High School Part II (this one's long...)

So there we were...two hundred something 1Ls standing in a big, awkward circle (irregular oval might be more accurate) trying to size up each other without looking too cool, too anti-social. This moment, prior to the start of the events to come, was reminiscent of the children's story, Ugly duckling. But instead of asking, "are you my mother" a slightly more sophisticated query came out of our soon to be refined lawyer's lips - "are you in my section?" (The entering class at BC is 260+ divided into 3 sections).

Welcome to Field day, 2008 at BC Law.

So what could they, the experienced and inducted 2Ls/3Ls, have in store for the fledgling 1Ls to help us "loosen up" today before we learn to think,write, sleep, eat and speak (not lie!) "like lawyers" this fall?

Answer: High School Icebreakers.

These are the dreaded, "say your name and an item that begins with the first letter of your first name that you will 'bring to the picnic'" Picnic?

Ex: "Hi, my name is Ted and I'm bringing Twinkies to the picnic." Just for clarification - there is no picnic.

So after Ted says his name and what he's bringing, it goes to the next person, say Leslie, who is bringing Lumpia, etc. If you never played this game in high school or college, consider yourself blessed. It's not worth detailing how the game is played, but I think one thing that most people agree on is that it's awkward.

Buy hey, we're going to be lawyers! We're going to negotiate million dollar contracts over breakfast, convict mobsters before the end of lunch, and impeach senators by dinner! What's a little awkwardness going to do? I digress...

Then, after about 20 minutes of icebreakers (I ended up remembering only 2 peoples names out of a group of 20 and they are not in my section) we had an egg toss. Egg toss?

On the West coast, we play Balloon toss. That's where you stand in one of two lines facing each other and toss a balloon back and forth and after each toss you take a giant step back. You keep playing until your egg breaks. The consequence - you get a little wet (no biggie as they say). East Coast - Egg toss!? Same rules except, as Bostonians say, "we aint tahssen no whaatah hea" (translation - we are not using water balloons). The consequences are obviously less pleasant.

I decided to lose and to lose early. It's hot and there are no bathrooms nearby. I had a feeling that any possible reward of winning (which was slim considering my partner could bare hold the egg) aint worth it. So after two tosses I threw it short so my partner couldn't grab it. Didn't spill on his shoes or clothes. We lose, big deal. No messy egg everywhere. I think out of 200 people, those who stayed in past 3 rounds were thinking about making omelets. Enough said.

The game after that was a chicken toss (a rubber one thankfully). It's easy to play but hard to explain so I'll spare you.

Lunch was nice - subway and Doritos and water/lemonade/iced tea. I sat with one student who went to BC as an undergrad and another from Iowa state. Both really nice people. It seems students do many different interesting things before they come to law school.

But then the real fun began.

"Okay everyone, we have one last activity" shouted the 2L. Our choices were 1. Ultimate Frisbee (fun if there are no other options. Pass...) 2. Kickball (not as fun as ultimate so definitely passing...) and 3. Flag Football. FOOTBALL!!!?? You can guess which one I picked...

I was on the green team, our nemesis, the red team. The rules were a little different than any I'd heard of - lineman have to put their hands behind their backs to block. WHAT?? For those of you who don't know, I played offensive linemen in high school and I take SERIOUS pride in that position. No hands?

I used my pre-developed advocacy skills to try to convince the 2L officiating the game that it's a bad idea and we should be allowed to use hands. He listened, we could now use hands (for those who do not really play sports, playing offensive line without hands, when the defense COULD use their hands, is like being a security guard at a bank without a gun when 100 mobsters are trying to rob your bank with machine guns. Again, enough said.

The hardest part about playing two hand touch (we ended up not having flags) for me was trying to remember that this is not full-pad football. One of the first comments about me by the other team was, "look out fah this guy, he's lookin pretty angry."

I apologized at least 20 times for knocking people down - the quarterback, the person trying to block me (poor 110 pounder) or anyone else who got in my way. I started getting triple teamed towards the end so I had to get creative by being a hybrid linebacker/tackle. I did break up one pass (I would have intercepted it if I had my gloves!), hurried the quarterback 5+ times and basically had the sporting session of my life since high school football season ended in 2000. Oh, and I was the only lineman playing barefoot.

So after all the icebreakers and fluffy stuff ended earlier, and our team came so close to winning (lost by 1 touchdown in the last few seconds) I wiped off the sweat and blood (what's football without blood?) and thought to myself, "what better way to start law school?"

Turns out there's a "football Fridays" every week that begins after my last class ends. Guess who'll be there...

It may not be anything like the Friday night's in high school with the crisp breeze, the freshly cut grass, and the whole town piling into the stadium to watch their heroes battle, but "it'z shoah betta than nuttin."

P.S. If any of the 2Ls or 3Ls were slightly offended by this post (I highly doubt you're reading this but just in case), I'm sorry. I had a great time and you guys all did a great job. After the icebreakers ended, I really enjoyed myself and I know I wasn't the only one.

-J

P.P.S. Sorry I haven't responded to all of your emails. Thanks for reading and I'll try to get back to you ASAP.