When people tell you about law school there is one theme that keeps on coming up: if you are unprepared for class the teachers will rip you apart. While this is not true of all professors, in many cases this statement is the absolute truth. for this reason I scramble to try to complete the enormous amounts of reading we have every day in fear that if we don't we will be caught and exposed by our teachers. This fear is shared by almost all of my classmates- with one very notable exception.
Solitaire is a strange girl. I actually met her during orientation week and shared a few pleasantries with her. She looks a little bit like Gretchen Grundler from recess
So at first my natural stereotypes kicked in and I thought she was surely in the running for the dean's list. Her face is permanently fixed with a little smirk that always makes me think she knows something I don't. In the semester and a half since then I have learned that looks can be deceiving.
For those of you that do not know most law schools are run by the Socratic method. This means that you do the reading and then if you are the unlucky one to be called on for a given class the teacher will stick with you and ask you questions about the reading, probing you further to assure that you have taken in all the requisite knowledge. It is an uncomfortable process, but we all suffer through it. All of us accept Solitaire.
The first time Solitaire got called on was about midway through our first semester in civil procedure. When the professor asked: "are you prepared on the case" instead of the usual shaky voiced "yes" we heard a dismissive "call on someone else!" There was an audible and collective gasp in the classroom. The professor recoiled like he had never faced that situation before. Not knowing what else to do, he just moved on to another person.
Solitaire passing would become a theme. Everytime she got called on she would once again tell the professor dismissively to "call on someone else" and then go back to playing Solitaire (thus her nickname). One of our professors pushed back, saying "I certainly hope you are not saying you are unprepared" she responded with a smirk and attempt at comedy "no, I'm just saying someone else might be better prepared to help the class in their learning today." The teacher reacted as most do, simply accepting that this was too tough an egg to crack and moving on.
This doesn't mean she didn't participate in class, she just didn't participate like the rest of us. Early in our first semester our torts professor made a crack about Sarah Palin, nothing too offensive but a joke at her expense. Solitaire was later seen in the hallways chewing him out for disgracing a beloved republican figure in class. Her spouting of republican agenda didn't end there, and brought her into conflict with a few other teachers (even the staunch republicans). At one point while talking about how race affects the country she got into an argument with our Crim Law Prof. The debate got pretty heated (on her end only) and but at one point she asked a question and before she was finished the teacher started to give the answer. "excuse me you are int erupting me..." That audible gasp came back and you could even hear people clearly say things like "she is unbelievable." I don't remember how it came up but at one point she even insulted his wife. The professor, at a loss for what to do, once again just took this abuse and moved on.
We do have one professor who does not accept that kind of malarkey from students. She has a reputation for tearing students apart and belittling them in public if they are caught unprepared. My classmates, sick of being subjected to pressures that Solitaire had avoided by virtue of her shear audacity were salivating at the notion of her turn in this class. It was schadenfreude at it's best. We had already been robbed of our first chance when she was called on early in the semester, she was in the bathroom (she goes to the bathroom during every class every day). Although everyone was disappointed, we were sure her time would come soon. Unfortunately for my classmates, today she would find a way out of the Socratic method again.
As our professor said her name today and all my classmates saw that she was in the room, all of their eyes lit up like it was Christmas. Finally, the frustrations we had all had all year would let out as we watched our professor tear her a new one. Unfortunately, fate had another plan; "[Solitaire], I've called on you to recite before haven't I" she responded sheepishly "yes" and then our professor moved on. All of a sudden the looks around the room were a complete shock. Classmates who had talked about and fantasized about this moment all semester looked at each other in shock.
Facebook exploded. Everyone's status updates reflected their disbelief and frustration. Some of my classmates who had skipped class messaged me to find out what happened, and immediately became upset that they chose this day not to attend. After class everyone in the room (and outside) was talking about how Solitaire had flat out lied to our professor. People were talking about snitching on her, saying that she violated the honor code.
Honestly I just thought it was funny... all of us being robbed of the thing that had brought us the most excitement and anticipation. Everyone was so upset because of something which, in the long run, doesn't really affect them. Her passing everytime she is called on doesn't really bother me, I mean it will only hurt her in the long run. Fortunately for my blood thirsty classmates- the word is that our professor overheard in the hallway several conversations about Solitaire lying. If our professor knows about her lying I am sure that the fireworks will fly next class even brighter and hotter than they would have otherwise, so all of our ill-wishes will be fulfilled. Remind me to post here again with the results of that.
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