Bhavya Arora is taking care of business… people… and plants. Born in India, Bhavya grew up in New York City. He arrived at WashULaw with prior legal experience, having worked at a Civil Rights and Personal Injury firm after receiving degrees in Political Science and Psychology from St. John’s University. But his love of law began even earlier when he participated in mock trial as a high school student. He anticipated attending law school then, and now as a 2L, he coaches the mock trial team at his former high school.
Bhavya embraces adventure. He arrived for his first semester at WashULaw without previously being in St. Louis. He knew he wanted to be somewhere different from New York and embraced the opportunity to get to know other students. He observes, “We have a unique sense of community here. Students are friendly and connected, unlike many other law schools.” Bhavya speaks from experience, he joined the South Asian Law Student Association (SALSA) during welcome week and is now the organization’s President. He wants to ensure SALSA makes a positive contribution to WashULaw. Bhavya knows, “When I look back five years from now, what I will remember are the events with organizations, grocery trips, study sessions, hanging out with friends. Those are the memories I want.” His goals for SALSA include interacting with other organizations in the community and helping 1Ls with connections and networking during job seeking. He even started a mentor program to match organization executives with ILs.
Another student organization benefits from Bhavya’s care; he is also the Social Chair of the Student Bar Association (SBA). For Bhavya, it all comes back to enjoying the little things. He acknowledges, “It’s a balancing act. No matter what’s going on it is important to take a step back and appreciate it.” By all accounts he is succeeding at the balancing act. Professor Katie Herbert Meyer says, “Bhavya is a joy to have in the classroom. He engages intelligently with the material and is thoughtful in his discussions. He is respectful to, and respected by, his fellow classmates.”
His post-grad plans include Big Law in New York, but he will maintain his plant-dad responsibilities in addition to his long-term goal of giving back through civil rights work. Given Bhavya’s contributions at WashULaw, it is clear his future colleagues will benefit greatly. Professor Danielle D’Onfro says “Community depends on individual students making connections with each other and the institution, and there need to be students who do this work. Bhavya is that person. Students like him make our community better. We are all excited about his future as a lawyer and will miss his presence on campus.”
