First of all, congratulations and welcome to Allard Law! Allard is a wonderful place with many opportunities to get involved. So many, in fact, that it will be overwhelming. Every opportunity sounds interesting and fun, but it isn’t possible to do everything. My best advice is to choose the two or three things that excite you the most and do those. It will help keep your schedule manageable while you adjust to your new life as a law student. Plus, you can always add more activities later if you find more things you are passionate about.
For me, one of those activities was volleyball. For me, joining a team meant I got to know other Allard students, including upper year students, in a non-academic setting. I made connections with students I would not otherwise have gotten to know and it strengthened my ties with the Allard community. It also got me out of my apartment/the Allard library at least once a week for a few hours, which was great for my mental health. This was especially important for me around the beginning of November every year when it was raining non-stop, the readings were piling up, and I was binge watching Netflix in my pajamas in the dark to avoid the inherent stress of studying. Volleyball gave me a healthy outlet for my stress and allowed me to interact with other students who were experiencing the same things as me so I didn’t feel so alone. As an added bonus, it also helped me work off all of the take-out food and free pizza that I ate. It was something small and really low-commitment but volleyball made all the difference for me during my time at Allard law.
I completely understand that sports teams are not for everyone. What worked for me probably won’t work for most of you. However, my goal is to encourage you to find something new that you enjoy or to keep doing something that you already love. It is easy to get swept up in the craziness of law school and your extra-curricular activities will help keep you grounded, healthy, and connected to the Allard community. Extra-curricular activities can be pushed aside during the busy times of the year. But I encourage you to not forget about them; they will give you so much more than a line on your resume!
In addition to the extra-curricular opportunities at Allard, there are many academic opportunities, including moots, clinics, and exchanges. During my time at Allard, I was fortunate to do both a moot and an exchange. After participating in the Oxford International Intellectual Property Moot at Oxford University, I discovered that I had an interest in learning about European Union (EU) law and that what I really wanted to do with my spare time was travel. Enter Go Global. Through their program, I was able to complete my last 15 credits worth of electives at a partner university in the Netherlands. I could take courses to learn more about EU law and travel on the weekends for the final semester of my law degree. In 6 months, I travelled to over 30 cities in 13 countries and made connections with people from all over the globe, which was an amazing opportunity.
No matter what your goals and interest are, there are opportunities for everyone at Allard. I encourage you to find something you love and do it because it will make all the difference for your time at law school.