We had our last class as 1Ls this past Wednesday.

My Torts prof gave a short closing speech that got me really teary eyed. Funnily enough, what she said was kind of what I needed to help get me out of that funk I was in the other night. I’m truly grateful for that.

It’s strange looking back on how our relationships with our professors have changed. I used to dislike my Torts prof with such a passion. I couldn’t understand why she was so uptight and rigid in class and so ultra friendly outside of it. But this semester, she finally brought some of that friendliness into the classroom along with her enthusiasm for the subject and it made that much of a difference for all of us. She’s now one of my favorite professors, and I would jump at a chance to take another class with her.

However, not all my professors had the same type of happy ending. For example, I used to love my civ pro professor. He’s a smart, quick witted guy who managed to make one of our more boring classes really interesting. And although I don’t like him as much (if at all) now, I still respect him as a professor. I just didn’t agree with some of his teaching methods. I don’t believe that professors should be allowed to treat students like crap (spreaking from personal experience). I know that the prevailing belief is that we should fear them… that we should cower before their presence and hang on their every word.. that it makes our skin thicker and prepares us for the judges out there who treat lawyers like crap. And maybe it’s because we function in an adversarial system that people think things should be like this. But I don’t really agree.

Which brings me to a conversation I recently had with our Torts tutor. He was expressing some concerns his class had with my track specifically. I guess my professor had told him about the day when five people passed… in a row. He thought that things like that shouldn’t happen until we were burnt out 3Ls. He thought that we didn’t have enough respect for our professors… that we didn’t fear them as much as we should. Apparently, his class is really afraid of what will happen to us when we face a real judge out there with a real attitude.

I can see why they might think that. It’s not the greatest thing when five people in a single class session pass. And I did feel bad for my prof. But seriously, is it really that surprising being this close to finals? I don’t understand why we must follow the same path that their class took. I don’t understand why we’re suddenly the whiney track just because we demand our grades when they’re supposed to be due. I don’t understand why we’re suddenly arrogant because we expect a certain level of commitment from our professors, the school and even from ourselves. I don’t see a problem with standing up for ourselves and maybe even having a little bit of attitude.

It doesn’t mean that we don’t respect our professors. And it certaintly doesn’t mean that we won’t know how to act professionally once we’re out in the real world. But it does mean that we’ll know what we deserve and are entitled to… if anything, just a little bit of respect from them, too. And maybe… just maybe, that’s more important than all that other bullshit.