Sai Kulkarni '23
Production Editor Emerita
I spent a lot of the last three years writing for this paper in a stream-of-consciousness format, and over the course of this last semester, I spent a lot of time writing in a contemplative manner—seeing the impending end of my time on this paper. But now that I am twenty-six days away from graduation, I have a complete perspective on my time in the Law School. The last time I wrote for the paper, I penned my goodbye as a member of the e-board and to my time behind the production desk. But I think I would be remiss if I didn’t take the chance to use the ultimate forum to express my goodbyes to law school as a whole. When I proposed this idea to our newly installed Editor-in-Chief, Niko Morse ’24, I presented it as a final way of getting some grievances off my chest. I was planning on leaving with some jokes about the administration and the concept of law school. And then I started getting emotional. Really emotional. Like, I started tearing up at random moments.[1] So, after that, I knew this piece had to go another direction. So here’s my take on the last three years of law school.
It seems like an eternity ago, but the 2020–21 academic year was shaped in the darkness of the pandemic. Classes were hybrid or entirely online. Events didn’t exist, students couldn’t be maskless, and we were restricted to gatherings of no more than five people at any one time. Weekly spit tests in a parking lot were a way of life, and students waited with bated breath to see if they would be isolated in their homes for fourteen or more days. All those precautions were necessary and important, certainly. But it created a class of law students that were deeply affected, with their mental health scarred. It created a class that formed cliques, became cynical about their relationships with one another, and altogether reverted to middle school behaviors.[2] But even in those dark times, org e-boards and PAs did their best to foster connections and try to create some sense of normalcy. Softball captains like Section A’s Jon Peterson ’23 and Jack Brown ’23 made sure to keep people active and together when they needed it most. Through late nights in a much more spread-out ScoCo, GroupMe-sourced cold call responses, camera-off Zoom LRW, and melodramatic behavior, the Class of 2023 found their own unique voices at a time when they needed them most.
After a summer of virtual work and recent graduates attempting to teach the newest class about UVA Law social traditions through Summer Series, we all returned to a fully in-person Law School for a final year. We graduated to high school drama, with parties every weekend, the return of school events, and a rejuvenated student body. Much of my 2L Fall is a fever dream to me, considering how much we all, myself included, overcompensated for the loss of precious time. I look fondly on those times when academics were still a high priority, but our bodies were pushed to the limit. The return of Bar Review kept people social, and the rise of free food brought comfort to the hearts and stomachs of students who missed out on it during their 1L year. We all got to experience Sunset Series at Carter Mountain, the return of FebClub, and our first taste of the Annual UVA Law Softball Invitational. So much of our 2L year was defined by the phrase “return to normalcy.” We all gave it our best shot, before the results of virtual OGI and PI interviews bore their fruit and we went off to our summer jobs.
This past year has been a blur to me. Maybe that’s proof that the “return to normalcy” was successful. Students in the Class of 2023 spent their time smoothing over their drama and working towards a stable final year. People relaxed and took “3LOL” to heart. This past semester really has felt like a wrapping-up of loose ends academically, professionally, and socially. I personally got the chance to attend some fun events and meet new people—a very large portion of my class. In all, I think this year has been the most “normal” that my class has managed.
So I bet you are asking yourself why I wrote this. It’s not as fun as my other articles. It’s not even reflective of everyone’s experience in the Class of 2023. But I wrote this because I think someone should immortalize at least one complete perspective of this unique class’s experience in law school. We came in at such a dark time and were still able to find our joy. Law school is a formative time for people, and the last three years have shown that to me. I hope everyone takes the time to do their own reflection on their time here before graduation. This can be a weird time. A drama-filled time. A bad time. A good time. It was certainly an interesting time. Law school gives you back what you put into it, and I put in a lot. But hey, what do I know? I’m just another student turning in a writing assignment in the middle of the night.
Goodbye UVA Law—even if I’m not here to write about it, stay wild, and stay social.
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omk6cg@virginia.edu