Tater Tots and Albie Sachs

Greetings nerdlings! Firstly, I miss you all and am very sorry for being the worst communicator/stayer-in-toucher ever. This has been such a whirlwind few weeks that I’m still finding my sea legs, but I PROMISE I will be better!

So if any of you are familiar with South Africa’s transition from apartheid to a democratic constitutional state (a group which, prior to today, I was not a part of either, so don’t feel too bad), you will find the title of this blog a bit…dichotomous, if you will. The thing I’m finding so interesting about law school, and HLS in particular, is the juxtaposition of the seemingly mundane/ridiculous and the obviously cool/impactful, and the fact that both types of events have been so incredible and memorable.

I’ll start with the silly and then get realzies.

Wednesday, September 10th will forever be known as the day I bought, cooked, and distributed tater tots for my entire 1L section. Why you ask? What, you DON’T bring in fried potato products to your place of work on a daily basis? No? Not a thing? Weird.

Part of Section 6’s shtick is that, apart from being awesome, we also have to come up with a cool name that somehow identifies the pulse and personality of our section. This shit got VAN DAMN serious, guys. People came up with some amazing names and then, in order to have them considered by the class, we were required to stand up and defend our suggestions. Somehow, my suggestion gained some support and I was convinced to forgo Civil Procedure reading for a night to make a powerpoint presentation defending the Tater Torts. Seriously. I made a 7 slide presentation (which I will upload here for your enjoyment), complete with multimedia integration, about tater tots. There may be a Napoleon Dynamite clip and a cat gif or two in there. Needless to say I spent WAY too much time on this. Also, everyone knows if you want to win a campaign, you HAVE to have food. Food is the ultimate bribe – like HOW can you say no to someone who gives you cupcakes? You just can’t, it’s like against the law.

So, being the cool kid I am, I woke up extra early Wednesday morning to buy a giant bag of tater tots to accompany my kick-ass slide show. I forgot how DELICIOUS these things were – seriously, fried potato cylinders? Genius. Despite some technical difficulties, I made my presentation along with many other hilarious and impressive slideshows, and left the fate of the Tater Torts to the will of the people.

And guess what – WE WON! We are, officially, the Tater Torts, and I have never been prouder. Bribery so works. Oops, don’t read that! Ethics are important!

Now to the serious stuff. There are so many amazing speakers and groups on campus that host events that it’s actually kind of overwhelming how much there is to do every day. Some of them get to be standing room only (usually the ones with the really good food) and sometimes there are like 3 talks that you want to go to all scheduled at the exact same time and you have to frantically decide which to go to while experiencing crippling FOMO (for those acronistically challenged, that’s Fear Of Missing Out) about the other 2 talks you skipped.

Today, I was so incredibly exhausted. I had a wonderful time Mad Men-ing it up last night in downtown Boston with some fellow Tater Torts (YAY!), but being all classy and sophisticated is hard work, and needless to say it was a later Thursday than I would normally allow for.

(We were the classiest mustached/green haired/ironman ladies ever)

So when I looked at my calendar today and saw that I had scheduled a two and a half hour talk after classes, I was like uhhhhh not happening.

To briefly preface, I’ve made it my goal to attend at least 1 talk a week that I would either never think to go to or that sounds so interesting I couldn’t possibly miss the opportunity. This talk fit both of those bills, and so, even after almost succumbing to exhaustion all day, I decided to push myself to attend the event.

And I’m SO glad I did. I got to see an amazing documentary about Albie Sachs, Justice on the Constitutional Court of South Africa…and then I actually got to hear Albie Sachs speak because, ya know, HE WAS THERE. This is what is so crazy about HLS. Really important people take time out of their really busy lives to come talk. To US. Like WHAT? This guy was tight with Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. The Notorious RBG was one of the commentators in the film. This guy is so hard core awesome and I got to hear him speak in person! I’m still awed by this school and the opportunities it presents.

If you’re interested in his story, which you should be because it’s incredible, check out Soft Vengeance  or any of his books.

Alright peeps. It’s been another great week! But now, is sleep time. I seriously just got up from a 2 hour nap to write this…which means that yes, I was in bed at 7 pm on a Friday. I’m getting old.

Love you awesome nerds! Keep Reading!

A Fruit (or Vegetable?) By Any Other Name…

Today, I grappled with the age old question. 

The Tomato. A valiant and delicious entity to be sure, but ambiguous in so many ways. Is it a vegetable? Or is it a fruit? Or, god forbid, is it BOTH? 

This is the sort of question I get to think about in law school. I will legitimately be discussing this issue. For a class. What is this life?

Will we ever know the TRUE NATURE of the tomato? One can only hope this issue is resolved with the utmost speed…

The Day Bruce Mann Stole My Text Book….Oh – And Elena Kagan I guess…

Sup nerds! I’ve officially finished my first week of law school! (insert applause here) It’s been a crazy busy week filled with amazing classes, interesting homework (geeeeeeek), and incredible people. 

