OMG guys! I’m going to graduate. And for my last respects, I’d just like to give a big ol’ slurpy good-bye kiss to TDA. TDA, I love you. I haven’t been able to keep my hands off you since I was a dirty little 1L. And I love everyone who has ever, ever written a single line for you.
Why do I love thee? Let me count up all my junk. First, I feel like most of the focus of law school is on becoming the best candidate for things that are already in existence. We fight to get on journal, moot court, etc. And with good reason: excellent skills are developed through those activities. But..if Jimmy Jo didn’t do journal, Jimmy John certainly would have. There will always be the next person in line who is content and fit to take on those roles. In that respect, it’s easy to feel replaceable at Duke. TDA never really felt like that. TDA is a cheap little candle in the wind that only survives from year to year because people like Eileen and Jeff step up to do it. I mean, I can tell you: If Eileen Kuo hadn’t come to Duke Law, there would have been no EIC, and therefore no paper this year. I could say the same thing about Jeff Jones and the paper next year. How cool is that? I know it’s just a silly little paper. But still, the law school is different because of those two and the decisions they made.
Second, TDA is a great place to grandstand. And bandstand. Basically, it’s just the perfect place for hams like me, who came to law school ‘cause we like to make arguments, persuade, and just generally put ourselves out there. I’ve loved doing that over the years. Now, I’m no journalist. I don’t have those skills. But I really appreciated the chance to write news articles because I could pick a topic, any topic and get the inside scoop on how it works. These articles also have the potential to hold our administration accountable. Look at Jeff’s piece this year on loan caps for living expenses. You could tell that no one had reviewed that policy in a long, long time, but that they probably would now because of his article. To me, that’s the best of TDA. And that’s the best of newspaper writing generally: that it might provoke change and check power.
Third. Is there a third? Ahh yes, I got to be a bit creative within the confines of the law school. And even more then that, each issue I had to come up with some sort of position or topic to write on. It was good for me to not just constantly be responding to other people’s ideas (in cases, research, law review articles, etc), but also to be developing some original thought. TDA was the work-out for my lazy, soupy little brain (way more then class).
Oh hell, and a fourth. I really do enjoy every person who writes for TDA. I laugh so hard at our meetings that others get embarrassed and look away. It’s a fabulous little counter-culture and I will miss it mightily.
So that’s it. TDA is my crack-cocaine. My Lays potato chip, if you will. It was always the best diversion from school work, and it was one of the things that kept me engaged in school, overcoming my natural tendency to wander off alone. In short, TDA made me enjoy law school more then I would have otherwise. So my little non-3L ponies, you should all think about doing TDA next year. You may never go back to the crack!