One month into 1L year in Section One. One incredibly Socratic professor with a penchant for suspenders. One section leader and professor who occasionally goes by Papa Bear. One professor who daily leaps and bounds about the classroom. One Legal Research and Writing Climenko Fellow with a knack for 80s humor. And one professor who keeps us firmly rooted in practice. Not a one is alike.
It’s been surprising how differently each professor approaches class. From rapid-fire cold calling without warning (though we’re certainly trying to ascertain a system) to alphabetical orderliness, we’ve experienced the gamut of the Socratic method. No professor has yet asked us to stand during our answers, a la Paper Chase (though my good friend and fellow 1L at Wake Forest Law tells me that the standing system there is alive and well). Although no professor teaches just like the other, the one thing that combines them is the preparation that they put into each class. It holds us too to a high standard of preparation, lest we feel the deep shame of unpreparedness alluded to by our most sartorially-unique instructor. We have all developed our own methods of managing: printed case briefs for some (laptops have been banned across our section), rainbow highlighting by others, doodles and drawings for still more, and mnemonic devices to be shared in the Hark.
But even 1L Fall hasn’t all been readings and Bluebook quizzes. Prolonged warm weather has allowed for volleyball; we saw Drew Faust throw out the first pitch at Fenway last week; and I’ve managed to convince some of my sectionmates to devote their Sunday evenings to Mad Men at our weekly viewing party. Section One even has a group skydiving trip planned within the next few weeks. The Section that skydives together stays together?
