My reputation is your entertainment

I remember high school. I remember the cliques, the gossip, the parties, the teachers, and the mindless crap that we were forced to do just to get out the door with a piece of pretty paper. Law school is no different, except that we all have apartments and are of legal drinking age.

It’s usually at the first year orientation that you are going to meet roughly the 100 people who you will all get to know very well over the next nine months. You will see these same people everyday, for an extended period of time, engaging in a stressfree challenging area of study. You will know them all either personally or by reputation very soon.

The following are things that I heard first year in some form:

“Sheila slept with Peter in the bathroom and ended up going back to Greg’s place but didn’t tell her boyfriend Rich”

“Frank got bombed and made out with that one girl from Section C, but ended up going home with Eric”

“What year are you?”
“I’m a Freshman [in undergrad]”
“Really? I’m a first year too!”

You are going to know everyone’s business. Knowing shit on people can be very entertaining and Lord knows that I would not have as much blog material to post about if people (myself included) didn’t know what was happening. The advice here is that age old maxim: discretion is the better part of valor. Reputations tend to stick pretty solidly once they have been formed, so this piece is an attempt to let you know that your actions (and even your inactions) can follow you around for a while.

Case in point: Me.

I am a very competitive guy and I play a wide array of intramural sports at the University that I attend. I was on a dominant co-ed team (we went undefeated and won the final 72-0). Anyway, there are other law school teams in the league. On the field, I had one incident where (and I don’t remember this, but it has been relayed to me from several witnesses) taunted an opposing team’s player. I didn’t think anything of it, but, three days later this entire section (not mine) was aghast about the guy wearing the mouthguard and how he had the balls to taunt one of their fellow section members. I was forwarded several group IM chats that occurred shortly after this occurrence. Let’s just say that my name was dragged through the mud and I was treated like that white substance that forms at the corners of your mouth when you are thirsty.

This entire section, not even my own, knew who I was, had an opinion formed about me, and frankly, most, did not want to give me the time of day.

You will soon be seeing the same people everyday for extended periods of time. My advice is to do as I say, not as I did. Think before acting, be discreet, and don’t promulgate the gossip (too much).