Expanding beyond the provincial borders
One of the few positive changes brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic is the use of Zoom and other virtual platforms that enable us to connect with more people in more places. The Asia Law Society (ALS) at U of T Law certainly took advantage of this, working in collaboration with other Asian law student associations across Canada to celebrate Lunar New Year for the second year in a row.
In addition to our amazing friends from last year at Osgoode, Queen’s, Lincoln Alexander, uOttawa, Western, and Windsor, students from Dalhousie, Bora Laskin, and McGill joined us this year on Saturday, February 5, 2022 to welcome the Year of the Tiger. Building on last year’s success, this event offered an opportunity for law students across Ontario and beyond to meet with one another, share experiences, and collectively foster a community that could last even after law school.
The two-hour event began with a few rounds of networking breakout rooms, followed by an origami contest. Photos of adorable origami tigers were uploaded for voting on a Discord server that was previously set up as a virtual meeting place for students from different law schools to interact and expand their own networks. We also had a spreadsheet where students could leave their contact and social media information to continue their conversations.
The night ended with board games and social breakout rooms. As a proxy for the tradition of red pockets, each school graciously contributed to a pool of prizes that were awarded to the origami contest winners and runner-ups, as well as two rounds of raffles.
Jonathan Hou (3L), an Upper Year Executive of the ALS, participated in the networking, origami, and Gartic Phone events this year. “I really enjoyed it! It was really nice to have McGill and Dalhousie join us this time. Meeting new people is always enjoyable, as it’s a chance to get to know different perspectives about law school!” stated Hou. He added that, “Making origami was also really fun, though the best part had to be playing Gartic Phone. We ended up with a lot of humourous drawings.”
My personal favourite moment involved some unexpected wisdom only law students could relate to. For the Codenames breakout room I was hosting, one participant told us a legendary tale of a group of law students using a landmark case as the hint to link three seemingly unrelated words to claim the win. I truly hope everyone reading this article will remember this pro tip in your next Codenames game where you have law students on your side.
The night was extremely fun and we had about 60 students in attendance. Given this success, the event organizers at each school are excited and optimistic to make this an annual tradition with the prospect of expanding westward next year to include students from the Prairies and the West Coast.
Editor’s Note: Jennifer Sun is the co-president of Asia Law Society and helped organize this event.
