John Marshall Law School - Abstract Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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hat ' irst ear in £aw School At no time in my experience has progress been more clearly evident than in the first year at law school. The quick formation and steady advance of courses is so plainly discernible as to be terrifying to the bewildered neophyte trying to adjust himself, in a maze of unfamiliar rules and reasons, to steady forward movement while the varied lines of study, lecture by lect- ure, march ahead with inexorable persistence. The impressions of the law school freshman depend upon many factors, important of which are the student ' s personal reasons for studying law, his stock of native intelligence, and his educational preparation before beginning the study of law. His reasons for studying law, if sincere and ethical, should furnish the ability to look upon each unfortunate happening dur- ing freshman year, not as a failure to find the right system to use in passing examinations, but as a challenge. During the first year my own experiences have been varied finally resulting in, I hope, a better understanding of what constitutes real appreciation of the value of a legal education. Before I thoroughly digested the simple fact that reasons for rules are more important than rules, I was hopelessly floundering and dis- couraged, firmly convinced that I would never overtake the hurrying columns to occupy my proper place in the line of march. Personal reasons for studying law were a strong factor in forcing me to make a careful self-examination which revealed the cause of the most important difficulties. What I found to be my trouble might be useful to another freshman in the same situation; with this in mind, I have the temerity to say — do not just read law; do not just glance through reasons behind the rule; apply to both reason and rule a sensible amount of old-fashioned study. When we are so fortunate as to be blessed with a normal amount of intelligence and use It properly, there is a chance that we may be- come fairly good lawyers after practicing for about fifteen years. But intellectual capacity is something we inherit; all we can do is use what we have, no more, no less. Most authori- ties believe that the person who starts at the head of the class and remains there throughout the school years, does so because of superior in- telligence. But there are many who make a poor start and actually struggle their way through to become leaders of their profession by supple- menting ordinary intelligence with years of hard work. Many of my college friends who are still in undergraduate schools have asked me if I found this or that college course beneficial in law school. In a first year student there is a nat- ural hesitancy about giving such information. But there is one thing a freshman might safely say in this connection, and that is that a proper preparation for law requires a knowledge of almost everything, but that a pre-legal student might leave the Chinese language out of his curriculum and still be able to struggle through law school. A word now about persons I ' ve met at law school, other freshmen and members of the faculty. I ' ve never met a finer or more serious minded group of men and women anywhere, in school or out. If I learn not one ounce of law, the experience of knowing them has been ex- hilarating and instructive. The members of the faculty, from their actions, seem to consider the progress of each student an individual problem of the school. As a freshman, my impression of the School, its purpose and facilities, persuade me that law is a living desirable profession. —A FRESHMAN. PaRC Sixty-two

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THE ABSTRACT— 193 FRESHMEN

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