The excitement had been building for weeks. Everytime my aunt’s name popped up on my phone, I would smirk because I knew it would be something pertaining to the surprise that we were planning for my mawmaw and pawpaw. I had bought my plane ticket and began to make my packing list. The only people who knew I was coming were my aunt and my mom. More than tired of food from the duc-ling, I submitted my list of meal requests to my mom so she could bless me with some home-cooked meals. From the smothered turkey necks to the shrimp and grits, to the spaghetti and meatsauce, to the meat pies, I might have gained my freshman 15 in this one week.
Spending time with my family gave me the refreshed feeling I was looking for but it also completely obliterated my sense of homesickness. I am completely fine with not seeing my family until Thanksgiving. My curfew went back into effect while I was home, there were many more chores to do than there are in my small dorm room, and everyone wanted to know who I was dating and what was my decided major.
My short time in Natchitoches was pretty eventful. I got to take professional pictures with my godson, be diagnosed with pneumonia, and finally go to mass at my church. I was able to spend time with my brother for the weekend. The best part of my weekend was everyone talked super fast and nobody commented on my accent.
The Oxford Road Building’s lecture room filled up. Interested people, as well as students fulfilling a class attendance requirement found their seats. The doors closed and the speaker, Dr. Brennan, started to introduce herself and the topic: The Milgram Experiment. Just as she proceeded to the second slide of her Powerpoint presentation, it happened. A loud cough, followed by some sniffles came from the back of the lecture room. A couple of heads turned, and saw an uninterested freshman who was busy typing away on his computer. If only they had known then how the rest of the lecture would go, then they would have tried to move as close to the front of the room as possible. For a full 45 minutes, the audience was subjected to Sandro’s coughs, sneezes, computer noises and more. It is truly amazing that he didn’t get thrown out.
The Oxford Road Building lecture room
This presentation on the Milgram Experiment was a part of the Williams Memorial lecture series, a group of lectures focused on great American works of liberal arts. Students who are enrolled in Emory’s Voluntary Core program are required to attend the lectures and learn about something they might not have found out about otherwise. The lectures typically take place every second Wednesday at 4:30pm. This specific day, Sandro was swarmed with work but somehow managed to make it to the lecture. He decided to bring his computer with him in order to be as efficient as possible, despite how distracting he knew his device would be. Sandro and Josh sat at the back of the lecture room to try and not interfere with the audience, but most people sat near the back anyways because they were uninterested.
Sandro working on his lab
“Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University, conducted an experiment focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. He examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused at the World War II Nuremberg War Criminal trials. Their defense was often based on “obedience” — that they were just following orders from their superiors. That’s exactly what Milgram wanted to test in his experiment” Exclaimed Dr. Brennan, but all Sandro could think of was that his lab was due at 5:00 PM and it was already 4:58 PM. What would he do? Submit the half-finished lab or- “What’s she talking about ?” said Sandro as he turned to his partner Josh on his right, letting out half a dozen coughs before actually completing the sentence. Josh, completely disregarding Sandro’s cry for help, said that the girl sitting in front of them has turned around and shifted to the farthest point of her seat every time Sandro sneezed or coughed. Both partners laughed as Sandro tapped on her shoulder to get her attention so he could apologize to her, but instead ended up coughing up a lung.
Josh and Sandro sitting in the lecture
Dr. Brennan then proceeded to explain what exactly the experiment encompassed. The procedure was that the participant was paired with another person and they drew lots to find out who would be the ‘learner’ and who would be the ‘teacher’. The draw was fixed so that the participant was always the teacher, and the learner was one of Milgram’s confederates (pretending to be a real participant). The participant was told that they were taking part in a study to test how the brain responds to a pain stimulus when learning new things. It is now 5 PM and Sandro’s chemistry lab has been submitted. Excited, he begins closing his laptop, but not before accidentally hitting the play button on his MacBook Pro™ and blasting Black Dog by Led Zeppelin for everyone to hear (28 minutes and 10 seconds into the lecture video if you want to listen to the tunes). Panicking, he slams his hands on they keyboard letting out a wild sneeze, and by some miracle one of the fingers must’ve hit the play button once more because the music stopped. “F**k”…. “God f**king damn it” said Sandro almost as loudly as his music had played.
Snapping back to the lecture Sandro noticed that Dr. Brennan had begun saying “The learner (a confederate called Mr. Wallace) was taken into a room and had electrodes attached to his arms, and the teacher and researcher went into a room next door that contained an electric shock generator and a row of switches marked from 15 volts (Slight Shock) to 450 volts (XXX). The teacher is told to administer an electric shock every time the learner makes a mistake, increasing the level of shock each time.”
The layout of the experiment
The learner gave mainly wrong answers (on purpose), and for each of these, the teacher gave him an “electric shock”, to which the learner pretended was real.
