We’ve made it through the first two weeks! I think that deserves a pat on the back because things move fast around here. Orientation seems like a distant memory and we are in the thick of it now (already!).

Last week was a tad hectic. There was a moment when I turned to a classmate and muttered “And I thought the first week was busy…” My new friend looked at me and kindly said, “I think you’ll be even busier next week.”

Touché.

So what do I mean when I say things are a bit hectic these days? Well, I’ve been spending lots of time on the things you’d expect: reading and prepping for classes. But there is certainly a lot more than that going on. At the start of UBC Law, you may very well find yourself blown away by all the extracurricular opportunities you are presented with. For example, there are a number of programs that allow you to dive right into legal aid work (in your very first month of law school!). To name just a few, there’s CoRe, Pro Bono Students of Canada, and the Law Students Legal Advice Program. On top of these, there are sports teams to join, the Law Review to edit, the Centre for Feminist Legal Studies to be a part of, moots to compete in, and many (MANY) meet and greets to attend.

Plus, let’s not forget the four long days of classes each week. All of this adds up! With this in mind, allow me to pass on a few preliminary lessons I’ve learned about time management thus far:

1)   You can’t do it all, and you’re not expected to (thankfully).

2)   It can seem a bit overwhelming. Before you even get a good sense of what law school is going require from you, you’re given the chance to sign up for a thousand different things that all sound good.

3)   Take a deep breath and pick a few things that you’re interested in, and go for it! According to all the upper year students I’ve talked to, you won’t regret it.

4)   Having Mondays off is a godsend.

5)   At the end of an especially long day, there is no shame in eating dinner from 7-11.

One of the orientation activities was a speed-dating “meet the profs” session, where we ran between rooms every 15 minutes to meet each of our six new  professors. I was not the only one impressed with the teaching calibre. Many profs are authors or editors of our course texts, and  all have spectacular professional backgrounds. At least two of my six – that we know of – have clerked for the Supreme Court. At least one has made a movie.

After O-week, we jumped right in to our classes, and the professors held true to expectations of calibre. It’s interesting to note that the classes I thought I’d like the least – criminal, for example – are taught by some of the most engaging professors, which makes them that much better.

Readings were assigned promptly. Six courses of 20-30 pages per class, per lecture, adds up quickly. Never have I seen such social people work so hard during a first week of classes, but we rose to the challenge. Our work ethic was surely helped by the course material itself: each and every course opened up a whole new path of thought, information, and perspective to explore.

Classes weren’t the only thing that filled our time. We’ve already had two law firms (Boughton and BLG) host social events for us to attend after classes. Lunch hours were packed with info sessions for extra-curricular activities, often with overlapping schedules. And the Law Student Society‘s “Clubs Fair” was surely the end for many of us: from the hockey team to the Law Review, many of us walked away over-committed, as there were simply so many great things to get involved with.

Thankfully, following our first full week was our first full weekend. The UBC Law schedule gives us three-day weekends every weekend, and our first was certainly a godsend. It was kicked off by a giant class social at a bar on Granville Island on Friday night, but many of us spent the rest of the weekend individually re-grounding and re-connecting, getting ready for the times ahead.

Orientation week was a blur.

It was a fun, engaging, and absolutely jam-packed blur. For nearly a week, we were kept busy with a mix of welcome lectures, advice-laden sessions, and team-building icebreakers.

At times, we’d find ourselves squared off in a cheering competition; at other times, we were given riveting lectures on the law by Profs Nikos Harris and David Duff. Some sessions missed their mark (at times, there was just too much advice) but many others hit the bullseye (the closing banquet and the following social night at Mahoney’s topped my list).

Perhaps most importantly, we got to meet our “small groups,” the 20-25 students we’ll take each and every class with this year. Out of the 184 students entering this fall (more than 2,000 applied, we were told), these are the two dozen students we’ll be getting to know the best.

It’s a humbling experience, getting to know talented students who attend law school. We have fine arts majors and finance students, yoga teachers and former government employees, as well as a predictably healthy share of political science and philosophy students.

Just as I’d hoped, every one of them was very intelligent, interesting, and had their own spark of something special. And also as I’d hoped, it certainly seems that we all share the desire for our UBC law experience to be a collaborative environment (as opposed to an uber-competitive, dog-eat-dog environment you can find at some schools). So far, so good!

