The Notre Dame Black Law Students Association (BLSA) will host a one-day academic retreat Saturday with the Midwest Regional BLSA. The day will focus on mock trial preparation, stress management and networking.
“The BLSA is one of Notre Dame’s premier student groups," said Dean Nell Jessup Newton, “and its decision to host this year’s regional retreat is one more illustration of why that is so. Our BLSA members are always determined to do everything they can to help their fellow students excel, and we join them in offering the entire Midwest Regional BLSA a warm welcome to Notre Dame.”
The program also includes sessions for undergraduate students interested in applying to law school.
“It’s kind of a daunting task going through the process of applying to law school, getting the letters of recommendation, writing a personal statement and taking the LSAT”, said Lavarr Barnett, 2L and president of student run group. “We’ll talk about some strategies on how to be successful in the application process and how to choose the best law school based on people’s individual needs.”
Other sessions include how to keep up with academics when law school is, well, hard!
“One of the things I’ve learned in law school is that you have to have something that’s not related to law school to focus on,” Barnett said. “If you don’t, it’s really difficult to be motivated. Having something else to do is pretty important.”
The Notre Dame BLSA Chapter is one of more than 200 local chapters of the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA). Saturday’s retreat is a precursor event for NBLSA’s 46th Annual National Convention, which will take place this year in Baltimore, March 9 – 13, 2016.
BLSA is intended to facilitate the academic and professional development of African-American students in U.S. law schools and to instill in them a greater commitment to the needs of the black community.
Originally published by at law.nd.edu on October 02, 2015.