Law Students

Basically, yes, I am a super-genius.

My last* first day of class** came and went without much pomp or circumstance. I spent the better (and by better, I clearly mean worse) part of the day in the journal office, corresponding with authors who send me bizarre emails about god-knows-what and expect immediate responses. Really, the only remarkable thing that happened was the same thing that happens every first week of classes- I got cold called.

Can we take a moment here, Internet, to reflect on the fact that I am 3L, and that the Socratic method is not supposed to be hanging over my head anymore? For most 3Ls, cold calling is a thing of the past. I, however, am apparently the class sacrificial lamb. Without fail, I will get called on in the first 3 meetings of a class- it's a running joke among my classmates, and I'm starting to think that there is a professorial conspiracy against me. I don't know why this business goes on. I have an easy name, but I'm no "John Jones" or "Sally Smith." I don't play around on my laptop in class, so it can't be that they think they're catching me unawares. And every time, they look at me like I might have something smart, or at least right, to say.

I typically don't.

Roommate blames my tendency to make eye contact with the prof, and the fact that I look much nerdier and more prepared than I actually am. Whatever the reason, regular as clockwork, I am a magnet for the Socratic method.

I came to Bankruptcy this week determined to 3L the hell out of this semester. Naturally, I did not do the reading. I didn't even know that there was reading assigned. So, when the professor asked:

"Ms. Nobody. What is the meaning of the 'free market hypothesis' in economics?"
...I was flustered. So I naturally responded: "Um. I don't know. I was a literature major. I didn't actually learn practical skills in undergrad."***

I didn't intend to be insulting, it's just that, well...I didn't. So yes, in answer to your question, my bankruptcy prof does think that I am a genius.
Chalk one up for the good guys.

*Fellow 3Ls, please stop calling it that. It makes me nervous.

**I can not promise that this is true. I can not promise that I will not be revisiting the idea of a phd program just as quickly as you can say "summer vacation" and "work in jeans."

***This has become an increasing problem for me as I've progressed through law school. It's not that I don't care what they think, it's just that I am prone to verbal diarrhea, and then all of a sudden, whoops, I've made an ass of myself again. I love lamp.

Full post as published by Thanks, But No Thanks. on January 14, 2010 (boomark / email).