Each year, the Office of Student Services ends the school year with the 1L Games. The 1L Games is an 8-event competition among the three first-year sections – the Advocates, the Barristers, and the Counselors. The 2011 installment of the 1L Games was held on Thursday, April 14th. A large crowd of 1Ls showed up to compete to establish which section was simply the best. At the end of the evening, the Advocates came out as the 1L Games champion.

From the opening of the Games, the Counselors and Advocates came out strong. After the Penny Wars competition, which was held over the days leading up to the 1L Games, the Advocates started the Games in the lead. They had donated more pennies to charity than both other teams. The Counselors then claimed many of the points in the Fight Song, Academic Challenge, and Skit competitions with the Advocates a close second. Determined to fight back from last place, the Barristers tried to close the gap with a win in the ever-popular Doughnut Eating Contest and Bake-off events. At the end of the evening, after the Cheesy Law Commercials, Relay Res Ipsa Loquitur, and Tug of War Crimes, the Advocates had scored enough points to be guaranteed first place. The Counselors and Barristers were tied for second place. In the end, a foot race between one member from each section edged the Counselors into second place.

The Advocates’ captain, Anna Toniolo, had this advice for next year’s teams competing in the games: “Create a sense of solidarity by wearing matching shirts. Encourage people in your section to get involved by personally asking them to participate in certain games you feel they would be good at instead of just letting them passively sign up for games.”

Why hold the Games each year? As the Advocates’ co-captain, Julia Weissman, put it, “I relished the opportunity to engage in physical and intellectual combat with my peers. The 1L Games happens during a stressful point in the year, and allowing ourselves to get lost in blind spirit and obscene amounts of doughnut, is the perfect break before exams.” Anna adds “Although the games are held right before finals when everyone is stressed, they take our minds off of the competitiveness of law school, and allow us to compete in something more fun. It also gives us one last chance to participate in an event that reinforces the feeling of camaraderie with our sections before all the sections blend together for 2L year.”