The candidates for President and Vice President respond to questions from the GW Law community submitted to Nota Bene. Today, the responses are posted for the question "What is your biggest accomplishment either in your academic or personal life here at GW Law?"

Theresa Bowman - President

My biggest accomplishment at GW Law has definitely been my involvement with the SBA. I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to serve as both a 1L Senator and the VP of First Year Students.  Specifically, I am most proud of my work organizing and running a very successful new student orientation this past summer.  From the student activities fair to nightly bar events, a Nationals game, a bowling night, and weekend brunches, I was able to offer students a variety of activities to match their diverse interests.  I believe Orientation week offered something for everyone; I would endeavor to offer the law school community a similarly diverse set of social events.  In planning these events, I was also proud to be able to work with a great number of very capable and enthusiastic volunteers.  Their school spirit and level of involvement is something I hope to continue to foster as SBA President.

Giri Iyengar - President

You mean other than attending every bar review and surviving 1L? Okay, if you insist. I think it would be the job I did as 1L Senator for my section. I feel I made a significant difference to many of them, frequently in small but valuable ways. Working with Senate on issues like LRW and legislation have been satisfying but I am most pleased with the 1-on-1 help I could give my section-mates and the relationships I have built with them. If you extend the timeframe a little, I am also proud of the fact that I moved here to DC to go to law school, leaving behind a hometown and a career. That wasn't easy. I know there are many others who feel similarly about their move and I think we should all pat ourselves on a back for managing to maintain a balanced life under the demands and pressures of law school.

Rushab Sanghvi - President

While I believe completing over a year and a half of law school is a significant accomplishment in itself, my biggest accomplishment while at GW Law has been very much personal.  Due to certain circumstances in my life before coming to GW Law, I was something of a social hermit.  I had no friends, spent the vast majority of my time with my family, and was generally quite unhappy.  The active community centered environment here at GW Law, in large part fostered by the SBA, has changed all of this.  With the help and kindness of my fellow students I have been able to make many new friends and have an active social life.  Because of this, I understand the importance of the SBA in student life.  Law school can be intimidating at first, but once you get to know your fellow students, you realize that everyone feels pretty much the same and just wants to get along.

Dan Janow - Vice President

There have been several accomplishments during my time in the SBA.  The one that stands out is creating a stable, coherent budget as Chairman of the SBA Finance Committee this year.  There were a number of challenges I faced including a lack of resources, the economy, requests that greatly exceeded available funds and a diverse set of student groups and activities that all demanded funding.  However by working with the current SBA administration and making some hard choices we were able to pass a budget that, while not pleasing everyone provided clubs the resources they needed in a difficult climate.

I was also proud to work with my fellow 1L Senators in soliciting feedback and passing along concerns about LRW grading.  A lot of students were very upset about parts of the LRW program our year and the feedback we gave the administration identified areas that needed change.  Some of these changes have been implemented and as this process continues we will make sure that LRW is graded as fairly as possible.

I am also proud of the social activities that I have set up.  During my 1L year I co-organized a section mixer with another Senator.  We created and ordered t-shirts, set up the venue, collected money and handled the logistics of the event on our own.  Much of what the SBA administration has to do is organize events such as Barrister's Ball, the Ski Trip and the Halloween party and the experience from this and other social events I've organized will help ensure that if I am elected these events will be a success.

Deep Singh

My biggest accomplishment at GW Law was helping to make the first year a little less stressful for my fellow Section 12ers and other 1Ls.  From putting together a Law School-Med School mixer and getting stylish Section 12 t-shirts I was able to provide a chance for folks to step away from the stress that can come with being in law school.  But the biggest stress-relieving step I took was taking steps to address concerns 1Ls had over the LRW program by meeting with professors, holding town halls for students, and creating a report for the SBA.  Hopefully, the changes that were made as a result of those efforts improved the program and the quality of a GW Law education.