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KatelynStarksFirstEssay 2 - 20 Feb 2025 - Main.KatelynStarks
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< | | | | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | | | It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted. | |
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> | The Art of Performance | | | -- By KatelynStarks - 20 Feb 2025 | |
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> | In office hours with Professor Moglen, I explained that having no prompt made this assignment feel more difficult, especially when trying to incorporate creativity. He asked me, “When creating your own artwork, would you want the crayons to draw for you?” My answer was simple: “Yes.” I believe that following certain guidelines has led to my success in life, and am now confronting ways that I can overcome that belief. | | | | |
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> | Growing up as an African American woman in the South, my life was deeply entrenched in tradition and the expectation of maintaining a certain image. I was taught that perception shapes opportunity and that adhering to societal guidelines was necessary to achieve success. In many ways, I was formally trained to perform. As a child, I participated in pageants, and at sixteen, I took part in a Cotillion—a months-long process of training in table etiquette, graceful walking, manners, and professionalism—all culminating in one night of walking across a stage, waltzing in front of hundreds, and placing second. My immediate family, along with dozens of my relatives, still live on the very land my fifth great-grandfather purchased when he bought his freedom. This land serves as both a testament to my ancestors’ resilience and a reminder of the expectation to honor that legacy through social mobility and societal acceptance.
As a child, I was also placed into countless lessons—ballet, tap, tumbling, piano, soccer, golf—all investments in shaping me into a well-rounded individual. My mother, to me, is the epitome of a successful Black woman: an HBCU graduate, a leader actively involved in numerous organizations, planning galas and charity events, mentoring youth in our community, all while maintaining her career and being an incredible mother. Her life, in many ways, embodies the ideals of respectability politics—demonstrating how Black excellence is often measured by one’s ability to navigate and assimilate into traditionally white spaces while uplifting the community. | | | | |
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> | These experiences are not unique to me nor my mother but are part of a broader cultural script tied to the politics of respectability and the traditions of Southern Black communities. In undergrad, one of my Africana Studies courses examined the impact of respectability politics, and I began to recognize how much of my upbringing reflected generations of abandoning certain cultural expressions to fit into white America. While I view this as a practice that can be harmful to one’s sense of self, I also acknowledge how these strategies enabled my family to survive in the South and access new opportunities. With the privilege of an open curriculum in undergrad, I took courses spanning Economics, Africana Studies, and Religious Studies—not only to explore my intellectual curiosity but also in an effort to expand my way of thinking. | | | | |
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> | Yet, my law school experience has felt like a step backward. Once again, I find myself navigating a predominantly white institution, but this time, there seems to be an even stronger push to conform—not only to the professionalism expected in legal spaces but also to a rigid way of thinking. From the beginning, we are taught that there is a "right" way to read a case, that legal writing must follow the strict structure of CREAC, and that even in cold calls, we must answer questions in a particular manner. I remember receiving exam advice from 2Ls and 3Ls, many of whom told me that the best way to succeed was to figure out what the professor wanted to see and to avoid inserting my own ideas unless explicitly asked to in a policy question.
Even the recruiting process feels like an exercise in performance—an intricate dance of conforming to society’s vision of a successful lawyer. There are certain questions you should ask and some you must avoid. There are specific people you must connect with. You send polished follow-up emails, expressing how lovely it was to meet and how much you’d love to continue the conversation. The entire process, much like the traditions I was raised in, reinforces the idea that success is tied to mastering and executing a carefully curated image. | | | | |
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> | Now, I hope to take advantage of this class and practice taking control of the crayons.
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KatelynStarksFirstEssay 1 - 20 Feb 2025 - Main.KatelynStarks
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It is strongly recommended that you include your outline in the body of your essay by using the outline as section titles. The headings below are there to remind you how section and subsection titles are formatted.
Paper Title
-- By KatelynStarks - 20 Feb 2025
Section I
Subsection A
Subsub 1
Subsection B
Subsub 1
Subsub 2
Section II
Subsection A
Subsection B
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