Hot Bench: Christina Luk '21
Christina Luk ‘21. Editor-in-Chief of the Law Weekly, 2020-21.
Hi Tuna, welcome to Hot Bench! We are excited to have you with us this week. So how did you get your nickname, “Tuna”?
It was a natural evolution: Christina → Xtina → Xtuna → Tuna.
Tell me about your hometown, where did you grow up?
I’m from San Leandro, California, where we’re famous for our annual cherry festival. I don’t know if we still grow cherries, but we sure love them. If you go on the city website, the “o” in San Leandro is a cherry icon. Fun fact, the city also has a high-speed fiber optics network, which I’m still trying to figure out how to connect to. For Zoom purposes.
Before law school, you attended the University of Chicago where you obtained a master’s degree in literature. Tell me about that experience.
Ah yes, my sexy plants thesis. I wrote my master’s thesis about Erasmus Darwin’s The Loves of the Plants, which is a long-form poem about reproductive botany, a very new and shiny area of study in the late eighteenth century. The school gave me an award for the thesis, and I guess I turned around and said, “Thanks! I’m going to go do law now.”
Tell me about your favorite involvements in law school!
The Law Weekly! That’s an obvious one. I’ve always loved the paper and the people who put it together. We archive what it’s like to be a student here—what we struggle with, what we celebrate. We preserve UVA Law’s history in a unique way and that’s why it was so important for us to keep publishing this year, even in the midst of COVID. I also love APALSA. I’ve made some of my closest friends in this group and I’m excited to see the organization grow.
I think the group I’ve learned the most from is SBA. I’ve co-chaired the Diversity Advisory Council for two years now (with Ida Abhari ’22 and Will Hinton ’21, my faves), and I’m heartened by the positive changes we’ve seen. Not only are we going to have a Dean of Diversity soon, we’ve also got the new diversity, equity, and inclusion webpage on the school website. I really want to thank the Faculty Diversity, Equity, and Belonging Committee, and its co-chairs Kate Duvall and Prof. Andrew Hayashi, for wholeheartedly working with us and taking stock of student concerns. I think students often underestimate how much change we can make here. There’s a lot of work left to be done, but it can be accomplished with persistence and optimism.
What is one thing your friends tease you about?
My iPhone. I have a perfectly serviceable iPhone SE, which is the size of an iPhone 5 with the hardware of an iPhone 6. It is incredibly compact and it fits in my pocket, which is all I ask of a portable cellular device. But my friends love to tease me for it. I can do everything on it that you can do on a bigger iPhone! The camera isn’t as good, though, I might concede that.
What is your favorite food?
It was my grandmother’s oxtail soup, but now I am pescatarian. Fried fish, I like fried fish a lot, and anything Grace Tang ’21 makes.
What is the most important object you own?
The most important thing in life is your health. That said, I am very fond of my grandmother’s ring that she passed down to me.
Who are your favorite authors?
Don’t do this to me, I’m an English major! I love Emily Dickinson, she is probably my favorite poet. The Flies by Jean-Paul Sartre changed my life. There is a really powerful moment in the play where the main character chooses to shoulder a tragedy that he could have been free from. I was struck by that, I mean, why choose a burden? But I guess the point was that it wasn’t a burden to him. When you care about something, you take a stake in it. When you take a stake in something, you care about it. It is by choosing to take on the weight of something that you are able to participate fully in the society of your choice.
What is an unusual but fun activity that you have participated in?
Last summer, I did the Chloe Ting two-week summer shred challenge with a friend. It was unusual, because I don’t like to exercise, but it was also a lot of fun. What I learned is that swearing copiously eases the pain of exercising.
If you could level up in life just like in video games, where would you put your next skill point?
Hmmm, health and fitness? I’d like to graduate to exercising without swearing.
What are some of your favorite TV shows?
I’ve been watching Parks and Rec, because Jenny Kwun ’21 told me I remind her of Leslie Knope. I don’t know if it will be a favorite yet. I highly recommend this Chinese historical drama called Nirvana in Fire. It’s been described as a Chinese Monte Cristo, and it’s perfect for anyone who likes political intrigue and secret identities.
If you were a ghost, how would you haunt?
I would haunt the library and whisper false facts in the ears of scholars.
What common ingredient or spice do you despise?
Ginger. It’s the worst, and it should never be put in anything where I can taste it.
If you were an actor, what kind of roles would you be good at?
The expert who dies, because no one listens to her.
What do you collect?
I collect poems I like in a notebook, and I used to collect watches.
What are your favorite local Charlottesville adventures?
I really like the local cideries, we’re spoiled for choices here. Bamboo House is my favorite restaurant though. If you drive down Highway 29, past the airport, you’ll see a squat, windowless building with “Bamboo House” emblazoned on its side in fairy lights. The interior is dimly lit. Along one wall is a cheery tableau of taxidermied forest animals and along another is a massive karaoke set-up. Hands down, best Korean food in town. I also really like driving down to Moo Thru with friends to get a thicc boy (milkshake).
What video game are you playing right now?
I am still working on Hades. It’s a nifty rogue lite that combines my favorite things: Greek mythology and sassy British accents. It’s too hard to play without my monitor, though, so I’ll have to finish the game when I get back to Charlottesville.
Do you get road rage?
Nope. I just like to constructively point out mistakes that my fellow drivers make.
What’s one thing you learned this week?
One thing I learned this week (in Negotiations) is that it’s always in your interest to offer the other side a fair deal, because a fair deal is a sustainable one. There’s no point in coming to an agreement that’ll just fall apart!
What song do you have to sing along with when you hear it?
“Viva La Vida” by Coldplay.
You are about to get into a fight, what song comes on as your soundtrack?
Boss music.
What are your favorite snacks?
I’m not sure, but last week I ate an entire tray of cocktail shrimp from Costco.
Is cereal a soup?
Yes. This is a question that has bitterly divided EICs for ages. I am chagrined that Eleanor Schmalzl ’20’s article on the subject is our most read article on the website, because she came to the opposite (erroneous) conclusion.
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cl3eh@virginia.edu