I admit it: I didn’t sleep particularly well the night before the first day of classes. I laid in bed going over one unlikely situation after another, wondering what in the world I was getting myself into. I arrived for orientation with my eyes a tad blood-shot and my heart pounding, only to discover that there wasn’t much to get myself worked up over.

I enjoyed my first three days of law school so very much, I was honestly surprised. This left me feeling somewhat guilty about my apparently low expectations, when I realized I had made some false assumptions about what the next three years would be like.  Last week made me reconsider at least two of these presumptions.

First, I expected the classroom dynamics to include a hefty dose of competitiveness. I remember telling a friend of a friend that I would be starting law school in September, and his response was “I hear if you drop a pencil during an exam in law school, the person sitting next to you will kick it out of reach.” All I could manage in reply was a squeaky “Really?”

He continued: “Yeah. And that people tear pages out of books on reserve in the library!”

Well, friend of a friend, I’m not sure where you heard these things, but you were wrong. The orientation activities, getting to know the group of people I’ll have all my classes with, and the vibes I got from upper year students have put these notions to rest. Sure, in some ways we’re competing, but the tone so far has been one of collaboration and camaraderie.

Second, I’ve always seen the legal profession as being a bit of a man’s world. While I am not yet in the work force, what I’ve seen from UBC Law in terms of diversity, I’m really happy about. Five of my six professors: women. At least half of the distinguished speakers last week: women, and diverse women at that.  More than 50% of my classmates: women. Going beyond gender, we seem like a good mix of backgrounds and perspectives.

There may be one more day of orientation left, but for the most part introductions have been made and tomorrow we’ll roll up our sleeves. Tonight, I expect to have a good night’s sleep and will be bright-eyed and ready to go!

It is nearing the end of the first day of the orientations program that all incoming law students at UBC go through. I was only a little excited about the program beforehand (up to this morning, that is), but as soon as it started my enthusiasm grew exponentially.

The incoming law students have all been divided into eight small groups. These appear to take on the name of a historical figure in the British Columbia legal system. Some groups seem to have learned a lot about the origin of their names; all I know is that mine is named Goye, so I suppose it will make a sort of project some blustery Vancouver evening to find out more about him. These groups will, they tell us, become a highly useful source of camaraderie for studying and what not, since we have all eight classes together. It was a bit overwhelming to remember all the names and backgrounds. Tomorrow they are to have a group dinner for everyone at a restaurant on Broadway. I almost wish they would wait a fortnight or so and have it when we know each other better and can discuss our professors in privacy, but I bet I’ll like things as they are when I go tomorrow.

We also had a fine introductory presentation, the first twelve minutes of which being a rather informative session on the history of the first nation upon whose land our law school sits. Then we heard presentations from a few people involved in the legal profession in British Columbia. I’m entirely new to everything about law, never having so much as given it a thought till recently, so names like de Jong meant nothing to me. Yet each one of them proved a fascinating and engaging speaker. I must admit to having wondered, throughout the day, whether I was indeed in the right program, as one does when starting something so new and different. As I listened through the speeches, I began to feel altogether more excited and free from inhibitions. It really helps me to feel that I’m worthy of accomplishments when those profiled talk about how they felt in the moment where we are now, a week before classes are to start.

At the barbecue which followed, I couldn’t help but wonder whether one of our sponsoring law firms’ heaviest clients was a doughnut chain, for the doughnuts at the barbecue came in addition to those presented along with coffee at the small group introductions. They are, to be sure, excellent doughnuts. But more importantly, I had conversations in depth with a graduate in computer science, a student in the First Nations program, and a student originally from the Ukraine, all of whom demonstrated the sheer wealth of background and diversity in our class. I came in thinking everyone would have a degree in political science, but I met students who can boast of five-to-ten-year careers in large computing corporations and in public interest and social services, and whose commerce backgrounds are impressive to the utmost, and some English majors who came straight to law school without doing anything spectacular in the interim.

For now, I’m very pleased with the day and ready for another. Tomorrow we shall have more lectures, which means more of a summary to come.

Less than 24 hours until the first meeting of our incoming UBC Law class.

Throughout the day, Facebook has told me stories of my fellow class members. Excitement and anticipation abound. Everyone seems to recognize this as a new chapter, a turning point in life. I feel the same way, and like my fellow classmates, I am curious to see what the week ahead will bring.