General breakdown – classes have been awesome and I’m so excited to learn from these people. Aside from the fact that they’re brilliant, they’re also just hilarious humans – my CivPro teacher referred to his son as Chalpua Batman within the first 5 minutes of class and I’m pretty sure we’re gonna be best friends. For those of you who don’t get the reference, stop reading my lame blog and go watch The League. Like right now. This will be here when you get back.

 

Why are you still here? GO! Watch it!

 

Ok so if you took my advice, you’re welcome and I hope you understand the  hilarity of the above situation. If not…well you’re lame. 

Anyways! Section 6 is still the envy of all the sections and already has the reputation for being the close, fun-loving group. These peeps are seriously smart AND they’re fun to hang out with, sooo I can tell it’s gonna be a good year.

Still learning my way around campus, but it still never ceases to amaze me that I’m actually sitting in HLS classrooms with HLS professors taking HLS classes. It’s still not real to me that I have this opportunity and I can’t wait to take advantage of every minute.

And speaking of amazing opportunities – WE GOT TO SEE ELENA KAGAN! Like really, what is my life? She came to speak for about an hour to the student body and it was pretty cool to be her presence. Pretty sure I got smarter just by inhaling the same oxygen…but maybe I’m going to far with my obsession. In any event, she was really interesting despite the not-so-great questions asked by some of our fellow 1Ls (seriously, someone basically asked her for a job as a clerk. REALLY? Go home. Which is basically what EK’s response to that question was). 

That same day will also go down in history as the day Bruce Mann stole my text book. For those of you who don’t know Bruce Mann, he’s Elizabeth Warren’s husband and he’s kind of the man. However, he’s also really the only one of our professors who goes hard core into the Socratic method (constant question bombardment) so despite being awesome, he’s a bit intimidating. 

So we’re talking about property rights and capture and he approaches my bench and picks up my book and I immediately know I’m in for it. 

BM: “Ms. Sweat, is this your book.”

Me: (super intelligently) “Uh….yes?”

BM: “Prove it.”

Me: (again, with stunning finesse) “Uh…I mean I have a receipt at home…”

BM: “So you have a receipt that somehow indicates you own this specific copy of this specific property book.”

Me: (seriously killin’ it) “Uh…no I guess when you put it that way…no.”

BM: “So how can you prove that this is, in fact, your book?”

Me: “Well I wrote in it.”

BM: (opening to my extensive highlighting and sticky note placements) “Why yes, that is unique…”

This continued for another 5 minutes. Perhaps I didn’t sound as dumb as I think I sounded…but it was pretty hilariously terrifying. Needless to say, there are rarely dull moments in class. 

In any event, that’s a little peak into the happs at law school! Also I went to an Italian festival and walked home through a Jamaican festival today, so I feel like this week was generally a win. Unfortunately, so much fun means I’m now required to buckle down and actually do homework. Le sigh. 

Love you awesome nerds 🙂 Asweat out. 

Section Sixers Do It Right – Orientation Week In Review

Alright peeps. So clearly it’s been a while! I swear I haven’t disappeared, I’m just having FAR too much fun in law school right now. Is that a thing people say? Maybe it’s just the glow of orientation week, but I’m loving life right now. Check back with me in a month and see how that’s changed…

ANYWAYS! Quick synopsis time:

Wednesday – Class followed by a tour of Fenway! We had the most amazingly Boston tour guide names Murl. Muerl? Murel. Idk It was a great name. He was pretty much the narrator from Fever Pitch in real life, so needless to say it was a pretty authentic tour. Also, there was this guy:

Complete with World Series rings, he told some of the best (read: worst) jokes ever. For instance:

“Ladies, why did the Red Sox want to stick with the name Stockings? Because the got so many RUNS!”

So. Many. Adorable Old-Man-Jokes. I die.

We also got some spectacular views of the field and saw the press box, took photos in the dugout, and got to sit in the oldest seats in major league baseball! Not a bad trip.

Naturally, all of this was followed by the requisite Section 6 gathering complete with adult beverages. I’m just saying, Pumpkin Beer is now on tap, and that sugar rim is off the hizzy. Also I hate myself for just saying that…

Thursday – Food truck lunches and – you guessed it – more beer! I swear we’re not alcoholics…we’re just…Connoisseurs? Yeah…we’ll go with that. In reality, we made a Section 6 trip to the Harpoon Brewery and enjoyed several hours of mingling, craft beer, and crazy amazing pretzels. Seriously, these things are pillows of deliciousness wrapped in clouds of incredible. That doesn’t even make sense, but trust me, if you had tried them you would have whole-heartedly agreed.

Friday – I was a total truant and skipped most of the day for appointments and trail runs with JB (my calves still hate me…yay physical activity!) Then I got to meet my Student Advisor and picked up my packets for this weeks reading – which seemed a bit superfluous considering we’ve already purchased a bunch of books…but whatever. Met up again with Section Sixers at the infamous Hong Kong and danced the night away with new friends! I’m just saying, we’re a good looking group of kids if I do say so myself…and I do 😛

Saturday was Pie Day! During which I ate zero pie. But I got to hang out with some cool Div schoolers and made it out of my law school bubble for a while which was great! Then it was date night with me and Netflix. He just treats me so well 😉

And today – the grind began. Homework has started and I’m actually strangely loving working/reading/taking notes again. I know, nerd alertttttt. Then I had dinner with Ritabear and ate the most AMAZING vegan food ever. True Bistro is officially my new favorite place. There was chocolate cake. And I mean like TO DIE FOR chocolate cake. Salivate over these babies:

Ritabear’s dinner – Seitan Phyllo Purse with Chimichurri sauce

Fettuccine with pesto sauce and almond cheese…OM NOM NOM

And the Pièce de résistance – Death By Chocolate Cake with Coconut Cream and Shattered Caramel….I mean REALLY.