When the teacher refused to administer a shock the experimenter was to give a series of orders/prods to ensure they continued.
There were 4 prods and if one was not obeyed then the experimenter (Mr. Williams) read out the next prod, and so on. 40 minutes into the lecture, Sandro couldn’t help but wonder out loud, “Am I high off cough syrup?” Looking over at Josh he whispered, “I mean.. I’ve been taking 30 milligrams of Dayquil along with 2 pills of advil, and on the bottle it doesn’t even say how much i should be taking, I just.. *cough*”
After surveying the audience about what they thought of the experiment, Dr. Brennan revealed that close to 66% of participants in the experiment blindly followed the instructions of the high-and-mighty experimenter, “shocking” the learner all the way up to 450 volts (XXX). The experiment found that a scary amount of people were absolutely obedient to someone who was in a position of power. Dr. Brennan also provided come statistics for when they varied the conditions of the experiment. For instance, when the teacher had touch proximity to the leaner they found that the number of people who followed until the highest “shock” decreased by a significant amount. The lecture then transitioned into a question and answer segment, where the few people who paid full attention were excited to ask about experiment details and ethics.
Sandro leaving the lecture
With this final thought as well as Josh’s quirky “You won’t leave the lecture, you won’t” Sandro got up as the 3rd person had finished asking his question and started heading towards the door. After climbing over 4 people who were sitting in his row, he made it to the door. He gave out the signature cough, sneeze, sniffle, and blow before looking back at Josh and then exiting the lecture room.
As he met up with Josh outside the lecture hall, they started discussing the post, how in the world were they going to make this lecture in any way, shape or form creative to fit the in class rubric? They talked and talked until they came to a conclusion. *cough*
When I drove up to Raoul Hall on move-in day, I was greeted by three eager-looking sophomores ready to help. After exchanging brief introductions, they proceeded to lug all of the boxes to my room, leaving my mother and me empty-handed. Although these students had just moved in a few days ago themselves, they were committed to making my move-in day experience seamless.
Emory’s culture of designating Resident Advisors (RAs) and Sophomore Advisors (SAs) to oversee freshmen’s college transition and well-being speaks to the strength of the greater school community. These students may end up in the same classes, clubs, and parties as their residents, but they commit themselves to helping new students face the same challenges they have.
While Residence Life staff are all motivated by different goals and appreciate different aspects of their roles, they come together to foster community for themselves and for incoming students.
Freshman, reach out to your RAs and SAs. Use them as resources. They have found their places at Emory, and they are here to help you find yours.
Anisha Verma’s Emory profile.
*What’s your name?*
Anisha: Anisha Verma.
*Where are you from?*
Anisha: Wisconsin
*What Emory class are you in?*
Anisha: I’m a senior.
*What Emory clubs do you belong to?*
Anisha: I am in ECAST which is the Emory Climate Analysis Solutions Team, and EUSAC which is the Emory University Sustainability Advisory Council. And I’m part of Campus Kitchens. Um, I’m really into running. I like reading, writing, working.
*What motivated you to be an SA/RA?*
Anisha: I really liked my RA my freshman year. She was just a lot like me, I guess, in terms of like of how she was super sarcastic and people thought she was being mean but she was just being herself and, like, making jokes, and I have that problem a lot too. So I just kind of like try to establish some ground form of, like, friendship before I start, you know, cracking jokes, being mean, that sort of thing, yeah. And, um, I thought that Res. Life would be a cool and welcoming community to be a part of throughout the next three years at Emory. And yeah I really like helping the First Years with their adjustment to Emory.
*What has been the most rewarding part so far?*
Anisha: I think when like I see my residents from sophomore and junior year, and they’re like still really excited to see me, and they — because I think there’s like no way to tell whether or not you’re doing a good job as an RA, and so like when there – they still wanna be your friend and wanna be around you it kinda makes me feel that I’m doing something right.
*What was the hardest part of your freshman year?*
Anisha: Um, all my friends joined Greek life, and I did not, so they were kind of like we don’t really need you anymore because we have all of these new, hip, and cool friends who are in my sorority and fraternity. And then, I was kind of left alone with no friends. (Laughs) But it’s fine.
*What would you tell your freshman self?*
Anisha: I would tell my freshman self to stop talking as much, because I still have this problem where I’ll have something to do but then somewhere I’ll see someone and I’ll be like you know this conversation will be worth more in the long run than me studying for this test and getting a good grade, which isn’t always true. Um, so, you know like prioritize more efficiently I guess.
*What do you think makes the Emory community so unique?*
Anisha: There’s an Emory community? I don’t know. I think people are just kind of like doing their own thing. You’ll know what I mean when you like spend more time here.
Josh Fishbach’s Emory profile.
*What’s your name?*
Josh: Hi, my name is Joshua Fischbach.
*Where are you from?*
Josh: I’m from Ann Arbor, Michigan.
