Nishtha Kulkarni ‘23
Hi Nishtha! I would welcome you to the Law Weekly, but you’re the current Production Editor, so that seems a bit unnecessary. So, let’s get right into it! What is your best quote from your running quote document?
My best quote that I can actually publish in the paper is from two weeks ago: “Who among us isn’t a little into lung play?”
What is the most memorable thing you’ve witnessed in a class? Weren’t you there when Kordana had a stroke?
I was there for that, yes. It was the first Tuesday of classes, at 8:30 in the morning. I am sitting front and center. In the last thirty minutes of class, Kordana started gripping the podium and staring into space. And we all thought that he’d run out of material. But, after he didn’t say anything for a while, we started to get concerned. Then, some of the students who knew the signs of a stroke ran up, got him to sit down, and called 911. It was really harrowing. And it’s crazy that he was back teaching the next week. He was back on his feet that afternoon! He spent the rest of his first class back apologizing to us, and we were all just like, “But are you okay?”
How has class been since he got back?
Well, he has a lot of opinions about Mormons. He thinks they have too much money. Someone said they are hoarding money for the second coming of Christ, and he was like, “Good! So we should tax them, then.”
Wait, can we put that in the paper?
Oh, we can definitely put that in the paper. I think everyone in the Law School knows how to take a joke by now.
What is the most unhinged thing you’ve witnessed at Feb Club, since you’ve been Iron Manning?
So, I don’t think I’ve witnessed anything too unhinged this Feb Club, but the summer after our 1L year, during Summer Series—which was our Covid version of Feb Club—I went to this party called Strawberry Moon. That class of then-3Ls were interesting people. It was a nighttime bonfire schtick in this 3L’s backyard, and the party was infamous because he had advertised it as the night that he would reveal the response to his FOIA request of the person who had reported him for breaking Covid rules. So halfway through the party, he pulls out this yellow envelope and is like, “Who wants me to read this?” And then this other 3L in a black mask runs up, grabs the envelope, and throws it in the fire. And this was all done to symbolize that he didn’t want to embarrass the person who reported him, who I later found out was at the party. But it was the most theatrical performance of “stick it to the administration” that I’ve ever experienced.
Wow. I think I blocked that entire year from my memory.
I really think that what has defined our experience as 3Ls is the Covid year. I was getting dinner with some 2Ls, and they were asking me about that year, and I was telling them some of the crazier stories I have witnessed or been a part of. And I think the Covid regulations were both the cause of so much drama and something we never fully got past as a class.
Do you think we’ve gotten better as a class?
I think Covid caused us to revert to our worst middle school behavior. 2L brought out our worst high school drama.
And now we’re in college! We’re emotionally stunted like all those kids who can’t read now because of their Covid educations. Are you feeling 3LOL right now?
I take law school less seriously than I think a lot of people do. I spend a lot of time socializing and networking because I feel like now is the time for us to make friends and get to know professors. We’re going to have to hit our 2,000 billable hours next year, and law school should be about us learning to manage our stress so that we don’t burn out next year. Law school should be about stopping to smell the roses, learning to develop yourself and grow as a person, and having strong relationships. So that’s a long-winded way of saying I’ve been 3LOLing since spring of 1L.
So, since you’ve had this philosophy during law school, how do you think you’ve grown as a person in the last two-and-a-half years?
I think I’ve developed a lot as a person, and I’ve really come into my own in more ways than one. I mean, a lot of people wouldn’t choose to come out as trans during law school, but because I’ve taken the time to develop genuine relationships with people, it’s really helped me to feel safe and secure in myself.
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Interviewed by Bryanna Lindberg '23
omk6cg@virginia.edu