Day 1 … complete

Pot committed and wondering if I should be Committed.

It’s truly hard to describe some of the emotions I had today as I started my first year of law school. I paid tuition yesterday. $30,000 for 4 courses. Shockingly, there were no scholarships for middle aged, white men looking to reinvent themselves… When I went to engineering at the University of Calgary in 1995, my first semester for 6 courses was $1500. Canadian. So basically they paid me “in American” to go. That ROI tests my ability to do math, if I’m honest.

I’m in section 2.

B.

And in my sub section 2B there are 20 other aspiring lawyers. 4 sub sections per section, 3 sections, carry the zero and I calculate that roughly 240 students started law school today. I can’t say I’m the oldest because “Jonathon” in 2B might be older, but he’s also a CPA that specializes in tax so he might be 30 and just has been run really, really hard the early part of his career. Like an investment banker, without the strippers, cocaine or prestige… I do know this! There are at least 3 young woman in my section that are young enough to date my eldest son.

We read our first case today and, as luck would have it, it was a hockey assault charge in the New York court system. People vs. Shacker. There was a non contact beer league game, the whistle blew, and a cross check to the head occurred (I’ve both given and received a few of those in my day). A player got a concussion and a the offender received a 3rd degree felony assault charge. The charge was dismissed on the grounds that participating in sport implies an implicit assumption of risk and notably, as it turned out, I was the only one of 80 in class that coached hockey so I became the “learned expert” able to provide specifics on “intent”, “play stoppage” and “reasonable expectations in the assumption of risk.” In my pre law school life, I coached hockey for 10 years. Oddly and interestingly, I also happened to coach the Dean of the law school’s son the year he moved to Denver. He was the goalie on my son’s team 8 years ago. I can’t even make that up.

We went to a “career development clinic” where students (colleauges) thought about what they wanted to do when they grew up (am I grown up???). We were asked what we wanted to do for a summer job (ummm…nothing… I don’t need a summer job, do I???)

At the end of the day, after 7 hours of being scheduled for the first time in a very long time, my new colleagues asked for the link to the World Masters Squash draw, wished me luck and promised to send me their notes for the first week of classes I’m missing.

It’s never too late to do something scary and new. At the end of the day, we are all just trying to find and do a thing that makes us happy. And I’m thankful my new friends, old and young, who already recognize that “Uncle Dave” is both a resource and a charity case, depending on the topic, and THAT juxtaposition is the best part of this new adventure.

Amsterdam and with Dad, here I come!! Wish me luck.