*What Emory class are you in?*
Josh: I am part of the Class of 2020.
*What Emory clubs do you belong to?*
Josh: I really like soccer, music, uh, different cultures, language. So I’m part of the club soccer team at Emory. I’m part of, um, Emory Students for Israel. I’m, uh, hopefully going to be part of TEDx at Emory. Um, and then I do, uh, and then I do, um, Coaching Corps. Um, I’m also part of Res. Life, so I’m a Sophomore Advisor.
*What motivated you to be an SA/RA?*
Josh: I thought it’d be a good way to get involved in the Emory community, uh, and it’d also be a great way for me to reach out and meet, uh, a diverse range of people from different backgrounds and be able to help them transition into college.
*What has been the most rewarding part so far?*
Josh: So far I’ve really liked, uh, the relationships that I’ve formed, um, both with my fellow SA — fellow Res. Life staff members and also with, um, the residents.
*What was the hardest part of your freshman year?*
Josh: The hardest part of my freshman year was probably, um, figuring out ways to manage my time, uh, efficiently so that I wouldn’t, um, be stressed out or constantly drag out work so definitely organization — time management in order to succeed here.
*What would you tell your freshman self?*
Josh: I would tell my freshman self to, you know, don’t worry about anything, like, social pressure, academic pressure, you know…it’s all trivial…just be happy and enjoy yourself, where you are in life.
*What do you think makes the Emory community so unique?*
Josh: There’s a diverse range of people in the community, so you can find really any type of person that would sort of — sort of fit into any type of category or label that you want, so there’s –there’s people for everyone here which is really nice. There’s not just one type of student or one type of person.
Caroline Rosen’s Emory profile.
*What’s your name?*
Caroline: Caroline Rosen.
*Where are you from?*
Caroline: Pennsylvania.
*What Emory class are you in?*
Caroline: I’m the Class of 2020.
*What Emory clubs do you belong to?*
Caroline: I’m on the club gymnastics team. Obviously, I’m involved in Res. Life, and I’m on the executive board for Emory Miracle.
*What motivated you to be an SA/RA?*
Caroline: I was very close with my SAs and RAs last years, and I really liked their role of getting to know the residents and helping people adjust to college, and I wanted to do that too.
*What has been the most rewarding part so far?*
Caroline: Meeting my residents.
*What was the hardest part of your freshman year?*
Caroline: The hardest part of my freshman year…was probably getting sick. That sucks. And like the whole hall was sick, it was a nightmare.
*What would you tell your freshman self?*
Caroline: Um, calm down. Everything will be fine in terms of your social life, and academics, and everything
*What do you think makes the Emory community so unique?*
Caroline: I think we all are, you know, very involved in academics, but also really value spending time with spending time with the people we care about and being involved, uh, outside of academics.
Kevin Niu’s Emory profile.
*What’s your name?*
Kevin: My name is Kevin Niu.
*Where are you from?*
Kevin: I’m from Canton, Ohio.
*What Emory class are you in?*
Kevin: I’m part of the Emory Class of 2020.
*What Emory clubs do you belong to?*
Kevin: Some of my interests would include definitely music, I play piano, I’m an avid rock climber. Um, in terms of extra-curriculars I’m part of the club swim team here, I’m part of Student Programing Council, and as well as Emory Student Ambassadors.
*What motivated you to be an SA/RA?*
Kevin: Being an SA sounded like a really good opportunity to meet people while also having fun. The idea of second year housing just didn’t seem appealing to me, in the sense that nobody was going to try and establish a sense of community. Um, and I thought first-years would be more willing to have engaged conversations with people who they lived near — they live near.
*What has been the most rewarding part so far?*
Kevin: I think it’s been really neat to see everybody kind of find their way through Emory and see, like, who these people were when they got here and kind of the things they get involved with afterwards, and kind of see people discovering new things.
*What was the hardest part of your freshman year?*
Kevin: I think the hardest part of freshman year was there were a lot of times where you’d feel very alone just because you had a lot of friends, but you’ve only known them for, like, two or three months and so you don’t really trust them the way that you did people back home. And I think that was one of the most significant challenges, learning how to cope with issues and problems on your own.
*What would you tell your freshman self?*
Kevin: I would probably tell my freshman self that the biggest way to, like, succeed in college is to just push through, uh, because there’s a lot of stuff that happens in college, um, a lot of times where you feel like, you know, you’re just under way too much stress and under way too much pressure. Um, and I think being able to find things to look forward to is a great way to kind of keep yourself moving.
*What do you think makes the Emory community so unique?*
Kevin: I think the fact of the matter is that anybody who really tries to fit in to the Emory community will fit into the Emory community. I think at other places in it at like state schools or extremely small liberal arts college it is very possible that it’s not a good fit for someone, but I think at Emory, like, everybody is, like, welcome and everybody has the potential to find a community here.
