Tag: law school

SuitUp!

Hey everyone, the semester has just been sliding by so far. A couple things have happened since I last wrote:

  • I retook the LSAT (scores pending and I don’t want to talk about it)
  • I’ve started some law school applications
  • I’ve talked to all the professors I want to have letters of recommendation from

My law school stuff and the application will be for a later post but I want to talk about something that happened this past Sunday. Being a senior, I have to start thinking about the future: what am I going to do in May after graduation? Where am I going to live? The list goes on about the questions and I do not have a lot of the answers yet. BUT, I do know that no matter what happens, I will need business casual or professional clothes. The UI Pomerantz Center, which houses academic advising and the career center, partnered up with JCPenney’s at the Coral Ridge Mall to create the SuitUp! Event.

SuitUp was an event designed to give discounts to UI students on workwear to start building up our professional wardrobes. And let me tell you, it was a really nice event. For starters, JCPenney re-opened the store after closing time for just UI students. They also provided 40% off coupons when you walked in, on top of already discounted items throughout the store. The sales also weren’t just on clothes, it included shoes and accessories. I wasn’t looking for much since I have a couple pieces due to my time in Women in Business, but I ended up settling on some dress pants and a button-down shirt. At regularly marked prices, the outfit probably would have cost me ~$70. I got both pieces for $25 tax included, once the discounts and coupon were applied. If crazy good sales aren’t your thing, they also offered free food and career center resources to help students start thinking of their future past graduation. This was also a great event to prep for the upcoming Student & Job Fair, Iowa Law Expo, and the various college job fairs that are coming to campus in the next few weeks. I won’t be attending the job fair next week, but I will be attending the Iowa Law Expo. Look forward to some law school-related posts soon!

Cheers to Senior Year

The past three years have literally flown by. Through this blog, I’ve been able to share a lot of the things I’ve done and experienced, so here’s to another year of doing so. Let’s catch up on my life.

Let’s cover summer. After many applications to various companies in and around Chicago and Washington DC, I didn’t come up with anything. (In fact, I did still end up receiving a ‘we went with another applicant’ email halfway through summer). So, I decided to keep my job at the Burge Front Desk and my internship with Congressman Dave Loebsack’s campaign. However, the front desk job did change: late last spring, I was offered the Lead Desk Clerk position. Due to staying at the desk over the summer, I was able to train and learn from our previous Lead Desk Clerk so I would be able to take over come early August. Being the Lead Desk Clerk means that I continue to do a lot of my regular duties as a desk clerk with supervising the desk, schedule-building, and other extra tasks added on top. I’ve only officially been in the position for a few weeks, but I’m happy about the direction its heading so far.

My position as Campaign Fellow did not change and it has been business as usual. We did get a new campaign manager in early summer, but that still did not change much about the job.

One big event over the summer was taking the June LSAT. As you may or may not know by now, with my major being Ethics & Public Policy, I’ve been aspiring to go to law school. One part of the application process is a standardized test that is called the Law School Admission Test, or the LSAT. The test is comprised of 4 scored sections: 2 logical reasoning, logic games, reading comprehension, and the unscored writing section. The score range is 120-180. And I actually did okay! However, I fell a little short of my goals for the exam so I’ve decided to retake it in September. I’ve increased my study hours (trying to do around 20-24 hours per week. (yes, that is on top of my classes, work schedule, and extracurriculars) and found some study buddies. I don’t think I can pull an Elle Woods, but I can definitely try to get close.

Besides work and LSAT, I finished up the summer by volunteering with OnIowa! again to welcome the class of 2021. The weekend before classes started, I took them through mini-lectures based around the Iowa Challenge and then through activities planned around campus. I had a pretty cool group of students to lead with my co-leader and I really do hope they thrive on campus. (shoutout to you, Group 720! I hope you have a great year).

Summer wasn’t extremely eventful so I’m excited that classes have started up again. Here are the courses I’m taking this semester:

  • Pilates
  • English Grammar
  • Women and Politics in the US
  • Social Entrepreneurship
  • Calligraphy I: Blackletter Hands.

I am taking my course-load more lax this semester due to wanting the extra time to work on my law school applications and the LSAT. I also only have about 25 credits left to graduate so we’re cruising towards May.

Working Towards

Part of the point of going to college is that we are preparing ourselves for life after college. Our educational plans after our undergrad years. My plan is to go to law school. Where? I currently have no idea and I’m keeping my options open. What do I hope to specialize in? I’m thinking along the lines of civil rights, litigation (criminal), or international law. But in this respect, I am also keeping some options open. With my blog this year, I hope to keep you guys updated on the process I’m going through.

To start we can talk about today. I’m the Chair of Public Relations for Phi Alpha Delta, the pre-law fraternity, on campus. Essentially, I manage all of our social media accounts (check us out @uiowa_pad!). Tonight we had our first meeting of the year and heard from Dean Byrd from Iowa Law. He talked about the law school admissions process and handed out information on Iowa Law. Now you have to understand the format of P.A.D. (in case you ever want to join). In the Fall we hear from various law school admissions counselors from all across the nation and then in the Spring we hear from practicing lawyers and current law school students. I have really enjoyed P.A.D. In my past year of membership, due to it having brought me a leadership opportunity, it connected me to like minded individuals, and has given and continues to give me resources and support I think will be beneficial in what is sure to be a crazy year.

One piece of advice that Dean Byrd gave us that I’d like to share with you all is the concept of the three J’s: Start preparing in January of your Junior year for the June LSAT. It provides you with enough time to prepare for the exam and navigate through your other school obligations.

With that, I hope everyone has a great year, and I can’t wait to share with you all everything that happens to me this year.