Last Day of Classes

Here I sit in my final class of the semester, Contract I with Prof. Bill Whitford.  I adore Bill.  He's been teaching for more than 40 years and approaches it with the warmth of a grandfather wishing to pass on the wisdom he's acquired over a lifetime of learning.  Bill (that's what he asks us to call him) uses the socratic method in a fairly traditional way.  Sitting in the front row, I can see his seating chart marked off with all the ticks indicating his conversations with each student over the course of the semester.  Although, I am not certain how this system really works, as there are people in the class whom Bill has called on multiple times, and then there is me, who Bill has never called on in class.  Well, we've talked a bit about farming and Shirley McClaine, but nothing directly relating to understanding contract law.  Considering this is my (and I believe most people's) most difficult course, this is no small blessing.  And while this class is at the worst time of the day for me, and I am typically falling into an afternoon slumber half way through, it has been extremely interesting and helped me understand a good deal about how the world functions.

It's fairly unbelievable to me that I am sitting in my last class for my first semester of law school.  I keep waiting for it to become the terrible existence people make it out to be.  Minus about 10 days somewhere in the middle of the semester when I was experiencing law school hazing known as cite checking for the gender journal at the same time I had an exam and a writing assignment due, law school has been fairly delightful.  

Of course I don't have any grades yet, and it is possible that once I receive them I will feel more distressed about this whole experience.  Generally, I figure I will get grades somewhere in the B range unless I really fall short in my abilities to convey information.  Law school isn't about getting straight A's.  I am sure it happens for some people, but it doesn't happen for the overwhelming majority.  I strive not to get all that caught up in the grades game.  It's just not productive.  My goal is to study for my exams as a means of solidifying my understanding of everything which has been put before me rather than an effort to get good grades.  I figure if I know what I am talking about the grades will come.  If I worry about the grades, I will wrap myself up in knots and accomplish very little.  

And in this moment I pause and give thanks that I have the privilege of being concerned about my law school grades in the first place.  Being in law school is a rush.  Every day I feel as if pieces of the world around me are revealed in ways they never would have been without this education.  I am sitting here, not really paying all that much attention to what Bill is telling us, but ever thankful to have had the pleasure of being his student in the first place.