The class I am taking at the moment in my Paralegal Studies degree program is Legal Research and Writing I (yes, there will be a “II” class). It’s not a bad class. It’s pretty much what I figured. We are doing research and writing (ha!). It’s a lot of brief writing, and while that’s hard to do, it’s manageable.

What’s not so manageable is a couple of the women in the class. If I cared more, I’d look up their backgrounds, but that’s not important right now. One likes to grill everyone else. We’re all learning this stuff; I don’t think any one of us qualifies as an expert. The scenario we are working on now involves a Trademark infringement case. Yes, I work at a law firm and have nine years’ actual experience in Intellectual Property law, but I haven’t lorded my experience level over anyone nor will I.

The “griller” waits until someone posts and then she dissects what they’ve posted (this is a fellow student – not the teacher). She will ask how we came to that conclusion, and then her posts will invariably begin with, “the statute says….”. She has yet to cite any of her references so I’m not sure if the statute says anything along the lines of what she says it does, and frankly, I don’t care. I answered one of her replies to a post of mine by stating, “well, you’re obviously more well-read on the subject than I am. I’m just learning this stuff”. I don’t feel that it’s necessary to make someone else feel bad about themselves to make yourself feel better.

Then there’s the obnoxious idiot. The “idiot” writes long posts, and she’s very chatty and friendly-sounding until she comments on one of your posts. Then she will say, “do you mind if I give you a helpful tip?” I’d like to say, “Hell, yes, I mind. Buzz off.” (Again, this is a fellow student – not the teacher). She’ll go on an on about how to do something, and then she’ll apologize if she came off as abrasive or obnoxious. I think that if you have to apologize for how you sounded on a regular basis, then you need to re-think what you just wrote. You obviously know you said something that might be misconstrued; so then don’t say it in the first place!

We do a reflection at the end of the week each week. Last week’s reflection prompt asked how we thought we were doing at the mid-way point of the class. I am afraid that I might have told the teacher I was doing well, but that there were two individuals in the class who made the experience less than enjoyable. I did not mention names; I didn’t think that I had to. Hey, you asked for my opinion. I’m going to give it. I am wise enough not to let the obnoxious part of me out on a daily basis, especially in a  class forum where I am getting graded on playing nice with others. I told the teacher my opinion in private. What she chooses to do with that information is her choice.

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