First Class
So I got called on today. It was a simple question, relying only on reading comprehension, but on a part of the reading I had thought was background material. I didn’t expect to be asked about it, and so I hadn’t read it as carefully as I should have. My mind blanked and I stumbled around, managing to hit on a couple things that were almost–but not quite–correct. The encounter went something like this (with my thoughts in brackets):
Professor CivPro: “Mr. Josh, where do the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure come from?”
[Ha! I know this! It’s the Supreme Court. Wait, it’s a committee. The Judicial Conference? But that’s appointed by the Supreme Court, isn’t it? Crap.]
Me: “Uh… the Supreme Court appoints a committee…”
“And what gives them the power to do that?”
[2072! But how do you say it? Act 2072? No. Section 2072? I don’t know. Better just leave it out altogether.]
“Uh, Congress passed a law… 2072 from the reading, I think…”
“The Judicial Conference recommends rules to the Supreme Court, who can take their advice or not. Then what happens?”
“Uhhhhhh[Okay, the proposed changes go to Congress, who doesn’t need to act for them to become effective. But what happens if Congress disapproves of the rules? Can they modify the proposal? Do they have to accept or reject it as a whole? Must they pass a law to do so? Crap.]hhhhhhhh…”
Luckily, someone else bailed me out at this point and I was able to breathe again. All in all, I did about as well as I expected, and class was more interesting than I had hoped.
One day down. High-five!
September 6th, 2005 at 2:20 pm
*Gives Josh a high-five*
My Professor Civ Pro didn’t do cold-calling today, just asking for volunteers. But she wasn’t shy about grilling people who did raise their hands, and she made it clear she’ll get Socratic on our asses starting tomorrow.