As I sit here at my work computer dripping in sweat, I cannot begin to imagine how hot the movers have been these past few weeks. In case you haven't been around the Lower Mainland, we're in a heat wave that's comparable to the one I experienced in Israel this past May! Conveniently, this is when the Law School has planned the BIG MOVE!
Our lovely "Curtis" building (named after the first dean of UBC Law) has been the home to UBC Law for the past 30 years. I'm sure it was a lovely home in the seventies and probably the eighties as well. But come the 21st century and this home was more of a shack, a shack that didn't have enough computer outlets, looked like a cement bunker and necessitated blankets and down vests in some of the classrooms during winter.
The Law School has successfully fundraised millions of dollars to build us a new mansion! So Curtis is going down and we're moving to University Centre Lower Level (next to the Rose Garden, with a view of the ocean, and almost enough outlets for our computers!) for the next two years. All information pertaining to the move can be found here: http://www.law.ubc.ca/current/move_info.html
If you have any questions on avoiding dehydration, UBC Law or anything else give me a call (604) 827-3552 or email orientation@law.ubc.ca
Friday, July 31, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Prep time
Lately I've been getting some questions about whether/how new students should prepare before coming to UBC Law. Well, my best advice (disclaimer: I am a law student and not part of the academic services) would be to lie on the beach. There was nothing I was more thankful for last December, than the fact that the summer prior to starting law school I took the time to lie on the beach in Greece and read trashy chick lit. (Yes, I love Sophie Kinsella--who was a lawyer by the way!)
In fact, picturing myself lying on the beach was part of my calming visualization techniques I used when I was scared before an exam was about to begin. I was very thankful that the summer beforehand I had given myself a plethora of experience on which to draw from. So for now, enjoy this wonderfully warm BC weather (if you're in the area) and grab a patch of sand.
In fact, picturing myself lying on the beach was part of my calming visualization techniques I used when I was scared before an exam was about to begin. I was very thankful that the summer beforehand I had given myself a plethora of experience on which to draw from. So for now, enjoy this wonderfully warm BC weather (if you're in the area) and grab a patch of sand.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Trike races and ice cream on your faces
Law school is shockingly social. I drank more beer (scratch that--ciders) than the sorority-filled days of my undergrad. Every other Friday there is generally a beer garden for the law students, where we can get together and talk about the Oakes test and other nerdy law subjects that no other group of people would ever consider as socially appropriate conversation while a beer is in hand. And beers don't always have to be in hand either...sometimes it's ice cream sundaes. There are trivia afternoons where you form teams with your professors and compete (viciously) against other student/professor teams, while ice cream drips down your chin. And then, sadly, but socially none the less, are the study days/nights/mornings (sometimes consecutively), when you spend all day and night in the library together, whispering amongst the study carrels and ordering sushi or pizza to be delivered to the library and as you eat it together for dinner/breakfast? There are also dinners at law firms, Canadian Bar Association mentoring banquets and plenty of sports teams to join.
There are a few law social events that are specific to UBC Law, so specific in fact that any other person at UBC walking by would fear deeply for the future of the legal profession in BC. I'm referring to the annual Trike Race. A tradition so ingrained at UBC Law that many of our profs will regale you with stories of their trike race days as UBC Law Students. This event consists of teams of four chugging a beer and then racing one another on tricycles while the rest of the law school pegs them with water ballons. The kicker is that this year, there was still snow on the ground as they competed.
Check out a list of some of the social events here: http://www.law.ubc.ca/orientation/extra_curricular/social.html
If you have any questions about social events, tricycles or UBC Law in general, please give me a call: (604) 827-3552 or email: orientation@law.ubc.ca
There are a few law social events that are specific to UBC Law, so specific in fact that any other person at UBC walking by would fear deeply for the future of the legal profession in BC. I'm referring to the annual Trike Race. A tradition so ingrained at UBC Law that many of our profs will regale you with stories of their trike race days as UBC Law Students. This event consists of teams of four chugging a beer and then racing one another on tricycles while the rest of the law school pegs them with water ballons. The kicker is that this year, there was still snow on the ground as they competed.
Check out a list of some of the social events here: http://www.law.ubc.ca/orientation/extra_curricular/social.html
If you have any questions about social events, tricycles or UBC Law in general, please give me a call: (604) 827-3552 or email: orientation@law.ubc.ca
Monday, July 13, 2009
The New Facebook
For someone who loves to stay on top of all things current, you'd think I'd have a better grasp on current affairs. But sadly, I know a lot more about Brittany's latest saga than what is happening in Iraq. Since starting law school (no, we'll tell the truth--it all started last year when I was going to an interview and knew I'd be asked about current affairs, so along with facebook every morning I checked The New York Times and The Vancouver Sun) I've started to keep up with more than just Perez's blog.
