Student Organization Spotlight-Phi Alpha Delta

Student Organization Spotlight-Phi Alpha Delta

As the Nation’s Largest Professional Law Fraternity with a commitment to advancing integrity, compassion, and courage through service to the law school and the community!   Founded in 1902 in Chicago, Illinois, this professional fraternity has an impressive list of notable alumni including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, and Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonya Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan.

Here at Capital University Law School, Phi Alpha Delta seeks to fulfill their national motto of Service to the Student, The Law School, The Profession, and the Legal Community.  To live up to these mottos, the growing student organization networking events, fundraising, and other events to successfully leave their imprint in the Columbus Legal Community, and the Law School. 

If you are interested in learning more about Phi Alpha Delta, both nationally and at Capital University Law School, including recruitment information, please contact, phialphadelta@law.capital.edu.

In the meantime, here are more links to other student organization resources!

Phi Alpha Delta National:

http://www.pad.org/home

Phi Alpha Delta, Hayes Chapter (Capital University Law School):

http://law.capital.edu/PhiAlphaDelta/

Other Student Organizations at Capital University Law School:

http://law.capital.edu/Student_Organizations/

Don’t see a student organization? No problem! If you gather enough friends and classmates together, you can charter your own chapter!

HAPPY 115^th Founders Day Phi Alpha Delta!!! Love, the Capital University Law School Community.

“As citizens, we all have an obligation to intervene and become involved - it's the citizen who changes things”-Jose Saramago

Image taken from pad.org

Anxiety in Law School…Deal with it Sooner Rather then Later

Midterms are over, you’re gearing up to finish your final papers for legal research and writing, and then you realize that finals are around the corner.  If you’re like me, you’ve already freaked out at least once.  Whether it was from that bad paper grade, a rough midterm, or a week you just couldn’t get the reading done, you just have cracked.  First and foremost, BREATHE!   Law School is stressful, no body said it was going to be easy, and if they did, they lied…Law School is hard, no ifs ands or butts.  However, there are ways to deal with this stress and possibly nip it before it crushes you.

Know when you’re stressed:

Sometimes we may think we’re just tired, or that we are running on empty, but maybe it’s more than that, maybe its stress.  Know yourself and recall what stresses you out to get it managed before it leads to detrimental consequences.

Seek Help:

I remember thinking for years that therapy and medication was a sign of weakness…until I got help.  Getting help may seem scary, you don’t want your friends to know you’re struggling, and you don’t want to scare your loved ones…but not getting help and struggling is scarier.  Plenty of schools offer free counseling.

See the following for further reference on what Capital and Capital Law Offer.

http://www.capital.edu/Counseling/

http://law.capital.edu/HealthandFitness/

As always, if you’re feeling stressed, get help sooner than later.

Avoid Substance Abuse:

After a stressful day of school, you may feel the urge to down that bottle of wine, or indulge in other substances.  While the occasional drink is okay, it’s important to remember the statistics.  DrugRehab.com lists attorneys as one of the seven industries that are highly likely to abuse alcohol.   In the first decade of practice, 29 percent of attorneys report having drinking problems, and that number only slightly decreases to 21 percent in the second decade of employment.  Some of these issues may even stem from stress of school.  Again, while the occasional drink is okay, you must know your limit and seek help if these habits start to consume your life.  The Ohio Lawyers Assistance Program (OLAP) is available to help both attorneys and law students. 

Do something you enjoy:

Sometimes, we just need a break from Law School and the stress.  While we can’t find time every day, it’s important to block out some time to do things you love.  Whether that’s going to the gym, baking, museums, etc., take the time to do things you love.  It will give you some balance and bring you up when school is bringing you down.

Additional Resources if you are worried about anxiety:

            http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20646990,00.html

            https://www.ohiolap.org/

https://themighty.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Anxiety-600X600.jpg

Preparing for Final Exams-How Preparation Now Can Lead to Long-Term Success

Final Exams...

