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First Year Represent

14/3/2017

 
GABRIELLE VERHAGEN

Vol 11, Issue 3

That time of the year is coming, the time where first years are intoxicated with the excitement of what is to come. Competitions are starting, co-opt positions are opening, and  our applications for first year representative have been received and closed as of the March 12. ​
Campaigning begins on the 13 March; the lecture bashing, the poster making, the networking, these may not sound like fun things, but I am here to tell you some fantastic reasons you SHOULD run for first year representative.

Boost your confidence.

Lecture bashing was something I wasn’t good at initially, but like most things in 185 Pelham St, you get better with practice. It was a great springboard for me to moot in external competitions, and boost my confidence for interviews. If you can sell yourself to a room full of people, you can definitely sell yourself in an interview!

Make some great friends.

The great thing about representing your cohort is getting to know your cohort. You get to talk to people about the gaps they find in the law school, how they think it will be improved and just have fun. I think it was a great opportunity to make friends outside of the LMR/Stream bubble, because we see the same people in class and are so busy, it’s a great reason to talk to others and take some personal social time.

Make a change in the Law School.  

As a first year rep, your portfolio is pretty much discretionary since you don’t have set events. This gives a lot of room for creativity and also improving the Law School. Over the years there have been student/lecturer wine and cheese night, drank meme notice board, salsa dancing, footy game nights, regular pub meetings, Mindfulness Meditation and LMR reunion events. An event you think the Law School needs, is an event you can host! Running Mindfulness Meditation was one of the most rewarding things I did. It was great to see a well-being gap in the law school and fill it with something to benefit students.

Who run the world? Girls, girls!  

If you identify as a woman, here is some extra incentive. In 2016 and 2014 the representatives elected have been 3 men. I was convinced to run by a feminist on the LSS to get some more women representatives, so take this as a bat signal ladies and come up with your policies 😊

You always have a safety net  

When you apply for co-opt positions, you can still apply and run for first year representative. This just means that if you are elected, you have to take the first year representative position but are still eligible for co-opt if you do not win.

Last but not least, here is some campaigning tips from Jimmy, Josh and I:
  • Don’t over promise. Don’t come up with policies and campaign ideas you cannot deliver on.
  • Have fun!  
  • Have a catchy slogan for your poster, and use it in your lecture bash.
  • During lecture bashing - just be yourself. Don’t be too rehearsed.
  • Talk to your year level - find out what they want to change at MLS. Focus on what's feasible.  
  • Follow the rules! Read the campaigning rules carefully. Remember you cannot get your friends to share or post your poster, and don’t tag them!  
Good luck guys - voting for representatives will be in Week 4 from the 20th March to the 23rd of March <3

​
Gabrielle Verhagen is a third-year JD student and the LSS Women's officer

The rest of this issue
  • Application for a Low Income Health Care Card
  • Confessions of a Surreptitious Lecture Recorder
  • Fares Fair PTV
  • The Heavy Hand of Modern China​

More articles like this 
  • A First Year Lesson in Gender Equity 


Poe's law
14/3/2017 12:13:32 pm

I identify as a woman but dress, act, speak, look, and for all other intents and purposes behave like a man. I also am biologically male and my pronouns are him/he/his and I like others to refer to me as 'a man' despite my self identification. Please respect my identity and don't diminish my experience.

I'm very much looking forward to running for the LSS this year to increase the representation of women in ththe committee. We can do it ladies, girl power!

*nb by using the term 'girl' power I am not inferring women are somehow inferior by using the diminutive term girl

*nb I acknowledge the traditional owners of the Kulin nations on whose lands I am making this post

*nb no dairy products were used or animals harmed in the making of this post

Mitchell Holman
14/3/2017 06:07:11 pm

Why was any of this commentary necessary?
Why did you feel the need to do this?
Why did you post a comment without your name?
Why are you a coward?
Why do you feel the need to denigrate others?
Why do you feel the need to belittle the social causes of women everywhere?
Why do you feel so threatened by women that you need to colonize their struggle for equality / equity as your own?
Would you do the same if this was written by your mother or sister?

Your comment literally did nothing other than make you feel a little better, and I pity you for it, because someone is trying to make this world a little better, and you're taking a shit on it, which doesn't surprise me, because your shit is probably the only thing of value you produce. Get out of law and into the fertilizer business.

So defy my expectations, disclose your name, and put yourself up for criticism like I have - because if you don't, you genuinely have no courage at all, and deserve no respect whatsoever.

Holman Mitchell
14/3/2017 09:12:10 pm

I'm sorry (not sorry), but I get triggered by the use of phrases like 'identify as a woman.' They bring back awful memories of intolerant leftists and their violent and abusive reactions towards satire. Articles like this in the future should carry trigger warnings and the university should provide safe spaces and counciling for those afflicted.

But all that aside, you don't 'identify as a woman', you either are or are not a woman. Perhaps I should just use the blunt instrument of that statement/opinion next time rather than try to highlight the absurdity of of such a thing as gender 'identity'.

Future Boss
17/3/2017 05:40:57 pm

@Poe's Law: I'd say your rantings suggest you have little to no capacity to work anywhere professionally in the 21st century, never mind entering the legal profession. Get with the times and learn a thing or two before you start running your mouth.

Disillusioned
14/3/2017 03:17:32 pm

All of these reasons you set out equally apply to a whole host of other extra-curricular organisations.

You can "boost your confidence" in a myriad of ways that don't involve shouting meaningless platitudes at your disinterested peers before their seminars start.

You can make "great friends" (indeed, perhaps even greaTER friends) without joining a society whose members are under express instructions to be nice to you.

You can "make a difference" without putting on ANOTHER pub night or social activity directed towards (predominantly) young, (predominantly) wealthy (predominantly) white students.

In fact, given the unwieldy size of the LSS (and the historically large egos of many members of the leadership team) there's a pretty good argument that the most effective change occurs OUTSIDE the LSS - particular by organisations who aren't determinedly apolitical or bankrolled by large law firms.

This isn't to say that joining the LSS is a bad idea, these reasons just aren't very creative or convincing...

Chunkybutfunky
14/3/2017 08:36:48 pm

This comment is reductive to the extreme. Just because a benefit can be sourced elsewhere, does not mean it ceases to be a good reason to join any particular organisation. And drinking is not only enjoyed by and marketed exclusively to white people.... but okay.

The LSS put an incredible amount of unpaid time into the services they provide for you. I haven't personally applied because watching my (VERY DIVERSE) friends volunteer and put in the hard yards only for disillusioned individuals to pointlessly undermine the work or attack the individuals as egotistical is off putting to the extreme.

The careers guidebook and STS tutorials have been tangibly beneficial to me, bankrolled by a huge corporation or not. If the university isn't willing to pay (which is a bloody travesty honestly) the money has to come from somewhere if we want to gladly accept the benefits.



Great work Gabrielle, keep doing what you believe in. Big fan of you X.

Disillusioned
14/3/2017 09:09:21 pm

You'll notice that I expressly qualified my comment by saying "this isn't to say that joining the LSS is a bad idea, these reasons just aren't very creative or convincing..."

You'll also notice that I said that her reasons could equally be said of "whole host of other extra-curricular organisations" - which also involve students, working for free, for the tangible benefits of others.

That said, I acknowledge how hard Gabby and the other members of the MULSS work, and I don't mean to undermine that. I just think it's worth pointing out - particularly to first years - that there are other opportunities in the law school that may be equally as deserving of their time/energy.


Gabsbiggestfan
15/3/2017 11:14:22 am

Says something offensive


"But I said no offense though"


Comments are closed.
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  • Home
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