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Friday Favorites
First, thank you for such a great month! We were so excited to launch and worried about reception, but have heard such great feedback and positive reactions! So, thank you! We’re excited to move forward and have some good posts scheduled for next month. Second, can you believe the month is almost over? For those of you starting law school, I hope you’re not feeling too nervous! You’ll get into a pattern soon enough! I hope everyone has a great Labor Day Weekend! If you need a study break or have some time to kill this weekend here are some of my fave links from this past month:…
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Advancing Past the Good Old Boy Club
A few years ago, I was at a networking event for work. I’m usually not a fan of these things, but I was having a relatively good time, and having an easy conversation with a colleague (a guy named “Jacob”). Soon, another attorney (also a man, “Mark”) came up to us. We included Mark in our conversation, you know, because that’s what civil people do, right? After a few minutes, he turned to Jacob and started talking to him –and only him– about baseball. I was floored. I was floored that he would try to purposefully exclude me from the conversation; floored that he didn’t return the favor of inclusion; and floored…
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How to Survive Law School
If you’re starting law school this semester, I have a few things to say–first, congratulations! This is a super exciting endeavor and you deserve a lot of acknowledgment! So Yay! My second piece of unsolicited advice is to not let anxiety and fear of the unknown overcome you. Instead, become fearless and adopt a badass attitude. This new chapter will be overwhelming, and if you’re going to survive you have to fortify yourself with confidence–it’s the only way you can make it through the next three years. For some of us, that self-confidence may come naturally. But if you’re like me, you’re feeling not only excited and anxious, but also…
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Balanced Diet: Tasty and Healthy Shrimp Tacos
One of my big pet peeves is the idea that food from Mexico and Central/South America is the height of unhealthiness. I have even read articles about doctors shaming patients when they make blanket statements that all that X ethnic-style food is bad. In reality, there’s so much fresh vegetables and fruits in “Latino” cuisines that you can make healthy dishes or just add a few alternatives and make favorite dishes a little healthier. This Friday series of a well-lived life is about eating healthy, while still getting to enjoy the comfort food many of us were raised on. Now, I’m by no means an extensive cook or an expert in clean-eating…
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Strong Resume, Stronger Candidate
I love reviewing resumes! I know it’s weird. Whatevs, but I like seeing the interesting experiences people have and it’s neat to see how they present themselves in this format. I’ve mostly seen resumes from student interns and new attorneys applying for fellowships, but even in that limited capacity there have been some amazing resumes… and some real duds. Don’t be a dud! If you’re not doing these four things you’re not presenting yourself as the strongest candidate! Convert into a PDF. Sounds simple, but I have had too many word docs that open up with the track changes still visible. Ack! That’s so horrible! I always feel bad when this mistake…
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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…