Have you ever wondered why there are door levers and door knobs? Have you ever noticed the different types of faucet handles found in bathrooms? Though at first you may only think of these designs as products of architectural advancements, they all serve a bigger purpose in our world as they help people suffering with disabilities and injuries. Whether it’s the simple design of a ramp alongside stairs, or an indent in a curb next to a crosswalk, these architectural modifications all fall under what researchers call “The Universal Design”. As these researchers continue to discover unique ways to make our lives more efficient, some have started to wonder how we can apply this universal theory to the classroom. Though children with disabilities used to receive individual attention, more and more have been assimilating into a classroom setting forcing researchers to identify new forms of accommodation.
Dr. Jennifer Sarrett opens her presentation, “Autism in the Classroom”.
Jennifer Sarrett from Emory’s Center for the Study of Human Health is at the forefront of implementing the Universal Design for Learning on our campus. She crafts her syllabus and each lesson to be accessible to all students, with or without learning disabilities. After noticing a downward trend in graduate rates and post-graduation employment in autistic students, Sarrett knew she needed to make a change.
“These students aren’t being set up for success in the same ways that other students are being set up for success,” she said. “We have autistic students on campus and we want to continue to have autistic students on campus, so we need to figure out what works best for them.”
In order to increase success for students with learning disabilities, Sarrett provides accommodations in the classroom to benefit their learning capacity. She alters her lectures and presentations to suit the needs of all students, whether they be visual, auditory, or sensory. Sarrett’s efforts to better serve autistic and learning-disabled students in class are helping not only her students, but also the Emory community as a whole to become more aware and accommodating. By including all of her accommodations in her syllabus, she is telling her students that her classroom is a safe and open space. Sarrett stresses using a language of difference, not deficit, as some people are different, not worse. She is spreading a sense of respect and normalization for autistic people across campus.
Sarrett shares resources about autism in the classroom that can be utilized by professors as well as students.
When Professor Sarrett opened the audience to questions, it seemed as if every faculty member in attendance immediately raised their hand with a concerning look. These gestures of anxiety instantly made us realize that these professors and TAs were quite apprehensive and inexperienced when approaching students with disabilities. One by one they nervously asked about techniques regarding accommodations and shared episodes of frustration from their classes. With these teachers seeming to lack any knowledge in the field of autism, they desperately tried to obtain any advice they could get from Professor Sarrett. One question in particular sparked an interesting conversation in the audience. A woman questioned how these accommodations truly prepared students for the “real-world” when the working environments can often be harsh and traditional. With most of the audience nodding in agreement, Sarrett made sure to be diplomatic in her response and stressed that a lot of these accommodations are found in companies around the world. This was honestly hard to believe for many as they continued to question the applications to life after college.
The audience, consisting primarily of professors, prepares to leave after Sarrett’s presentation and Q&A.
Emory, as an institution, has a duty to prepare its students for the “real world”. In other words, the school is providing its students with the tools they need to be successful in their future endeavors. Though Emory tries its best to be an accommodating and tolerant school, it is easy to question how such accommodations in college can help students be prepared for careers that are not so tolerant. While Emory acts as a safe haven for social differences and disabilities, this progressiveness is not necessarily universal, making it difficult for students to adapt. With hundreds of schools around the country taking on this Universal Design of Learning, the real question is: Will different companies and career paths also adapt to these accommodations? Or will they continue to be conservative with their working style?
The Beat Generation & Counterculture, 1940-1975: an exhibition celebrating the contributions of the writers, poets and artists of America’s Beat Generation. This exhibition reconsiders postwar literature and the ways it mirrored, predicted, and remade the culture around it. With its emphasis on the influential group known as “the Beats,” the show rediscovers a number of fascinating countercultural writers and remains the first major consideration of the Beats in the U.S. in nearly a decade.
The Beat Generation emerged as a key part of the U.S. counterculture in the years following World War II. The exhibition showcases the Beat spirit of exploration and experimentation around practicing politics, making art and building community.
This is an exhibition that looks at the power of literature to change our perceptions and to influence our culture. Thus, having an impact that is multi-generational and cross-disciplinary. All are invited to study, peruse and to be inspired by such creative energy. There remains a diverse group of people within this movement, united despite their differences by a commitment to radical experimentation and resistance to the mainstream; They have women and people of color writing, who congruently want to share their stories.
As we ventured into the realm of poetry for one hour in the Oxford Road Building, we began to evaluate and reminisce upon the environment in which the Beat took place. Co-curated by English PhD candidates Aaron Goldsman and Sarah Harsh, the pre-exhibition event began with the introduction of Anne Waldman’s endeavors.
As a prominent figure within the Beat Poetry Generation, Anne Waldman has been recognized as an organizer and instigator for the experimental poetry community; She has worked as an editor, teacher, performer, and cultural/political activist. Waldman, in her own words, is “drawn to the magical efficacies of language as a political act.”
