Student Life


Achieving Balance, Pursuing Passions in Law School

When I entered KU Law, I got involved because I wanted an opportunity to showcase my talents and values. I immediately obtained information on all the clubs and activities offered on campus and joined a few that interested me. Did this increase my workload? Sure, but the knowledge I’ve gained and…

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Student Combines Language and the Law in Beijing

As a dual-degree student working on a J.D. and an M.A. in East Asian Languages and Cultures, I am inevitably asked where I hope these two degrees will lead me. It’s a fair question and the best answer I have is, hopefully anywhere. I spent this past summer in Beijing doing an intensive Chinese…

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Some Secrets to Law School Success

It's February of my 3L year, and I am flying high. Instead of reading for my one real class, I go to trivia night with my roommates. Instead of writing yet another draft of my Law Review note, I watch “The Bachelor” (#TeamWhitney). Instead of stressing out over Lawyering assignments, I plan weekend…

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3-to-1 Mentor Relationships Unravel Green Hall Mysteries

Adjusting to life in law school can be a monumental task. The quicker you adjust, the better your experience will be. That goes the same whether you are straight out of undergrad or, like myself, spent years working in another field before matriculating. Those first classes were filled with so many…

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MUST WE KEEP SECRETS? Constitution Day: The 1st Amendment, Whistleblowers, and Surveillance of Newsrooms

Beginning in June, newspaper and online coverage of Edward Snowden’s leaks of National Security Agency documents exposed multiple layers of government spying on Americans. The NSA documents, published by the Guardian in Britain, the Washington Post, and others, revealed that the U.S. government:…

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I Get by with a Little Help from My Friends

I began a little routine during my last semester of my 3L year at KU Law. It starts with dragging myself out of bed and giving myself a pep talk as I blankly stare into my closet for 10 minutes. “OK, Ashlyn. You can do this. You can be a person today. You’re almost done. Who cares what anyone says…

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At KU Law, You Can Be Whoever You Are

Aside from my short stint as a Grandview Gator, I have been a Wildcat since middle school. The mascots of both my middle school and high school were of the feline persuasion, and I attended Kansas State University, home of the Wildcats!I was raised to be Wildcat. It didn’t hurt that I come…

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SUMMER STORY: The Pros and Cons of Starting Law School Early

My favorite stories to cover as a journalist always came on the crime beat – talking to the cops, suspects and attorneys and sitting through the trials. I loved standing next to the police at the perimeter of a crime scene as the officers broke down the door to a house, or listening to the pleas of…

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Working 5 to 9: A Day in the Life of a 2L with 2 Kids

5:15 a.m.: Unfortunately, this is when I get up. Mondays mean Torts II at 8 a.m. I also share one bathroom with my husband and two boys, so if I want a shower that isn’t interrupted by little people accidentally flushing the toilet, I must get up first. My husband pours the cereal and milk so I can…

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Summer in Bangladesh Yields Scholarship, Philanthropy Opportunities for Students Studying Garment Industry

KU Law students Madeline Heeren and Aqmar Rahman planned to spend the summer after their first year of law school in Bangladesh studying the garment industry. Just weeks before their departure, a commercial building in the capital of Dhaka collapsed, killing 1,129 people and injuring more than 2,…

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