Practice Court Wisdom

Practice Court is a rite of passage for every Baylor Law student. It's a rigorous and terrifying third-year trial advocacy program that rivals the first year in difficulty, intensity, and fear of professors. Having made it through and then having practiced as as litigator for many years, I can say with hindsight that it was excellent preparation for being a trial lawyer, but it was hard not to be COMPLETELY overwhelmed while in the middle of it.

Someone in my class had the foresight to keep track of the professors' quotes and have them printed up on a t-shirt. The back of the t-shirt consists of about twenty quotes in small type that no one but our particular Practice Court class would understand and appreciate. I have been wearing the t-shirt to bed a lot lately.

There were three professors who taught us those two quarters. They taught Practice Court I and II, Evidence, and Professional Responsibility. Our Professional Responsibility professor was pretty laid-back, so, although his class was no less important than the other two (he cautioned us to pay attention, because who would hire someone who failed ethics?), we viewed his class as somewhat of a breather.

The other two professors have quotes on the t-shirt that sound like this:

"Son, are you enrolled in the law of evidence? Then you'd better get your ass out of here or you'll learn more about evidence than you ever wanted to."

"You don't have any swingin' idea, do you?"

"You're excused, go get yourself a cup of coffee." Note: do not be fooled. This is what the prof said when he was kicking you out of class for not knowing the answer.

"I'm not laughing at you, just your ridiculous idea."

"Now, Mr. ABC, people tell me you're pretty intelligent...something must happen to you when you walk in this room."

See what I mean? These quotes just make me laugh now, but mostly because none of them were directed at me.

So, in the middle of the night last night, while changing my shirt yet again, I caught a glimpse of this quote from Professor Professional Responsibility:

"Don't think about the mountain, folks, just start climbing."

I still remember him making that comment, and it was nice to be reminded of it last night. So now I can add "mountain" to my collection of metaphors for the NICU experience, and continue the climb.

Who knew that a law school class could have such applicability to a parent's NICU experience?