This past week, however, has not afforded much time for relaxation. My last day of work, in Ontario, was last Wednesday.  The next morning, at 7:00 a.m., I was on a Vancouver-bound flight. The next five days were a whirlwind: meeting my new housemates for the first time (all entering UBC Law this fall), shopping (we are all new to Vancouver), and setting up our new home (read: assembling copious amounts of recently purchased furniture).

Don’t get me wrong, it hasn’t all been work. The day I arrived in Vancouver I managed to climb my beloved Grouse Grind, and I did get to sneak down to Portland for a day to visit my father. One night some incoming law students got together for a friendly poker game, and the next we found ourselves mingling at one of the campus pubs. But I’m aware that I’ve already slipped into a non-stop pace of activity, where every moment is carefully chosen. I get the feeling that this won’t stop for the next eight months at least – not that I am complaining.

Only tonight have we reached some semblance of order and sanity, and I can take a few quiet minutes to contemplate. I should probably be in bed, but I don’t think I could sleep if I tried.

The first day of law school is less than a week away and I’ve been busy trying to prepare myself for this big, new adventure. What exactly are the optimal preparations for law school? Honestly, I’m not quite sure. In anticipation of the year ahead I’ve quit my job, got my eyes checked, applied for a new driver’s license and passport, cleaned out my closet and fridge, and stocked up on household necessities and non-perishable food items. For whatever reason, I find it reassuring to know that my studying of torts will not be interrupted by an unexpected shortage of dish soap or Alphagetti.

I’ve also been able to pick up a few of the books that were suggested to me as good prep material. Books such as: Poverty: Rights, Social Citizenship, and Legal Activism edited by Margot Young, Susan B. Boyd and Gwen Brodsky (my future professors!), Peter Russell’s The Constitutional Odyssey (everything you ever wanted to know about the Canadian Constitution and much, much more), and A Woman’s Guide To Law School by Linda Hirshman (an effective way of getting yourself thoroughly freaked out about first year… if you’re a woman).

So, having done my best to prepare myself, I guess now all I have left to do is wait.

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, because I am. On the one hand, I can try looking at this as being just another first-day-of-school. And let me tell you, I know school!  Me and school have a long history together—we go way back! But then on the other hand, first year law is not first year theatre or first year philosophy. Without a doubt, I’m going to be surrounded by a whole new calibre of ambition and talent. I expect the workload and level of professionalism to look very different from my undergrad. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the bar has been raised. However, these challenges come with a whole new realm of terror potential. And it is that potential (all the opportunities that await!) that is the most exciting.

And so I wait! Looking forward to meeting my classmates, getting my paws on those syllabi, and finding out what exactly first year law will be.

Hard to believe that I’ll be back in Vancouver in less than a week, and starting UBC Law Orientation in less than two. But it’s true: many of my worldly possessions are already making their way across Montana, as two friends are enjoying a cross-continent road trip from my current home in Waterloo, Ontario. They’re in my car with a trunk full of my belongings, and I’ll meet them on Thur, Aug 26 as I fly in to Vancouver.

I have lived in Vancouver before, but UBC Law will be a completely new experience. I find myself full of questions: will law school be as interesting and rewarding as I hope? Will the people there be talented, interesting individuals (my hope), or will they be pretentious, arrogant, and self-serving (my fear)? Will the workload be manageable, or will our experience degrade into chaos like that chronicled in Scott Turow’s “One L: the Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School”?

One thing is for sure: the UBC Law Orientation staff have played an invaluable role in helping to manage expectations. I was personally given a tour of UBC’s law facilities, have already “met” many incoming classmates through the online Facebook group, and particularly enjoyed meeting both future classmates and current law students through casual ice-breakers. I even found three housemates via the Facebook group, so now four of us entering UBC Law will be living together on campus.

At the Toronto ice-breaker I plied second-year students with questions about the realities of the UBC Law. Workload? (High, but manageable.) Pretentious people? (They exist, but are few in number.) Dress code? (Casual.) Social opportunities? (Almost too numerous to name.) I also met quite a few of my incoming fellow classmates, and was reassured as they all seemed to be collaborative, talented, and … well, very nice people.

I won’t really know UBC Law until I actually experience it, but you’re more than welcome to follow along as we take that journey. And I would love to hear from other incoming UBC Law students about their own expectations, thoughts, and fears of our time ahead.

Welcome to our blog!

We’re simply setting up at this point, but check back regularly. You’ll find first-hand perspectives of three first year law students as we start our journey towards a UBC Law degree.