I thought this would be a good time to revisit some highlights of the past month.

Disclaimer: I have definitely missed some amazing events because I haven’t yet figured out how to be everywhere at all times.

Highlights

Out of Province Wine & Cheese

This was one of my favorite events in October. Yes, there was cheese (and wine), but the most nerve-wracking exciting thing was talking to lawyers! If you’re like me and haven’t substantially interacted with lawyers prior to law school, these kinds of events can really help break the ice.

The experience reminded me of O-week when I met tons of people, and asked everyone: What’s your name/where are you from?

Except in this instance it was more like: What do you specialize in/what does (insert firm name here) practice?

Over the course of an hour, I approached several incredibly personable lawyers who were eager to share their experiences. I learned a lot about working in Calgary/Toronto, and the different opportunities to practice areas of interest.

Regardless of whether or not you want to practice out of province, I think it’s great to keep an open mind and to get into the swing of networking in general. If you take a moment to not think about the potentially awkward scenarios, it is super fun to meet people.

 

Law Students’ Legal Advice Program (LSLAP)

Not many details here for confidentiality reasons, but I have gotten to work on really interesting files. I know some of my 1L peers have also had amazing experiences (i.e. going to court!)

I [kind of] feel like a lawyer when I’m interacting with clients/speaking to a supervising lawyer/flipping through an LSLAP file.

More importantly, I really feel like I’m helping someone.

If you haven’t had a chance to sign-up for the program, or are thinking about doing this next year, I highly recommend it.

 

Legal Education Outreach (LEO)

LEO is an incredibly fun, relatively low-commitment volunteer endeavor. (When law students have to prioritize between classes/volunteering/work, I feel I should mention the latter fact.) I signed up to go to a local high school to do a presentation about the Charter.

There’s something energizing and nostalgic about being around high school students. Our group didn’t want to recreate a Constitutional 100 lecture. Instead we tried to make our presentation fun by studying a case and organizing a mock trial.

My favorite part, admittedly, was speaking with students planning to go to law school someday.

If you get a chance to do this next year, jump on it! Spots filled up fast, and I knew of peers who weren’t able to get presentation slots.

 

CANning for Success

Fact: I never knew what “CANning” was before Sep. 2012.

I didn’t even know that it was an acronym for Condensed Annotated Notes.

But, after attending the CANning for Success workshop, I feel I can CAN!

There are past CANS available on the LSS website. It has generally been recommended to prepare your own CANS for exams. I was reassured that there is no right or wrong way to CAN. While it is easy to get influenced by what everyone else around you is doing, it is important to remember that everyone learns differently.

 

Thanks for reading!