To go or not to go, to Law Camp that is...

CHRISTINE TODD and LISETTE STEVENS
Volume 1, Issue 5 (Originally Published 26 March 2012)

Ye That Did Not Attend (Christine Todd)
There are seven cardinal sins in life. Most have to do with gluttony, pride, and being sloth-like, behaviours perfectly attuned to the law student psyche. However, the commencement of week four has me thinking we ought to add an eighth sin: not attending law camp.
 
Expectations
It's hard to say what I expected in not attending. Sobriety was never going to be guaranteed given I deliberately packed a full bottle of whiskey for my weekend trip to the NSW coast (along with my week four readings). Now that I think about it, my functional memory of that 'study' was agreement, consideration, cider, whiskey, the consideration of more cider, certainty that whiskey was the more appropriate choice, and finally intention to forget it all in the morning. However, I felt safe in the knowledge that I'd come back magically learned and slightly less alcohol- marinated than my law camp counterparts. Additionally, there was an awkward certainty that I wouldn't be subjected to full-frontal nudity, given both my partner and I had rather unsexy colds.
 
Realities
Being a good student: I didn't actually make it through my week four readings, so all that smug I'd stored up over the weekend flew smartly out the window.
Full Front Nudity: Okay, so no full frontal nudity. But one woman did breastfeed her unusually large baby on the plane home to Melbourne, and I may have been hit in the bicep with her giant breast.
 
Lessons Learnt
Go to law camp
 
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Ye That Did Attend (Lisette Stevens)
 
Expectation
We were pretty damn excited on the bus to law camp. We had high hopes to make hundreds of new friends (a gross overestimation), we had our vodka bottles stashed safely in our handbags, and we were nervously praying that when we arrived there wouldn’t be jelly wrestling and broken teeth (stories of engineering camp traveled fast...)
 
Realities
It was pretty clear when we arrived that everyone was hoping to preserve some shred of dignity. We are future lawyers, after all. Unfortunately AND fortunately, it soon became apparent that this hope was naïve in the extreme.
We disgraced ourselves marvellously. The following things may or may not have happened (hint: they happened):

• Beer bongs. MANY beer bongs. 

• Vomit in room. Unknown offender. Left to fester for at least 12 hours. 

• More vomit. On the dance floor. From an individual hanging upside down from the rafters.
- Speakers breaking from all the SicKASss PHat BeaTSS.
• Strip beer pong. 

• Late night spaghetti bolognese. 

• Lying on the beach and returning to camp radiating sexy sunburn. 
And that’s just a sneak peak. There is no denying that the first night was far crazier than the second. But that might have something to do with the fact that we drank 85 percent of the entire weekend’s alcohol stock. 


 
Lessons learnt
Jokes aside, law camp certainly wasn’t just a weekend devoted to drinking and nursing god-awful hangovers. We learnt lessons. We learnt that nothing cements a friendship like partial (or full frontal...cheers Nick) nudity. We learnt that when you hear the words ‘beer bong’... run. Fast. We also learnt that no matter how intimidating the wildly intelligent and articulate student from Obs is, on law camp there is no place for feeling intimidated. I think all who went would definitely recommend it to future first years. And finally – a BIG thank you to all the LSS, particularly Nick and Anna for organising and running the whole thing! You guys were phenomenal. 


Law Camp 2012