On January
5, after a sometimes-peaceful, sometime-busy Christmas break, I returned to
Ludlow Hall, the home of UNB’s law school. I was recharged and ready to apply
the valuable lessons from first semester and an exhausting exam period. The application
was short lived but not the result of a lack of commitment on my part. Just a
week after classes had resumed, UNB’s professors went on strike and the
administration suspended classes indefinitely. Both parties have included what’s best for students in their
positions; much like a divorcing couple arguing what’s in the best interests of
their children. However, the lack of negotiation to date suggests students are
not a priority.
Looking back, I probably would have
welcomed this free time while in my undergraduate programs at McMaster and
later Ryerson. However, no lectures by professors or office hours in law school
and the consequences are more troubling. Here are my top five anxieties.
1. Law
School is more than Casebooks
In advance of the strike, some
professors encouraged the class to occupy our time by reading on according to
their respective syllabus. While reading keeps the content in my head and
academic juices flowing, since I am still learning the “language of law,”
lectures remain important. Despite the impact of technology on the classroom
and rise of online courses, I prefer a traditional classroom style teaching
environment which is what I expect at UNB. All told, I missed only one lecture
in the first semester. Most often professors help to explain the readings. When
I still don’t understand, I can inquire further during office hours.
Reading is also insufficient because
as I learned in first semester, there is “the law” and there is “the law as my
professor likes it to be.” Having that inside track on a professor’s
preferences, pet peeves in their chosen areas of legal expertise and knowing which
case decisions they dispute assists me to fulfilling their grading requirements
on assignments and exams.
2.
Losing Momentum
To make my point, I would apply a
clever expression inspired by “you get dumber in the summer” if I could find an
appropriate word to rhyme with strike. It is day eleven and my study dedication
is slipping. Terms from first semester that were more familiar are beginning to
lose clarity. Despite what I think to be a fairly healthy supply of stamina and
discipline, my chutzpah is waning. Without the routine of classes, I’m staying
up later. I’m sleeping in. I’m skipping workouts. I’m more easily distracted by
Facebook and YouTube and what’s on television. It does not help that the Sochi
Olympics fodder is building and I’m consuming every smidgen of it! Overall, bad
habits are developing. Sigh.
Academic
services are also dwindling. The law library has reduced its hours which also
limits the availability of a quiet reading environment. There is also a dearth
of campus activities to help stimulate the mind. On campus events have come to
a screeching halt. The campus is like a pariah, repelling visiting lecturers until
the dispute is resolved and picket lines disappear.
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| "Cancelled" signs like this are flourishing across campus during the strike at UNB. |
3. What
Happens When we Finally Resume
There
is no clarity of what the semester will resemble once we return. Some
professors have indicated that he or she will shoehorn the semester’s full curriculum
into the remaining weeks. This concerns me given my finite brain capacity and
how short my trek thus far has been on the law school learning curve leaving me
with a limited legal tool box to fall back on! The risk to reducing the
curriculum is that UNB’s first year law students will not have learned the
necessary curriculum from which to continue into second year.
Either way, whether the curriculum
is edited or accelerated, I feel like I am at the short end of both straws. I
worry about keeping pace with a racing lecturer on one hand and lacking the
required content to progress on the other hand.
4. What Will
the Classroom Feel Like
I’m resentful this is happening. I
look at the picketers with increasing disdain when I enter campus. I read messages
and student alerts from the administration with increasing skepticism. I can’t
imagine through this that my professors who adamantly stand behind their
arguments will return to the lectern bright eyed and bushy tailed. I wonder
about the long-term consequences of this strike and question whether professors
will be able to put aside any embitterment from the strike. If I was in their
position, I am not sure that I could. I wonder how the political climate will impact
the classroom. Will things return to normal? What will normal look like?
5.
Losing Ground
It’s
no secret that law school and the law profession is competitive. Getting a good
LSAT score is hard. Getting into law school is hard. Getting good grades is
hard. Getting a summer job is hard. Getting an articling post is hard. Getting
a job with a firm is hard. Why did I choose this again!? Er, wait, back to my
point. In Ontario, where I hope to practice, the challenges are multiplied given
the massive imbalance of supply (law schools and employment opportunities) and
demand (students).
With
each passing day of the strike, I’m losing ground measuring up against competing
law school students across Canada who are in the classroom today, listening, analyzing,
questioning. In essence, learning what I am not. Wouldn’t a prudent employer
assess the strength of applicants based on quality of education? And, in that
assessment, how can the product of a patchwork academic year at UNB compete
with a student from a ‘business as usual’ law school? With the gap of knowledge
my fellow students and I will possess, how will we gain footing?
