Endless Opportunities

Last year I wrote a blog post on what I love about Loyola. That post was about Loyola’s incredible alumni network. Well, a year has come and gone. Valentine’s Day has passed again, so I thought I would take the opportunity to add to that post about what there is to love about Loyola. This year, I wanted to talk about a few of the endless opportunities Loyola offers for practical and self-guided learning. Specifically, I love the opportunities I’ve had at Loyola to learn how to try cases with the Byrne Trial Advocacy Team and to contribute high-quality scholarly writing with the International Law Review.

First, I know I seem to write a lot about Byrne. I hope you’ll forgive me, but it really has become a tremendous part of my academic life. As a member of Byrne, your ultimate job is to win trial advocacy competitions. To get to that point requires hours and hours of work reading the competition fact patterns (the “record”) over and over again. It requires writing and re-writing scripts for openings, closing, direct examination, cross examinations, Motions for Judgement as a Matter of Law (JMOLs), rebuttals and objection responses. It requires practicing your skills in mock trials every Saturday and Sunday for up to 14 hours a day. It’s an unbelievable amount of work, but there really is nothing else like it. The amazing coaches we get to work with, the amazing alumni who come help judge weekend trials, and most of all my teammates make it all an unforgettable experience that I would recommend to anyone with an interest in litigation.

The other great experience that Loyola has offered has been my work with law review. The write-on process for law review at the end of the 1L year is intense and difficult but it’s completely worth it. Most of my experience so far has been in the editorial process – reading articles by legal scholars and Loyola students, and fixing any errors in syntax, grammar, and citations. I also have the opportunity to write an article for potential publication. I do have a couple ideas to write about for next year but I haven’t made a firm decision on a topic. Nevertheless, I know that the opportunity is at my fingertips. It is the endless opportunities that I love and that make each day an exciting adventure.