47 to go

We are officially one week into the new semester. At this juncture, I am at the mid-point of my law school career. During the Christmas break--after I finally recuperated from the mental and physical exhaustion--I found myself eagerly anticipating the new semester. In a sense, I am ready to "get it done."

But then, grades were posted. And professors started bombarding us with assignments via e-mail. Then the law review editor sent a message to the entire staff that I identify as the "straw that broke the camel's back." By the time I arrived on campus Monday morning, even before the first class, I was already tied up in knots and had a raging bad attitude.

We have professors who seem incompetent. They scored a 180 on the LSAT (no doubt), but their family would starve if they had to actually practice law for a living. I have resigned myself to the fact that I am doing some type of civil service for saving the judicial system from total ruin by keeping these "lawyers" in the world of academia. Every law school in the country places a high importance on the LSAT score. The closer to perfection (i.e., 180), the more prestigious offers a student will receive. I have professors who graduated at the top of their class and attended top ten schools. One day, when I rule the ABA and revamp the law school admission process, these professors will be Exhibits A, B, and C demonstrating the ineptness in that system. Their incompetence as teachers and communicators makes my blood boil. For instance, one professor commented about the Duke lacrosse rape case, and he said something like, "When I was a prosecutor, I found that the best thing to do in situations like that was just to just wait it out. If Mr. Nifong had just waited for six or eight months--or even a year--before bringing charges against the Duke students, then the entire episode would have died down and the media would have moved on to some other story."

To those of you who do not find this solution to be outrageous and simple-minded, you certainly must be unfamiliar with Durham, North Carolina. I dare to think what would have happened to the City of Durham if Mr. Nifong (the white district attorney) had decided not to charge the white, preppy, privileged, Duke lacrosse players when they had been accused of raping the black stripper at their frat house. Considering the racial tension in Durham, North Carolina, at the time, I dare to think what people would have done to protest that decision. Obviously Mr. Nifong did not have the same months of experience as a prosecutor as this law school professor. (Yes, that is sarcasm.) Subsequent to those charges, and in light of the physical evidence, there is no doubt Mr. Nifong made some poor decisions. The best news for the City of Durham though is that it survived Mr. Nifong's shortcomings, and that Mr. Nifong did not seek counsel from law school professors.

We also have student leaders who have never held a public job in the real world so they have not developed life and work skills that are essential to teamwork. Most of them, as well, are geniuses in their own respect and work well when working alone, but they cannot "lead" in spite of being in leadership positions. They assume that because they can write a good essay exam or score well on multiple choice, that they can do something as simple as leading a group of students. Famous (and frustrating) last words.

Finally, the most gut-wrenching events of this week included the loss of three classmates. One classmate transferred (kudos for her), and two others did not return. Well, technically, they returned to class on Monday, with the rest of us. But, at some point during the day, there were meetings and decisions (all of which we are not privy to) and they did not return to class anymore this week. I do not know details; and, frankly, do not need to know the personal details of their lives. But one of these classmates (who I will call Elizabeth) was such a good friend to me. I knew that she had struggled with grades during her first year. This fall, I made a concerted effort to take her under my wing and to study with her and help her along. During the final exam marathon, I invited her to be part of my study group, and she was there much of the time.

Final exam grades were not posted until the Friday before classes started. She returned to school on Monday. I thought that was a good sign. But she has not been back since. I know she is a very private person, and this is probably a huge embarrassment to her. Yet, I am only speculating about these circumstances. For all I know, she could have said, "I don't want to do this anymore." That would have been totally understandable. We actually had that conversation during final exams, and--at that time--I hoped it was just the exhaustion talking. For whatever reason, she left school on Monday and dropped off the face of the earth, and I am saddened by that course of events.

But life--and law school--go on. We are one week into this semester; we have fifteen more weeks to go. Better yet, we only have 47 more weeks of law school. That has a nice ring to it. My grades were good last semester. My class ranking improved. I have taken some positive steps in my personal life and can only hope that it can sustain me during the next storm....which will probably blow in on Monday morning. Until then, thanks for being part of this journey with me.