Waldman has raised the bar as a feminist, activist and powerful performer. She has read in the streets, as well as numerous larger venues such as the Dodge Literary Festival in the U.S. and the Jaipur Literature Festival in India, while continuing to teach poetics all over the world. She remains a highly original “open field investigator” of consciousness, committed to the possibilities of radical shifts of language and state of mind, in order to create new modal structures and montages of attention. Waldman has received numerous awards and honors for her poetry, including the American Book Awards’ Lifetime Achievement, the Dylan Thomas Memorial Award, the National Literary Anthology Award, and the Shelley Memorial Award for poetry.
As Waldman entered the room, her long, dark hair, draped in black clothing and complemented with gold accents, set the tone for her poetry readings; She seemingly embodied the spirit and soul of her presentation. We began to recognize Waldman’s strong, firm stance as she spoke in a deep and fiery tone, which emphasized her rhetoric and purposeful language. Her words, wrought with passion and embrace, conveyed a lively and powerful voice. As she spoke, we glanced around at the ubiquitous captivation that took place within each individual of her audience: all eyes, bodies, and ears were focused directly on her.
Waldman’s poetic hymns are deeply connected to her work as an activist, along with her practice of Tibetan Buddhism. As she remains true to her artistic integrity, Waldman utilizes transitions which speak upon her performativity, often including rhetorical usage of chants, song, and emphatic reading.
As we employed Anne Waldman’s stylistic approach to poetry, we curated a poem which embodies the many aspects of our rapidly changing ecosystem. Just as Waldman conveys her message on environmental change, we harnessed her methodology within our reading. The Beat Generation, from 1940-1975, was an era in which poetry and art were simultaneous commentaries on American culture and political issues. Now, maintaining consistent ideologies, writers like Anne Waldman have brought back to life the importance and value of these messages in today’s society. Her galvanizing performances, extensive collaborations, and radical mission to inform our world on constantly changing policies and environment have reminded us just how powerful the effect of poetry can be.
Waldman’s provision and emphasis upon poignant views within her writing have conveyed not only the importance poetry has on our rapidly changing world, but how to properly implore the mechanisms of rhetoric within her poems. Thus, emanating her message tenfold. We highly recommend attending one of Anne Waldman’s performances, as we guarantee you’re in for a passionate, lively, informative experience like none other.
Disclaimer: Not many pictures because the BlackStar Magazine livestreamed and took photographs of the event, and asked that past a certain times, no pictures be taken.
In 2009, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie gave a TED talk called “The Danger of a Single Story.” It was about what happens when different human beings are reduced to a single narrative or experience. For example, when Africans are treated as pitiable poor, starving victims with flies swarming their bodies. More fitting for this article, when black people are all expected to share beliefs, culture, and history regardless of where they come from and what their backgrounds actually are.
On Tuesday, September 26th, black people of all different shades and backgrounds poured into the Emory Black Student Union (EBSU). The occasion? An event called “The Linkup.” Representatives from the Black Student Alliance (BSA), Emory NAACP, and the African and Caribbean Student Associations came together to begin a series of tough talks in the black community at Emory. The moderator, pictured standing, focused on the power of being an advocate for social change. He emphasized the importance of learning effective communication and being willing to listen to conflicting point of views with the intent to learn, and not sway.
The topic for this debate was in question form, “Do black students find the black community to be alienating despite a large focus on inclusivity?” The debate was separated into a “yes” and “no” side of the argument. It included opening arguments, rebuttal, cross examination, and a closing argument. The “yes” side focused on how many cultural communities are judgmental with the typical “you’re not black enough” narrative. They also mentioned the importance of creating community and safe spaces for people to express and deal with their experiences and their emotions. The “no” side focused on points such as a large increase in participation in events put on by black organizations and the fact that many black communities on campus pride themselves on their stance that blackness is all encompassing and not a singular experience.
In the end, there seemed to a general consensus that there doesn’t always need to be a general consensus. Blackness is not a single story. All black people don’t look alike, all black people don’t eat the same food, we don’t share the same family unit, our hair doesn’t hold the same curl as each other, and our identities as a black person and also as an individual are not exclusive. We do not share a single story, and we embrace that.
A little over a week ago one of my poems, State of Emergency, was published in The Best Teen Writing 2017by the Scholastic Arts & Writing Awards. Every year, they hold a contest, open now, for 7th-12th grade students to showcase their work on a grand stage. Those who earn awards on the national level are eligible to be published in the yearly publication of The Best Teen Writing. Poetry has had a big impact on my life and, in my opinion, helped me to get into Emory. Poetry has also been a great asset to my transition to life here at Emory, so I wanted to explore and bring awareness to the poetry scene around Continue reading “The Poets of Emory: Past, Present, and Future”
In 1916, Emory University established a law school with a faculty of great teachers with degrees from the most highly regarded institutions of the era, a library of over 5,000 volumes, and a class of just twenty-seven students. Today, ranked number 22nd in the nation, the Emory University School of Law now has an annual enrollment of over 130 faculty members, 800 students and up to 301,490 volumes, a collection of written or printed sheets bound together as a book, at the library. Averaging a 90.7% bar pass rate, 97.6% graduate employment and an average score of 165 on the LSAT, the Emory University School of Law is regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the nation.
