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Prepping for your First Week as a 1L
I remember the long train ride as I went to my first law school class. Property, with Professor Rose. I brought my laptop because even though I had never used a laptop to take notes in undergrad, I just knew that in law school note-taking on a computer was a must. Twenty minutes into the class, my computer’s battery ran out. Then I realized I had forgotten to bring my power cord… It was a whimper of a start for my legal career. Do you remember your first law course? I hope it was better than mine. Now, obviously that didn’t really predict what school would be like, and I…
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Bilingualism: Help or Hinder?
Do you speak Spanish? Are you fluent or able to speak just enough to talk to your older relatives? Statistically speaking, younger generations may have less Spanish speaking capability than earlier generations. It makes me sad to know that likely my (possible) grandchildren won’t know my native language. Though, I am hopeful because I know there is now more knowledge and awareness (and acceptance) about the benefits of being multilingual so I’ll keep my fingers crossed. But in the here and now, how are you using your Spanish skills? When I first started interning in college, an attorney realized I knew Spanish and asked me to translate for him. He made…
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Mistakes Happen: how to address problem interns
I’m very lucky that at my place of employment we have a steady crop of students every summer. It’s such a great help having two or three full time volunteers to take on some of the work. Seriously, I get so much work done during the summer that I get to relax a little. But to get that quality work product, I had to learn how to supervise closely and provide clear steps for them. More importantly, I had to learn to address problem behavior as soon as it shows up. When I first started supervising interns I had no idea how to really guide them.
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Surviving Law School Competitiveness
When I first started law school I was very scared about the competition regarding grades. I was never the type A, perfectionist student so I was even more worried about being around those types of people. I had read the books and heard stories about what law school was like (i.e. mean and cut-throat), but didn’t know if that was still realistic. I went in holding my breath hoping it wouldn’t be so bad. Thankfully, the majority of my time was chill, until around the time the semesters were ending when everyone realized they had competitions to prepare for, papers to write, jobs to apply for, and exams to ace. It…
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Exercise: A Little Goes A Long Way
I hate exercising. I mean, like the whole thing is always so uncomfortable and I never have experienced a runner’s high or anything similar. Maybe only when Yonce starts to play mid-workout; other than that, it’s the worst. I’m sure the fact that I did NO sports-related activities in school helped create this mental block that I have when it comes to exercise. Unfortunately, I know that statistically and genetically it’s likely I could get diabetes, heart disease, or suffer from related complications. In fact, Hispanics are 50% more likely to die from diabetes than non-Hispanic whites! That’s a scary stat, and I know how difficult and limiting these diseases…
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Cultural Conflict: Being Too Polite
One of the great dilemmas we encounter is aligning our upbringing and culture with the expectations of the mainstream–especially in a conservative field like the law. Cultural conflicts often demand that we change our behavior so that those in charge find it easier to accept us. But as the current VP says–that’s a bunch of malarkey! Before we opt to make changes, it’s important to analyze and decide why we have to change just so that systems of power feel comfortable around us. Easier said than done! Instead, many times we just opt to play by the rules to get just an inch ahead–even if the rules don’t seem logical, fair, or natural to us.…
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Finding Affordable Suits for Interviews
One thing I didn’t realize before I first started law school was how much I would have to spend on suits. I mean, I knew business attire was necessary, but I didn’t know just how expensive they actually were. I had to do a lot of digging and searching for something appropriate, professional, and still very affordable because I didn’t have extra money for department store suits. If you are preparing for OCI, I’m sure you’re in the midst of finalizing all the details, including what to wear. For those done with OCI, how did you offset the cost of buying suits for interviews or competitions? For those about to…
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Ending a Bad Internship
A lot of advice exists on how to start off an internship strong (which is very useful), but not enough advice exists on how to cross the finish line as a model student intern. I’ve had students that don’t “get” the mission regarding poverty law. They didn’t realize not all lawyers are in court every day of the week; or they realize that it’s not as prestigious as they would like; or they realize that this just isn’t the area of law in which they want to practice. Those are all fair realizations. But what is unacceptable, is when students decide that they won’t try to meet the minimum standard,…
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Are You the Interpreter?
I’m a huge fan of TV and am always excited about the new fall line-ups. I am doubly excited this year that a new show starring a very funny Latina comedian will be on ABC. Cristela Alonzo will play a law student, and that makes me excited to think that perhaps there will be a storyline on t.v. with which I can actually relate! One scene that immediately struck a chord with me was the promo where a white woman misidentifies Cristela repeatedly (around the 30 sec mark). First, as the cleaning crew; then as support staff. The punch line happens when the lady asks Cristela (who she assumes to be…
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The Mission Statement
Latinas Uprising was born from the frustration of visiting mainstream internet communities that discussed being a lawyer or a women professional or even a female lawyer, but never seemed to take into account the experiences we have as Latinas. We often hear that women make around 70 cents to the man’s dollar, but that’s actually the statistic for white women. Latinas make 55 cents to the man’s dollar. That type of disparity will create an entirely different experience that is just not being discussed in mainstream communities. Why aren’t we included? We consist of the largest growing minority group in the U.S. and are a huge consumer group. We are…