glanced around. Most of her male classmates were transfixed. Professor Schiavelli would not have looked out of place on the Victoria’s Secret runway.
“And of course, I’m Professor Dudley. I spoke to this group yesterday,” Professor Dudley said.
“Today,” Professor Schiavelli continued, “Professor Dudley and I will be discussing how to study in Law School. What makes legal study different from other subjects, what you need to focus on, and how to be well prepared in class and for your final exam.”
Kelsey leaned forward, ready to take notes. She noticed even a few of the boys had managed to regroup and concentrate on Professor Schiavelli’s words. The next three hours would be vital to her grade point average, she thought.
And over the next three hours, Professor Schiavelli and Professor Dudley gave them a lot of information. They emphasized repeatedly the importance of being ready for class, listening to every word, and basically spending most waking hours either studying or in class. Kelsey found herself almost overwhelmed already, and she hadn’t even opened a book. Once they were finally released for lunch, Kelsey felt her head swimming.
“What was that about? I’m terrified,” Jessica said over pasta.
“You and me both,” Ashley said. The three girls had met up for lunch in the student dining room and were comparing their experiences.
“When Professor Bernstein said that when he was in law school, he read each of the casebooks a minimum of three times a semester, I thought I would faint,” Jessica said. “Then they started discussing the 100-page outlines that some students write….”
“Today’s program is certainly going to run a few people out of school, that’s for sure,” Ashley said.
“I thought about quitting,” Jessica said solemnly.
“You did not,” Kelsey said, dismissively.
“Seriously, Kels. This is going to require a whole lot of discipline. I’m not sure if I’m up for it,” Jessica said quietly.
“Of course you are. We all are,” Kelsey replied. “We just need to focus.”
“Kelsey’s right,” Ashley said. “We just need to get it together. Other people have survived this.” She daintily took a bite of garlic bread.
“I’ll try,” Jessica said doubtfully.
After lunch, everyone headed back to their small groups to meet and talk with a second set of professors. Kelsey’s group had the very strident Professor Bernstein, Professor Schiavelli again and the nice Professor Weber, who seemed to have mostly got over his flu. The format was more casual this time, with the professors answering the numerous questions that the students had come up with over the past two days. When they were dismissed, Kelsey was happy to head out to the sun, which despite her prediction, hadn’t gone away over the afternoon.
She got back to an empty room, but just as she was deciding what to do with her free time, Jessica walked in.
“Want to walk around Madison Park?” Jessica asked. “Not like we’ll have time to once school starts.”
Kelsey laughed. “I would hope that we could manage a 15-minute walk sometimes.”
“Wishful thinking,” Jessica said glumly.
“Let’s go.” Kelsey grinned. The two girls walked out of their dorm and to the back road out of the campus. They headed for Madison Street.
“Today really shook you up?” Kelsey asked in concern. Jessica was usually so bold and confident. All summer long she had been predicting their mutual success. But now Jessica was walking with her head down, almost melancholy.
“I’ve never failed at anything, Kels,” Jessica said simply. “I don’t want to screw this up.”
“Look, they just don’t want us to be over-confident. We know what to do, how to study. We’ll get through the year.”
“Yes, but I want good, no, great grades. I want to go back and work in New York City. They’re expecting A’s.”
“And
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