It took me a while to get caught up with the world. A while, and some embarrassing questions to my father which resulted in him asking me on what bubble I'd been living for the past 22 years. But now I'm hooked. www.vancouversun.com is my new facebook and I get the New York Times headlines emailed to me every morning.
What's hooking me to these wordly affairs is more than not just looking vacuous amongst friends and parents. What's hooking me is that every other story on the front page of the Vancouver Sun has an element that is law-related and that I've probably touched on in class. For instance, Vincent Li's verdict was being released just as we were learning about why people would be held not criminally responsible for reason of a mental disorder in criminal law class. Two years ago the most I could have told you about Kyoto is that it's a place in Japan and you could probably find sushi there; now, I've studied a case on a non-profit group that brought the government to court for not adhering to their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Whether I find these subjects innately interesting or inexorably boring, I now have the knowledge to understand what is happening in this world on a deeper and more technical level, such as the logistics behind Chris Brown's court case.
If you have any questions about Perez Hilton, Law Orientation Week or anything else be sure to give me a call (604) 827-3552 or email orientation@law.ubc.ca
It took me a while to get caught up with the world. A while, and some embarrassing questions to my father which resulted in him asking me on what bubble I'd been living for the past 22 years. But now I'm hooked. www.vancouversun.com is my new facebook and I get the New York Times headlines emailed to me every morning.
What's hooking me to these wordly affairs is more than not just looking vacuous amongst friends and parents. What's hooking me is that every other story on the front page of the Vancouver Sun has an element that is law-related and that I've probably touched on in class. For instance, Vincent Li's verdict was being released just as we were learning about why people would be held not criminally responsible for reason of a mental disorder in criminal law class. Two years ago the most I could have told you about Kyoto is that it's a place in Japan and you could probably find sushi there; now, I've studied a case on a non-profit group that brought the government to court for not adhering to their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. Whether I find these subjects innately interesting or inexorably boring, I now have the knowledge to understand what is happening in this world on a deeper and more technical level, such as the logistics behind Chris Brown's court case.
If you have any questions about Perez Hilton, Law Orientation Week or anything else be sure to give me a call (604) 827-3552 or email orientation@law.ubc.ca
Thursday, July 2, 2009
We are family...I got my whole small group with me...
The other day I met a group of friends for drinks at a patio in Kits. We talked easily for three hours, even though, from an outsider's perspective we may not have a lot in common. One of us was about to get married, another was divorced with two children (one in university and the other in high school), some of us were working for the summers, while others have been relaxing on the beach. Some of us are social hummingbirds (their wings flutter much faster than their butterfly cousins) while the rest prefer to keep low profiles, but the crazy glue-like bond that got us on that patio and talking easily for over three hours is law school.
The group of people I was with were all members of my "small group". Small groups are how the law school divides up the first year class. It's like a homeroom class with a twist--the twist being that you never, ever leave one another's side for over eight months. You have every class with every member of your small group; needless to say, you get to know one another very well.
Love 'em or hate 'em (and as with family, it's often both of those emotions mixed together), the members of your small group are going to be an integral part of your first year of law school. The people on the patio, and many others, were the people that I would phone when I didn't understand an assignment, or how to cite a case properly, or what a case was saying, or what my prof was saying (okay, so there was a lot of law school that I didn't understand...) The people on the patio made the difference for me between going home and crying after a hard day and going out for drinks and laughing after a hard day. The people on the patio and I will be lifelong friends because of the year that we shared together. They are my law family and I hope you are looking forward to meeting yours too!
If you have any questions about small groups, Orientation Week or anything else, feel free to give me a call (604) 827-3552 or email orientation@law.ubc.ca
The group of people I was with were all members of my "small group". Small groups are how the law school divides up the first year class. It's like a homeroom class with a twist--the twist being that you never, ever leave one another's side for over eight months. You have every class with every member of your small group; needless to say, you get to know one another very well.
Love 'em or hate 'em (and as with family, it's often both of those emotions mixed together), the members of your small group are going to be an integral part of your first year of law school. The people on the patio, and many others, were the people that I would phone when I didn't understand an assignment, or how to cite a case properly, or what a case was saying, or what my prof was saying (okay, so there was a lot of law school that I didn't understand...) The people on the patio made the difference for me between going home and crying after a hard day and going out for drinks and laughing after a hard day. The people on the patio and I will be lifelong friends because of the year that we shared together. They are my law family and I hope you are looking forward to meeting yours too!
If you have any questions about small groups, Orientation Week or anything else, feel free to give me a call (604) 827-3552 or email orientation@law.ubc.ca
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