Striking Anxieties

            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.

"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?