Ode to my classmates
I've been getting several messages lately asking what the 1L class is like this year. While I find these messages silly, (how should I know? I don't exactly have experience with previous 1L students to compare it to...) there have been a few types of characters that seem to appear over and over again at happy hours. So here's what I've noticed based on the 50 or so people I've met so far. A few I'm linking directly from Barely Legal blog, cause he's already said it so well.1. The girl with the boyfriend. She's hot, she's friendly, she's fantastic: except she moved here with her boyfriend, so guys, you're not getting any. If law school is anything like undergrad, about 3/4 of these girls will be single by November, but for now she's just a frustration to the guys in the class. We have several of these that have shown up to happy hours so far, I'm counting about 8-10.
2. The politican. He knows everyone around town and likes to drop names to prove it. He's charming, he's good looking, but you just kind of get the idea he's trouble. We have three of these so far.
3. The frat boy. We've got about five of these so far.
4. The oddball. He or she makes everyone wonder: you? law school? really? Because it seems that they would be much better suited writing slam poetry or saving the whales or basically anything other than the suit and tie world of law. Whether it's their odd political bent or just the weird things they say at awkward times, everyone likes these people, largely in part because they aren't cookie cutters. We have about three of these so far.
5. The Old Guy. We have at least 3 of these so far.
The rest don't fit into any clear-cut mold, but just seem like fairly normal well-adjusted people in their mid-twenties. (Though what completely well-adjusted person goes to law school, I have no idea.)
posted by The Lioness @ 1:01 PM
10 Comments:
Re: the Old Guy - there is a 3L at UT who fits the linked description to a T. Not all older male law students are blowhards, though.
Tra, you'll have to forgive me when I post a similar rundown at some point this week once the Villanova 0L class starts its 3 year alcoholic oddyssey. Until then, I'm anticipating just about the same ratios you're picking up. Should be fun to compare notes as we go once something other than happy hour (classes?) kicks in.
Well...I didn't say that. I said lots of (though not all) the girls have boyfriends, and I haven't found the guys particularly impressive--but others might. Overall though, I think we're a very good looking, hard drinking bunch. And hey, at least we're not as cynical and jaded as the rest of you yet, right?
Don't worry fellas. If the ring is not on the finger, relationships started pre-law school do not survive into law school.
Trust me, I know.
I have a problem with the linked frat guy description. The true law school frat guy has the "frat swoop" haircut, wears polos and khakis every day, and has a pair of topsiders or sandals that he wears everyday. The winter is met with alot of Northface/Patagonia fleece with caps from golf tournaments or alumni events and the entire ensemble is topped off with sunglasses and croakies.
Class comments can be met with the usual bout of stuttering and "uhhh"-ing but this does not matter to the frat guy, as he was plenty of contacts in the "good ole boy" network to get a great job upon graduation. See, the frat guy has way more depth to him that he is given credit for, and can hold intelligible conversation about crap other than law school. Thus, he becomes a fine candidate for a job, as he is someone a hiring partner would want to work with, rather than the theory sputtering, firm-researching, weird dressing, intrigued-by-the-law gunner/overachiever who is concerned about the next SCOUTUS opinion.
So you can see where the linked description is wrong. Yes, I am a part of the frat guy group, but no one dresses like a high-school wannabe metro or the fat guy with a goatee. That my friend, is the worst description of frat guy I have ever seen.
Hmmm...You have a point, but you see, I sometimes do have a life and it was easier to link someone else's description than to write my own and then be accused of stealing material from Barely Legal when in fact, I was not.
A more correct version of the frat boy law students at UT wear polo shirts and flip flops everywhere, are constantly trying to scam on UT undergrads, still drink like fish and seek out like frat boy law students so that they may continue to make fun of the "fat frat" law student Barely Legal described. Better?
You're the worst description of a frat guy I've ever seen
One of the girls from last years 1L class that moved here with the BF didnt let that stop her from sleeping with half of her first year class
so the moral is dont let that detail stop you
Most of my good friends are recently minted attorneys from various Philadelphia-area law schools. It's a promiscuous situation in 1L, is all I can say. With next-to-no exceptions, people hooked up left and right, and pre-law-school relationships almost universally met their demises.
Anyhow, as another member of the 'frat guy' association, I can say that the comment about the description being inaccurate is accurate. I also think that being in a 'frat' doesn't necessarily distinguish someone as a jackass meathead with no depth. But then again, I went to Penn State where everyone was a raging party animal, so there was little/no difference between being Greek and not being Greek. Everyone did the same things anyhow. I am guessing this is smaller in the Ivy league or at other, smaller or straight liberal arts schools?
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