own and not to mention furnish it. Also, I am a special breed of dorm dwelling student who enjoys living in concrete boxes and moving every nine months. As you can imagine, the dorms have their pluses and minuses.
The rooms aren’t anything special. As you would expect from a dorm, the dorms look like dorms. They come with the standard dorm painted cinderblock walls, community bathrooms, and come absent a kitchen. This can be somewhat of a problem if you like to eat.
The rooms, however, aren’t really that bad. For one, they are big. I don’t really know the exact dimensions but they are plenty big enough to fit all of the furniture, and then some. Which brings me to number two, the dorms are furnished. They come with a twin bed, a huge desk, two book shelves, a dresser, a wardrobe, a mini-fridge, and a microwave, which was great for me because I had none of those things. Despite the concrete walls, the rooms seem less bleak when you get all of your things moved in and hang up some pictures. Likewise, the lack of a kitchen is made less of a problem with the addition of some appliances and creativity.
The dorms also have the great benefit of being affordable. You pay one payment at the beginning of each semester and you don’t have to worry about rent payment, utilities, internet service, or cable for the remainder. I definitely got my money’s worth as I ran the A/C non-stop, which is something I will miss greatly as I face having to pay an electric bill in the near future. Bummer. The dorms are also very convenient. My commute to class consisted of about a minute walk, which is amazing for a snooze button lover like myself. It was great on those days when I forgot something in my room or those nights when I needed to make a quick trip to the library.
The dorms were the best move for me during my first year, but I’ve decided to break my ties with the concrete box world and find myself a dry wall covered apartment with a proper kitchen for year two. The dorms were a great stepping stone for me until I met some friends I could con into being my roommate. Suckers.
Feel free to ask questions by emailing aaronsblog@mail.widener.edu or clicking the discuss link.