Hi, friends! Today, much like every politician on God’s green Earth, I’m asking you for money. Hopefully in a more entertaining way, though, and if you want to just read and not donate, this is also fine. Let me explain.
Every year, UConn Law does an Ignite fundraiser for student organizations, in which members of these organizations raise money for their groups. This is a supplement to funding from the Student Bar Association (our student government) and often more flexible, since we don’t have to go through the SBA approval process. There are also prizes for groups, based on both dollar amounts raised and number of individual donors.
I’m involved in several student organizations, and if you have a few dollars to spare, I’d be honored if you could contribute. But I don’t want to just ask for money. So here’s what I’ll do: I’ll share links to the three groups I’m on the executive board for, and I’ll tell you a story about why that group is important to me. If you want to just read the stories, that’s fine by me. But if you also want to donate to one or multiple groups, I would be honored. Thank you for reading and, if you do, for donating!
This group is my baby. Up until this spring, UConn Law had a number of practice area groups for students who want to go into different areas of law (criminal law, family law, tax law, etc.), but none on labor and employment law. I spent several months after arriving on campus quietly hoping someone else would correct this egregious oversight so I wouldn’t have to, but that tends not to be a great strategy. Odd!
Two absolutely amazing things have happened since I started this group and realized that many other people share this interest and want to be involved. First, a 1L I met at our introductory meeting in September stayed to chat after and told me that part of the reason she chose to come to UConn Law was because we have a group for labor and employment law. Second, I got to meet the leaders of the Connecticut Bar Association’s labor and employment law section and the Connecticut Employment Law Association when they attended a career panel we hosted on careers in employment discrimination law, and I’ll get to attend an event next week hosted by both organizations. I’m so happy to be able to help connect law students with leaders in our field!
I love being part of the Mental Health Committee. So many lawyers struggle with mental health and substance abuse, and I know well what it’s like to deal with mental health challenges. Teaching law students about healthy self-care habits now will make us happier, healthier lawyers.
My favorite event that we do every year is Paint Night, in which we get snacks, paint, and a bunch of blank canvasses, and students can come paint whatever they like. Some students are fabulous artists. Others, including me, are very much not. But no matter one’s talent level, it’s a good chance to relax, take a study break, and spend a little time on a fun hobby that many of us don’t do often - all critical for self-care. We also have events right before finals where we have dogs, including UConn Law’s own K-9 police dog Carson, available to pet as a little stress relief as well as goodie bags of snacks, Emergen-C, and stress balls/toys to help students relax and eat healthy before finals.
I may have left political polling, but I can’t entirely stay away from political advocacy. And PPP’s mission is an especially important one: diversifying the federal and state judiciary so that it’s not just former prosecutors and corporate lawyers on the bench, but lawyers who have fought for working people.
I love that PPP is doing research to back up why it’s important to have judges from diverse professional backgrounds and hosting events on campus to educate students about how we can help. But more than that, I love the camaraderie of the group. It’s a wonderful bunch of people with strong values, but also a sense of humor and fun. We have a group chat where we cheerlead Kamala Harris during the debate, we promote our events by having one of our own go around campus in a shark costume, we occasionally get in trouble for trolling the Federalist Society and their penchant for serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at events. It’s how I’ve made my closest friends in law school.
I hope you’ll consider donating to one or all of these groups if you’re able. Thank you so much!