Welcome back!
As 3Ls, the end of our time at U of T law is fast approaching. Many of us just came back from exchange, after studying very hard for four months abroad, only to find we have only one semester left. Those that stayed behind seem to have spent the entire term partying and taking exciting weekend trips to the far-off lands of Barrie, Hamilton, and Owen Sound, if their Instagrams are to be believed.
Wow, nearly through. It’s exciting. It’s weird. If U of T Law is a brick to the face, getting ready to leave U of T Law is the moment immediately after a brick to the face: you’re dazed and disoriented and unsure what comes next. You’re almost missing the brick to the face, because at least it was a familiar brick to the face, a brick to the face that you had grown to know and (almost) love. The brick to the face gave you structure and meaning and distraction and now, well, it’s just going to be you—at least until articling hits you like a cinderblock to the face.
Congratulations to the 2Ls, who just made it through one of the toughest parts of this program. Learning how to wear a suit and being told you don’t actually know how to write a cover letter after all and GODDAMMIT STOP DOING THAT WEIRD THING WITH YOUR HANDS WHEN YOU TALK. What we’re trying to say is well done; things only get better from here on out (especially after you realize half the advice you received this year really only ever applied to the very narrow career path of the advice-giver).
For those of you who opted out of the gauntlet of the recruit, we commend you your sticking to your principles. You’re now in the full-swing of upper-year bliss. Unless you’re one of those ambitious weirdos who wants to clerk, it’s not so much about grades anymore. Articling interviews tend to evaluate you more as a person than a transcript, looking to interest, experience, and demonstrated ability.
1Ls: you are inspirations to us all, with your boundless warmth and support for one another. Frankly, it’s weirding the rest of us out a little, but that’s because we are all miserable fucks. We genuinely hope you’ve had a good time settling in. The fact that you seem to care about each other and treat each other well—don’t lose that. Don’t lose that sense of community as you move into upper years and branch off into your particular areas of interest.
Some fracturing, though, is inevitable: without small group members in every class and mandatory plenary ethics seminars to attend, and as joint-degree students disappear into the bowels of other faculties, the class may start to feel a little less cohesive. The upside is that you’ll have an even greater chance of finding your people. Be it in a seminar class, on Bay Street, or at a clinic, you will find like-minded folks and start to realize that you’re building real friendships that (thankfully) have only a tangential connection with law school.
As for UV, after some brouhaha at the end of last term (and what appears to be a minor mutiny in the Diversions section) we’ve decided to lean even heavier on the jokes and ease off the sanctimony for this issue. We hope the funny pages will warm your cold hearts in these chilly winter months.
Yours in writerly annoyance, and the finally reunited,
Aidan & Amani