Outside the School of Law, on Clifton Road
The Emory University School of Law has many programs for students to choose from such as: LLM, JD, JM, SJD and other joint degrees. One of the most prominent degrees is the Juris Master Dual degree program with Georgia Tech. With an annual tuition of $53,350, it is one of the best deals you get considering the ranking of the institution.
The Emory University School of Law offers a practical and disciplined approach to the study of law that engages students in the varied and integral roles the law plays in our community, society, and world. The student-centered focus, innovative programs, and commitment to scholarships prepare graduates to make an immediate and lasting impact. The Emory School of Law provides students a wide variety of opportunities through its many partnerships and programs as well, just to list a few:
The Law School’s Partnership with the Carter Center is an initiative promoting world peace founded by former President Jimmy Carter. The Carter Center provides Emory with exceptional opportunities to understand and engage global challenges such as strengthening rule of law in Liberia, establishing foundations for long-term peace in the Sudans, and fighting diseases like Malaria and Guinea Worm Disease. Emory faculty and graduate students, with the help of the Carter Center programs, have the opportunity to help understand and solve complex problems such as the persistence of gender-based violence in post-conflict societies, the role of elections in transitional contexts, and the gap between theory and practice in disease elimination and eradication. The partnership opportunities are accessible to any and all graduate students of the Law school.
Additionally, graduate students can take part in the the Law School’s own Center for Transactional Law and Practice program. According to Emory University school of Law’s website “Through the Center’s Transactional Law Program, students have the opportunity to acquire a strong foundation in business law doctrine, become financially literate, and practice contract drafting and other critical deal skills”. The program provides a roadmap for every student interested in studying transactional law. Whether through in-class simulations of deals or transactional law externships with actual clients, students in the Transactional Law Program get the chance to experience what being a deal lawyer is really like. This program is accessible to virtually all Emory law school students.
The court room on the first floor
Within this listing, it would be a shame not to mention Emory Law school’s Moot Court Society. The Moot Court Society is a competitive, student-run organization that, according to Emory University school of Law, provides “experiential opportunities to develop oral advocacy and brief-writing skills.” Emory Law students organize and host the annual Civil Rights and LibertiesMoot Court Competition, held at Emory Law in the Fall semester. This year’s competition will be held on October 20-22, 2017. Five professors and professionals will be reviewing the briefs. This program is accessible to all JM degree seekers.
Last but not least, is Emory Law school run Emory Law Mock Court. Graduate students undergo a selective process where they get involved with presenting and debating prosecution and defensive sides for real world cases in a Law school run Mock court. Emory College undergraduate students also have the opportunity to aid graduate students involved in the program as assistant or “secondary lawyers.”
I interviewed Cale, a prospective student, to hopefully hear a different perspective on how he views the School of Law. I thought it would be interesting to see what makes a student want to apply to the Emory School of Law, how an outsider who wants to be an insider views the institution, and what advice he can give that he has learned his process. Ultimately, I wanted to collect evidence to help guide students at Emory on whether they should attend the Emory School of Law.
In preparation for our interview, I emailed Cale questions that I was going to ask him previous to our meeting so that he would be prepared and well versed. We talked about the Law School in a study lounge in the Woodruff Library. Below is the transcript from our dialogue.
Hunter: Hi Cale. You are considering applying to Emory School of Law, correct?
Cale: Yes, I am thinking of applying.
Hunter: What would you hope to get out of the Law School?
Cale: I wish to get an education on how to practice law. Hopefully a strong foundation in law will help me enact my own moral compass. Not to sound like I am a personal savior, but I hope that law school will provide me an apparatus to right the wrong. Also, I think being a lawyer would be a practical and tangible job for me.
Hunter: What makes you want to apply to Emory School of Law, and what makes you not want to apply?
Cale: Emory School of Law is a highly revered institution. It is ranked by U.S. News as the 22nd best law school in the nation, but it only matters if you give heed to their rankings, like if they actually mean anything. What they do mean, no one can really articulate. I would go for the connections. Emory School of Law has an incredibly noteworthy alumni base.
Emory’s ranking on U.S. News
Honestly, I would have a tough time committing to Emory School of Law as an undergraduate student. After the undergraduate experience, I don’t think I can do Emory again. From what I have heard, there is little difference between the undergraduate experience at Emory and the graduate experience. I want something different. I think that’s how most kids would put it. It’s not social enough, Emory School of Law is a very solitary experience. Students compete with grades; it is very cutthroat.
