Thankful for the journey

The beautiful changing leaves around campus are the best reminder to me that much of the fall semester has come and gone. Finals are quickly approaching and it seems that my classmates and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. When people ask if I am excited to be almost finished, my response is that I feel like I have barely started.

Law school is a bit of a time vacuum. When you find yourself juggling classes, extra curricular activities, a part-time job and the other general aspects of life, it is hard to realize that days continue to come and go. But yet, here I am. It is November of my third year and Thanksgiving (and finals) is upon us. This time of the semester is typically full of anxiety and stress, but this time I find myself simply being thankful for the experience.

I was very nervous coming into Green Hall two and a half years ago not only because I had never attended public school, but also because I was accustomed to close communities and small class sizes. The KU campus was something more daunting than I had ever experienced. It did not take long, however, to realize that I felt comfortable and at home.

KU Law splits its 1L class into small sections of approximately 20 students to provide the entering students with a core group of support and a constant supply of familiar faces. Instantly I found friends and confidants in this group of classmates. The faculty and staff are helpful and encouraging along every step of the way. This has made all the difference in my law school experience.

KU Law has helped shaped my thoughts, my perspectives and my goals for my career. I have learned from the academic curriculum but also from the diversity of the student body. KU provided an environment to gain an education that far surpasses the classroom. I am fortunate for how I have grown intellectually but more important as a person. With only one semester left, I am thankful for the journey.

Kristen Koenen, 3L

Do you use your library?

While traveling through the blogosphere, I came across Ask Reddit. Ask Reddit is a place where one can post thought-provoking, inspired questions. As cool as Ask Reddit is, one question was posted that really got to me.

Do you use your library?

Here are some sample answers:

    • You could work a minimum wage job and live in a small apartment and with access to a local library still have a cultured and pretty well educated life.
    • I would live at the library if they would let me.
    • I consider libraries to be one of the greatest creations of humanity.
    • I love books. If I’m not reading something good, I feel lost in this world.
    • Thank you, Benjamin Franklin.

So I ask you the same question: Do you use your library?

W. Blake Wilson, Instructional & Research Services Librarian

Legal Career Options Day

Last night the Office of Career Services hosted its 8th Annual Legal Career Options Day from 5-7 pm in the Ballroom of the Kansas Union.

Each year, this high energy networking event exposes our students to a wide variety of employment opportunities available to law students and graduates.

The Kansas Bar Association, the Johnson County Bar Association, and the Wichita Bar Association generously provided financial support and were on hand to promote collegiality and the important part lawyers play in giving back to the community.

The 90 attorneys and more than 120 students that attended the event discussed career paths and job-hunting strategies, as well as specific internships and full-time employment opportunities with the over 60 represented legal employers.

Attorneys from all walks of the legal profession were present, including those in private practice with both small, medium-sized and large law firms; local, state and federal government agencies; businesses; public interest organizations and the judiciary.

Through conversations with these attorneys, our students learned more about the diversity of the juris doctor degree. Following an hour long “meet and greet,” students and attorneys mingled during a catered reception.

The Office of Career Services would like to thank the attorneys who attended Legal Career Options Day, the three bar association sponsors, and our students for representing KU Law so well.

A photo gallery from last year’s event can be viewed here, and we’ll update the page with 2010 pics in the next few days!

Todd Rogers, Assistant Dean for Career Services

Second year at Jimmy Green Hall

As I reach the midpoint of the semester, I have found the second year of law school to be busy yet enjoyable. Now that I feel like the pace of the semester is beginning to slow, I have had a chance to realize how much I miss the summer. I am sad to see that summer has ended because I had a good time gaining experience working in Wichita. I enjoyed putting some of what I learned the first year to use, dealing with real client problems, and, of course, the weekly competition of lawyer league softball.

With the end of summer, the lawyer softball league season came to a close with the playoffs and a banquet at the always convivial Larry Bud’s Sports Bar & Grill. As my team surged toward a last place finish in the league, I didn’t have much of a chance to recognize the joy of playing a sport, however badly, as a way to relax away from the practice and study of law. Only now do I realize how precious those moments were when 45-year-olds tore muscles and broke bones trying to relive their glory days.

Although the second year has been more enjoyable than I thought that it would be, as the weeks began to pass I realized that I had a hole in my heart–a hole the size of a men’s slow pitch softball. Naturally, I, like thousands more on KU’s campus, have tried to blunt the pain caused by the absence of glory in one sport this time of year by turning to basketball. Every week, I meet up with fellow law students to recreate the festive nature of lawyer league softball.

So far, the games have been a success. There are guys who haven’t played since junior high, like me, a couple who played in college, some former collegiate female stars, and even a former WNBA player. Despite the dimly lit, too-small court and the old and injured knees, the joy of reliving those glory days serves as a nice break from studying.

James Carter, 2L

Google Maps helps you out on Election Day

Take a trip to Google Maps and you will see something different today! Google is making it easy for you to find all the information you need to vote.

http://maps.google.com/vote

Simply type in your full address and Google will provide you with the location of your polling place along with directions. On top of that, Google lists the candidates who will be on your ballot.

Most impressive is the inclusion of resources for voters. Notice that included in the Kansas search is the Kansas election website, voter registration search and information for absentee voters.

So now you have no excuse! Get out there and vote, people!

W. Blake Wilson
Instructional & Research Services Librarian

An introduction to OUTLaws & Allies

OUTLaws & Allies is the LGBT club here at KU Law. We want to give lesbian, gay, bi, and transgendered law students, as well as our straight allies, a safe place to learn the law, meet others with similar interests, and attend legal conferences pertaining to the issues that affect our everyday lives and to have a good time in the process. We also work with the OUTLaw club at UMKC and with KC Legal, which is the Kansas City LBGT Bar Association. This allows us a unique opportunity to meet and become acquainted with other law students and working attorneys, including many KU Law alumni. Every February we attend a weekend LGBT Law Conference in St. Louis along with several other Midwest law schools. If you have any questions regarding any aspect of law school or the OUTLaws in particular, please contact me at Rrash1@ku.edu.

Ryan Rash, 3L
President OUTLaws and Allies