One L : The Turbulent True Story of a First Year at Harvard Law School by Scott Turow

Author:Scott Turow
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Law students - Massachusetts, Lawyers & Judges, Law students, Turow, General, Harvard Law School, Scott, Massachusetts, Biography & Autobiography, Legal Education, Law, Biography
ISBN: 9780446673785
Publisher: Warner Books
Published: 1988-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

DECEMBER AND JANUARY

Exams (First Act)

12/4/75

(Friday)

For the first time in a month, I felt some peace and pleasure this week at HLS. A moment ago I was laughing at myself. Thinking over the day, I felt simultaneously elated, depressed, and confused. I knew I could only have been at law school.

Today Nicky Morris returned the two tests he gave us. He had the blue books spread out on the broad podium when we entered and people were instantly clustered wildly in front. Then, immediately, the comparing of grades took place, remarkably rapid and willing.

As I've long recognized, I potted the discuss-the-case essay. Nicky invented an especially generous curve, nothing like the stingy thing which will be used for exams next month, and I had a C--far better than I expected. But there were only twenty grades below B in the section and Nicky said bluntly that those of us who had low marks should be "concerned." My dismay was lessened by my previous suffering over that test and the fact that I received one of the highest grades in the section on the multiple-choice exam. When I spoke with Morris later in his office, he told me not to worry about the essay, and I've decided to take him at his word.

For most everybody, though, the tests set the mood of the day. Superachievers in an era of grade inflation, many people--Stephen among them--were despondent about Bs--especially on the essay, which Nicky obviously gave greater weight. Hearing of my C seemed to make none of them any brighter. The majority, I guess, just walked away convinced that I am a dummy.

The students with As--Aubrey was one--tried to be self-effacing but could not fully conceal their delight. Kyle was particularly pleased, and with good reason. Nicky had written a long note on his exam saying it was the finest he'd read.

To observe the powerful hold the grades and tests exerted on all of us was a little disturbing. I can't help wondering what kind of month it'll be between now and January 9, when we have our first exam.

Final exams play on a law student's world like some weirdly orbiting moon. They are always in sight; but while they're at a distance, they serve merely to create the tensions which swell daily like tides--to read, to keep pace, to understand. As exams draw close, however, in December and May, their gravitational force starts to shake the whole place to pieces.

When we came back after Thanksgiving, I could sense the exam mood taking hold. Many of the upperclassmen, the people who'd been through exams before, seemed to have returned from the holiday with a pale, grim look. When they greeted each other in the hallways, most made jokes about how much better they'd feel in a month and a half. To a 1L, that was not a good sign.

I was also struck by the appearance of the red books. Each year, late in the fall, the law school publishes the text of the previous year's finals.

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