Hunter: What could Emory’s law school do to give its students a better experience and consequently make it more attractive to prospective students?
Cale: I think they should do more to reach out to the undergraduate students who are not pre-law. I am a philosophy major, a major in which students often continue to law school. I am yet to receive contact from Emory School of Law. As an Emory student who is considering the Law School here, I think they need to do better marketing. Maybe a business degree would have benefited the Law School professors and Law School management.
Hunter: What advice do you have for other students applying to the law school?
Cale: My biggest piece of advice is study the LSAT for at least 200 hours. Take your time. The LSAT score is clearly the most important part of the application to do well. Effective articulation in arguments and correct comprehension of readings is crucial. It is a very technical test. Internships also help. An attractive résumé is always beneficial.
Hunter: Thank you! I wish you the best of luck in the application process.
Cale: Thank you for your wishes. Best of luck to you too. It was a pleasure meeting you.
Here are my conclusions and my advice:
Cale and likely the majority of other prospective students at Emory see Emory School of Law as a potential graduate school of their liking predominately because of its high ranking and how highly revered it is. Students may be shied away from the school’s perceived solitary experience where the environment is highly competitive. Perhaps if Emory did a better job of its, for lack of a better phrase, public relations, they may find a way to change how the school is perceived.
Furthermore, I concluded something about the undergraduate experience in relation to the graduate experience here at Emory and likely at other schools. If you are an undergraduate student at school X, you probably don’t want to be a graduate student at School X. Expand your world. The two experiences are likely too similar.
My advice to Emory students on the pre-law track, if you can get into Emory School of Law, you will likely get into many other law schools of which many will be better suited for you. You should be willing to expand your horizons and be open to applying to different law schools. Moreover, you should not simply attend a school because of its ranking. Apply for more compelling reasons. Also, regardless of your major, be open to considering law because of the many doors it may open in the future. Study the LSAT tirelessly; it is arguably the most important aspect of your application.
By Sandro, Josh, and Hunter
Ranchod-Nilsson, Sita. “The Carter Center.” Emory University main site, www.emory.edu/ACAD_EXCHANGE/issues/2013/autumn%20/stories/ranchod-nilsson/index.html. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
“Emory Law | Emory University School of Law | Atlanta, GA.” Emory University School of Law, law.emory.edu/. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
“How Does Emory University School of Law Rank Among America’s Best Law Schools?” U.S. News & World Report, U.S. News & World Report, www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/emory-university-03039. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.
I have had my heart set on Emory ever since the beginning of my junior year in high school. I attended an information session having never heard of Emory before, partly out of interest, and partly in effort to miss my English class, which conflicted with the session. Every photo and fact about the school that was presented only piqued my interest even more. I left knowing that Emory was high up on my college list.
I attended Emory’s Pre-College Program in the summer before my senior year to take a class in Human Anatomy and to spend more time on campus. I left the program knowing that Emory was my first choice school and that I wanted to apply early decision. I had fallen in love with the brightness and friendliness that radiates off of Emory’s campus, and I knew my heart belonged right there in Atlanta.
Writing my application was stressful, to say the least. After weeks and weeks of ripping up potential essay responses, scratching out grammatical errors, and feeling like giving up, I pressed the submit button, not knowing that the most agonizing part was yet to come: waiting.
I waited and I waited. Finally the day came: December 15. I sat by the computer all day, waiting for the clock to strike 5:00 P.M. And once it did, this is what happened.
The sequence of me getting into Emory.
What came next was just pure excitement that lasted for the eight months leading up to school starting. I found my roommate, I signed up for classes, and I was ready.
Of course, the first few days of college were a little bit difficult for everyone. College is a huge a adjustment–one that nobody is really ready for. I had to say goodbye to my parents, learn how to do laundry, and get accustomed to sustaining myself. But, I was never sad. I never wanted to go home and climb into my own bed, because every single new friend I met made me feel more and more at home. The warm smiles and the friendly faces I was greeted with only served to reassure me that I was in the right place. The people at Emory truly reflect the warm vibe that the campus gives off.
Although I met incredible people all over campus, my current best friends just so happen to live on my floor. These girls are the reason why my experience at Emory has been amazing so far. I go to bed after our daily movie and game nights with a smile on my face, having comfort in the fact that my support system is right outside my door.
Me with some of my hall mates.
My friends and I love to hang out together on campus and have chill nights inside, but when you’re living in Atlanta, some nights you just have to go out and explore. I went to the Fall Festival at Old Fourth Ward Park, the Lantern Festival at the Beltline, and shopping at Lenox Square Mall. For those nights when I didn’t feel up for leaving campus, however, Emory had me covered. I have attended a comedy show by the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, a foam party, and a silent disco–all on-campus and Emory-sponsored. The fact that events such as these happen all the time remind me that Emory really cares about students having fun and being social as much as they care about them succeeding in academics.
