Look At Me Joining Stuff and Stuff

Before law school, I rarely joined groups or clubs on campus. Sure, I was a member of the International Club (because we went to theme parks) and I might have been on the email list for a couple others but in general, I'm not really a joiner. I found the idea of running a group or club horrific. No. No way. I'll leave that to the extroverts who thrive on chaos.

Then came law school where there are more clubs than students. The first week I joined the Elder Law group and a couple others that were near and dear to my heart and considered it done. But those sneaky orgs offer free lunch and interesting topics and events. So I started going to more and more and once you sign in, they got ya.
[Side note - It's a rare day when I can't get free lunch at school. Pizza, subs, italian etc. Free food is the best food!]

I probably ended up in 20 to 25 groups which is actually less than most law students at my school. Then last year I ran for a position on the Elder Law board and to my surprise, I won. So all last year, I had org meetings to attend, promote, help organize etc.  And it was FUN! To be honest, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed it while in undergrad but law school changes people. Thanks law school. Thanks.

Since I had so much fun last year, I ran for vice president of the Elder Law Society and for treasure of another group I really like. I won both (well, I ran unopposed. Shhhhh) and now I am running around like a chicken trying to plan the events for next year. Tomorrow we have the budget meeting with the treasurer of the student body to try and convince them to give us funds. They have really been cracking down on the smaller orgs and have decided that we must justify any funds not spent last year It's incredibly frustrating how nitpicky they are being with some groups but not others. We had some issues last year where they wanted us to cancel our small firm networking event and join (and give our allotted funds to) another group. We didn't and I think they might be making us pay for that decision.

I swear, sometimes law school reminds me of high school. There is all the drama and we even get a prom.

Even with all this, I cannot regret being a joiner for once. Beyond the resume blurb and such, I have gained so much from being a part of these groups. Plus, I have met so many attorneys that remember me from the orgs I am in. I was at the Pride Parade a few weeks ago and one of the attorney's walked up to me and was like "oh hey! You're in the Elder Law group! How are you? Let me introduce you to my colleagues, they do estate planning."

Maybe being a joiner isn't so bad?