All posts filed under: Student Commentary

Philadelphia Art Museum

My Philly Neighborhood: Fairmount (aka the Art Museum Area)

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Living in Fairmount is like living in the city, but with training wheels.

Fairmount—often referred to as the “Art Museum Area” due to its proximity to the Philadelphia Art Museum—is located just a mile and a half from the heart of Center City, but has all the perks of living in a small neighborhood. For example, there are less people, more parking spaces, and a variety of housing options for a fraction of the cost. I have lived in Philadelphia for over six years, and I spent five of those years living in Fairmount.

Baseball in Mitt

Major League Baseball, Law Review, and Forging Your Own Path

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I have been searching for the intersection of sports and law since beginning law school in 2013. I’ve always been fascinated by the legal, business, and transactional nature of professional sports, and I knew that to increase my opportunities after graduation, I needed to graduate from Temple with a marketable and tangible work product in that area. Fortunately, I found that opportunity during my second year as a member of The Temple Law Review. All of Temple’s academic journals have a unique scholarship component. Students are asked to explore and write an article on a novel or changing area of the law and establish a practical solution. I recognized that this would be an arduous task that would take significant time, effort, and energy. Therefore, I knew I had to research a topic that I was passionate about. My advisor, Professor Ken Jacobsen, helped me bounce around a few ideas. Our dialogue focused on the labor market in professional baseball—an area of the law that was constantly litigated throughout the 20th century. Additionally, I knew …

Singing for the Pope

Preaching to the Choir: Reflections on Singing for the Pope

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The recent Papal visit presented Philadelphians with unprecedented opportunities. Some of us attended as legal observers, volunteered as greeters, or participated in the Festival Families and the Papal Mass on Sunday. I was honored when, after a rigorous audition process, I was selected to sing in the choir for Sunday Mass on the Parkway. I did not say yes right away; after all, I am in Law School, and I had to study. However, I ultimately realized that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I had to make it happen. The 500 member choir consisted of people of every background: professional musicians, amateurs, senior citizens, religious, lay people, conservatives, liberals, and everything in between. We were all there for a common purpose. “I had sung this piece so many times before but I had never actually felt the words like I did on the Parkway surrounded by a million people.” Rehearsals, which took place every Monday from July through September, were grueling.  Once the semester started, I would go to class all day, grab …

Football

Win the Day: How I Found Law School Success Through Chip Kelly

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I begin this blog post with the following caveat; I am a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles fan. The recent success of Temple Football coupled with Chip Kelly’s first offseason as General Manager has football on the minds of a lot of Philadelphians and Temple Law students. Chip Kelly has brought energy to the Philadelphia Eagles that has revitalized the franchise, fan base, and city. On a more personal level, Coach Kelly helped me turn around my 1L year after a tough first semester. Law students are always looking ahead. We know that finals are always lurking around the corner, even in the middle of September. Without fail, a student in the first day of class will raise his or her hand and ask, “Can you tell us anything about the final?” We spend our free time planning out the semester and anticipating final grades. We wonder how those grades will stack up next to our classmates, and where our success will lead us. We worry about when to send applications out to interview for jobs we …

Temple Law Student at Orientation

Surviving Orientation as a 1L

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As I looked around, I saw that some of my peers were from vastly different backgrounds. Despite our different backgrounds and resumes, one thing seemed to connect nearly all of us; uneasiness. Although every student in the building possessed a stellar academic background, none of us were exactly sure what to make of one another, our new faculty, or the workload that was soon to be in front of us.