Anyways, that’s life! Stay tuned for the first week of actual classes 🙂

Love you awesome nerds ❤

I Woke Up Like This: Hott Mess – Orientation DAY 1!

As evidenced by last night’s harried late night post, I assume you all can guess just how my pre-first day sleep went – yeah it didn’t. All my brain could do was sing Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” and shake my fist at the first of many nights sleep that will be lost to law school. Seriously sleep. Why DID you have to cut me out? Guess that I don’t need that though, sleep is just some action that I used to know. 

My plan to arise fresh faced and flawless like Beyonce did not go as planned. Instead of fabulous: 

I was more:

 

Luckily, I pulled my ish together and took my prerequisite first day of school selfie. Maybe I’ll just SAY I woke up like this:

 

Anyways, enough about my morning struggle bus ride. 

I heaved my backpack over my shoulder, walked to school, checked in, and STILL had 30 minutes to kill, but luckily my classmates were just as overzealous and were all waiting in the classroom like the uber nerds we all are. Awkward chatter commenced until a hush fell over the classroom as the Professor entered.

First, I must say, my section is pretty much the bomb.com. All of the people I’ve met so far have been really great and that trend did not stop with the infamous Professor Hanson. He basically told us we had to be best section and all of us were like – “uh yeah dude, for you, we’re gonna be effing AWESOME.” Totally put us at ease by joking around and just being an all around brilliant-but-down-to-earth guy. Also he made like 5 Harry Potter references within the first 10 minutes, so naturally this guy is my favorite ever.

We also got to take what I’m sure was the longest HLS tour in the school’s history, complete with directions to all free coffee stations (le duh) and a visit to the bean bag room. Yes. There is a bean bag room. In the library. Did I mention how awesome this place is? 

Around what had to be the pinnacle of today’s heat wave we took our section blackmail photo in which I’m pretty sure I’m crying from direct eye contact with the sun. Hopefully they won’t dig that one up if I ever decide to run for political office.

With an hour to kill, we putzed around wondering what in the heck a bunch of law nerds could do in Cambridge when we all collectively came around to the perfect answer: BEER. Pretty sure the girl at Cambridge Common almost had a coronary when 30 of us completely overtook the bar area. I knew I had found kindred spirits. (Get it…spirits…like alcohol? I’m hilarious.)

Burgers, fries, and ice cream accompanied a viewing of “Super-Size Me,” the irony being quite overt. Super interesting discussion about the implications of marketing and its effects on the presumption of free will and whether or not individuals have the right to sue corporations for bodily harm in the form of obesity. Law talk is so fun 😛

And now I’m here, barely coherent and about to pass out from exhaustion. Soooo that’s my cue to sign off! 

Love you awesome nerds!

 

A Brief Note about BriefNotes

Get it guys! BriefNotes – Like it means short thoughts, but it’s also a law thing?

Nobody?

Anybody?

Mmk just me. Anyways I’ve been told the next 3 years of hell Law School will fly by in such a blur that I will miraculously sadly forget much of what comes to pass. So to make sure that doesn’t happen, I’ve decided to start a punny blog with insightful remarks about law, life, and linoleum. Maybe not that last one, I was on an alliteration kick.

As you may be able to glean, I’m a bit over-tired/terrified/really excited to start this venture, so I apologize for any incoherencies that may arise. Tomorrow is the first day of orientation, which is crazy because I’ve been waiting for 6 months for this day to arrive and now suddenly I’m staring it straight in the eye. Or is it staring it straight in the face? Whatever, it’s here and that’s awesome but I’m kind of freaking out.

I have pens and pencils and binders and an agenda book (am I sure I’m going to law school and not junior high?) and my books weigh like a thousand pounds and my outfit is all ready (again, am I a preschooler? I think so.) and my brain is in a million different places. I’ve tried to meditate and do yoga to calm myself down but that was no help. My bag is already packed and I’ve cleaned my room like 5 times in the past week, so no organizing to accomplish.

I WAS going to watch Legally Blonde tonight, but it felt a bit too cliché. Also I’m pretty sure I can already quote it verbatim so I probably don’t even need the visual aid. Seriously though, you wouldn’t believe how many times I got the “What, like it’s hard?” comment after people found out where I was going. HILARIOUS the first few times you hear it…but then the second time someone says it, you’re thinking “actually, yeah, dude, it WAS effing hard.” Elle Woods is so deceptive. But I digress.

Law School tomorrow! Yay! I’m gonna learn stuff and hopefully meet really awesome people and figure out what the heck I’m doing with my life! And that’s actually pretty cool.

Come back and visit for musings on Day 1 of Orientation!