By now, you’re through most of your midterms, if not all of them, are turning in your final legal writing assignments, and hopefully have looked to see when your final exams are.  This last month is important, as you are tying up those loose ends on course material, and beginning to organize your notes into some form of an outline, if you have not already.  Around now, you probably should start preparing for final exams, and these are the reasons why:

1. Preparation early will help you brush up on subjects you may have struggled with in earlier weeks

Perhaps you didn’t make it into office hours when you were confused on acquisition by capture and simply put it on the back burner, this is the time to see what you know.  If you’re unsure of something, schedule an appointment with your professor, get the right answer, and apply it to paper.  There is nothing worse then missing points because you mismatched topics due to confusion.

2.  Practice CAN Help

Law School Exams are unlike anything you have ever experienced.  They force you to think about multiple perspectives and apply 14-weeks of material into a three-hour examination.  With this plethora of information, you are required to argue the law as it applies to your facts.  If your professors didn’t give you midterms, then your final is the first and only chance to impress them with your knowledge.  Even if your professor has given mid terms, ask for more practice questions to work on, multiple choice, and essay.  In addition, ask what resources for practice questions the professors can recommend.  Once you’ve practiced, be sure to meet with them.  Figuring out how a professor likes their exams approached, especially with essays, is paramount to success.

3. It Builds Confidence

Perhaps you had a bad week and felt like you know nothing from the last semester.  Practice can reinforce that you know more than you think, leading to better study habits, and ultimately a better grade outcome.

4. It Keeps you from Panicking

If you’re like me, you’ve likely panicked at least once already.  Practice can calm some of those nerves. 

 

As you’re preparing for finals, some final notes:

     Keep calm

     Ask for help if you need it

     Practice Practice Practice!

     Study Study Study!

Images Taken From:

http://www.generalacademic.com/final-exams-15-checklist-form.html

https://i2.wp.com/savemyhsc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Preparation-tips-for-the-HSC-English-Exams.jpg?ssl=1

http://blog.questia.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/final_exam-300x199.jpg

Midterms are over, now what?

Post Midterms Blues…How to Make Good out of a Bad Situation

You were always a great student in high school; in college you could cram for a midterm or final and still pull an A in the class.  You get to Law School, and you think, “my writing is good, and I’m a pretty good test taker.”  Then you get into your first exam, think you did well, and the grade that comes back says otherwise.  If you’re like me, you probably are panicking now…debating if you can even handle this, or even freaking out that you will bomb the entire course because of one bad midterm.  Well if you are freaking out…stop!  Freaking out, especially in Law School does not lead to much good, in fact, it can be  completely contradictory to success.  However, if you are like I was, thinking that bombing an exam will lead to bad grades, bad job prospects, and questioning your ability to be a lawyer, these bits of advice may help to calm you down as they helped me.

1.     You’re not the only one who did terrible on the exam-even if you were one of the lower grades; chances are, more than just you struggled on this exam.  Law School exams are different then any other exams because they challenge you to apply the law you learned to a scenario, not just questions on whether you read a case or not, so go easy on yourself, this is new, and you gave it a shot.

2.     Use this as a learning experience and talk to your Professor-I know, the last thing you want to do is talk to the person who gave you a bad grade.  I recall getting my contracts midterm back and freaking out at the thought of talking to my professor.  However, when I finally did meet with him, he was helpful in giving me the guidance on how to improve.  He showed me where my strengths were, and where I can improve.  Even though Law School professors may not always be the warmest people, they really want you to succeed, use them as a resource to learn what they want on an exam and how to prepare accordingly.

3.     Be glad its not the final-I’m sure the last thing you want to think about is the final after a terrible midterm.  However, be glad that this was only a few percentage points of your final grade and not the final exam.  This midterm is practice, you get to see how the professor tests, what to expect of their grading, and how they like your responses to read.  Work on this from after the midterm until the final, you will thank yourself later.

4.     Practice, Practice, Practice-Now that the midterms are over, or will be over soon, use this score as an opportunity to practice for the final.   Practice from the midterm you were given as a hypothetical, and use past midterms (if your professor will let you use them) to build model answers.  That way, when the final comes around, you will know exactly what your professor will want, and can put a strong answer to paper.

I cannot stress this enough, but midterms are not to hurt you, they are to help you learn and understand the professors testing style and where your strengths and weaknesses might lie.  During 1L, they are one of the few opportunities you have to practice for the final exam.  As you reach upper level courses, many professors do not offer a mid term exam, so take these as a gift to practice and perfect your craft before the final exam rolls around.

Image taken from fastweb.com