Me with my friend Lori at Lullwater Park.
The people I’ve met and the experiences I’ve had have been wonderful, but what has stuck out to me the most has been the community support. Everybody is here to lift each other up and encourage each other to accomplish their goals. Coming from a competitive high school, it’s a breath of fresh air to witness others genuinely wanting me to succeed in everything I do. Rather than my classmates secretly wishing I have a bad interview so I don’t get the position I’m trying for in a club, I receive multiple texts from my friends before and after the interview wishing me good luck and asking me how it went. Having such a strong and reliable support system makes me feel at home and as if I really belong here. I couldn’t be more thankful to be surroundedby people who want the best for me, just like I want the best for them.
My friends and I after winning songfest!
So my advice to high schoolers applying to college is this: follow your heart. It sounds cheesy, but seriously, do it. Students from my high school applied to schools based on their rankings and their names, but in the long run, this only hurt them. Just go with your gut. I did it, and I wouldn’t wanted to have ended up anywhere else. It’s only been four weeks, but I can honestly and truthfully say that I am home.
(Above is the beginning of a personal project I am working on. I am recording one second of every day of my first year at Emory–minus a few when I forget–and the final result will be a compilation of my first year in college. I also started about a week late.)
Jenna: Friday afternoon, Janet, Jenna, and their two friends Ashley and Camille ventured into my eccentric fashion district known as Little Five Points. As they stepped foot into the vastly undiscovered world of L5P, they came to recognize how my life is not only shaped by various groups of people due to differences in historical foundation of spaces, but of my location in proximity to other influential spaces in Atlanta. With my Greenwich Village vibe, they glanced around a bit, and reminisced upon our unique street layout. Because of my deep rooted iconic culture of city living and freedom of expression, my area has not developed into anything more than just that throughout these past 50 years. As I have been known for a certain type of merchandise and culture, you can seemingly find thrift shops and boutiques, complemented by eclectic street musicians, on every corner you turn.
Janet: My ambience intrigued the girls, with the friendly people that roam my streets. I’m a great place to rap in, sell art, and have a good time with loved ones. Although my streets aren’t the safest, I am nonetheless an inviting neighborhood. My one-of-a-kind boutiques offer distinctive items and an experience like never before. Young or old, I have stores that suit your soul.
Jenna: Soon enough, my shoppers began to develop the streets of L5P from anonymous into quirky in no time. My vintage apparel, vinyl and smoke shops, independent bookstores, burger joints and pizza parlors will have you leaving with a smile plastered upon your face. Along with the many things to do, culture has played a significant role in my upbringing. “People watching” has been described as a sport, as my town is inviting to individuals stemming from all cultures.
Janet:As corporate chains have threatened my existence, a special type of zoning rule has limited my number of stores and their sizes to a mere 5,000 square feet. This ensures the prevention of large chains such as hotels and shopping malls. In fact, in 1975 my communities united as one to fight for my future endeavors; I hope they continue to keep my neighborhood the way it is. Families from all around the world come to my shops, and I can guarantee you will always have a fun time on my streets. If you’re ever looking for a marvelous meal or the best second hand clothes, then I am meant for you.
Jenna: Junkman’s Daughterisn’t just the name of Pam Majors’ Little Five Points store. When she was a child, her father would come home each night with his truck filled with random items he’d purchased that day in metro Atlanta shops that were going out of business. Her parents would sift through the day’s haul, which her dad would then sell in one of his salvage shops. When her father retired in 1981, Majors, then in her early 20s and living in Candler Park, went through the flotsam and jetsam of his life. She discovered rare finds and gems such as old Beatles notebooks and 1950s leather jackets, and saw a chance to put her spin on the wares. In 1982 she opened a shop next to a former methadone clinic in the business district nearby called Little Five Points. The store’s name was biographical and authentic: Junkman’s Daughter.”
Janet: Overall, it seemed that Janet, Jenna, Camille, and Ashley had a wonderful and unique experience exploring my uncharted world. With Halloween approaching, they’ll be sure to come back and visit my stores for some boisterous costumes.
Jenna: The reality is that I have been continuously changing through the years, yet my DNA has remained stable. My location, sandwiched between Candler Park and Freedom Park, is home to individuals sharing the same values of commitment to diversity. The people entering my little village congruently maintain the desire to live in a neighborhood with varying economic classes, spiritual traditions, and races. However, to continue my flourishment is dependent upon our future advocators in generations to come.
Christian, Scott. “The Junkman’s Cowgirl.” Creative Loafing, 25 Mar. 2004, www.creativeloafing.com/home/article/13014204/the-junkmans-cowgirl. Accessed 23 Sept. 2017.
