Five Students Weigh in on the Daunting Challenge That Is 1L

If my Academic Support Program (ASP) orientation meeting was any indicator, new law students have a lot of questions, especially for rising second and third year law students, about what the first year will be like and what they can do to make it successful.

This summer, I have had the opportunity to work alongside five very bright, hardworking student interns and was able to ask them about their first year experience.  What is great about this group is that they come from a varied set of backgrounds, ages, sociopolitical views, and attend a variety of law schools—one at Franklin Pierce, one at University of Michigan, one at Harvard, and two at Chicago-Kent.  I asked that they share their answers to a number of questions that I recalled were asked in my ASP orientation session.  Those questions and a selection of their answers are below:

Continue ReadingFive Students Weigh in on the Daunting Challenge That Is 1L

Memories of Sensenbrenner Hall (Part 4)

In 1973 and at the age of 24, I walked into Sensenbrenner Hall for the first time, hoping I could transfer from Chicago Kent to Marquette. My husband had been offered a teaching position at Menomonee Falls East High School and I was happy to return to my home state. I met with Dean Bob Boden who could not have been more gracious in telling me that Marquette would be happy to let me enroll as a 2L.  So in the fall of 1973 I began classes with the 2Ls (except that I had to take Professor Aiken’s first year civil procedure year long course…an experience in and of itself).  In part, it was like starting law school all over again.

There was no orientation or introduction to anything at the law school. My first memory of meeting a student occurred when, on that first day, I was standing next to Barbara Berman. As many of you may recall, we lived, sat and interacted in alphabetical order. My last name at the time was also Berman. After Barbara found that out she said, “I hope you are smarter than me so if we get mixed up, I can benefit from it.”  That was the beginning of our life long friendship.

Continue ReadingMemories of Sensenbrenner Hall (Part 4)

Memories of Sensenbrenner Hall (Part 3)

As the Law School community prepares to leave our current home and move into a new facility, it seems appropriate to pause and recall some of the memorable events that have taken place in Sensenbrenner Hall over the years.  Professor Michael McChrystal shares the third of what we hope will be many recollections of classroom surprises, distinguished visitors, and construction oddities associated with our present surroundings.  These memories will ensure that Sensenbrenner Hall lives on forever in our hearts. 

 For many years, the Wall of Judges, on the first floor hallway in old Sensenbrenner, included photographs of alums who were county or circuit court judges in the state.  The wall was filled with photos, which were probably six by eight inches in size, if I recall correctly.  There was a statistic floating around that one in every twenty graduates was a judge, although I have no sense of the accuracy of that count, nor even of how “judge” would be defined for that purpose.

Continue ReadingMemories of Sensenbrenner Hall (Part 3)
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