Our daughter decided at a very young age that she wanted to become a lawyer. I strongly suspect she was influenced by programs on TV – but she did love to argue and was very persuasive. As a college undergraduate, she majored in political science and then was accepted into a renowned law school.
Early on, our daughter discovered that law courses required incredible amounts of reading lengthy case histories and then talking about them in class. She quickly joined a study group of students who met frequently to discuss all the lectures as well as the long reading assignments. As an oral learner, she could retain much more from talking through the cases with other students as opposed to only reading them.
During the first semester of her senior year, a mandatory course was the most dreaded of all those required! Her law school was renowned for its graduates excelling in the court room, and this course was what equipped them to succeed. The professor was ruthless in his requirements and made no exceptions. He purposely ridiculed and embarrassed the students and held each one to the highest standards of oratory performance. The reason he was so harsh and demanding was to toughen them up for every possible negative courtroom situation, including mean judges and ruthless opposing attorneys. His attacks on them in class were to prevent them from ever getting flustered by any unforeseen situations or demeaning opponents in the courtroom.
My daughter began to pray for the Lord’s protection before the class even started. On the first day, she arrived early while there were plenty of seats available and selected one in the middle, hoping not to stand out in the sea of faces. She set her books and supplies on the desk and walked over to another part of the room to visit with a member of her study group since there was still a good bit of time before the class started.
When she returned to her seat, it had been confiscated by a male student -- a loner because of his surly behavior. “Excuse me,” she politely said. “That is my seat.” “Not anymore,” he snarled. “You will just have to find someplace else to sit!”
It was almost time for the class to begin, and she knew the professor would walk in any minute. Not wanting to begin the course by drawing the professor’s attention, she looked around only to find every seat taken except for a few on the front row. My daughter reluctantly went and claimed one.
The class was as onerous as advertised. The prof kept a chart with the name of every student and made sure he called on each one an equal number of times, grading them on their performances. In every class, he randomly called on students who then were to rise and respond as persuasive lawyers to questions he asked from the assigned reading. Any who did not perform to his critical standard were told to leave the room and only come back next time if they had written a lengthy paper on the subject. These students were also given a lower grade. He was known to fail even top students. That meant they would not graduate with their peers because the class was offered only once a year. This happened to one of my daughter’s friends.
Every time the class met, my daughter silently prayed for the Lord’s protection. Her seat on the front row was four down from the professor. Occupying the seats before her were the top three students in her class, all male and always confident and well prepared. She soon learned that it was possible to get a check by your name if you volunteered to read a passage out loud when the professor asked. Whenever he called on one of the three top students, they never failed to do well – so he never went down their row as was one of his common practices.
When the class came to an end, my daughter realized the Lord had totally protected her. Never once was she singled out to respond to the professor’s demanding inquiries nor was she ever expelled from the room! To this day, she still speaks of that harrowing time – and how the Lord completely encased her in a hedge of protection. The bully who took her seat was all part of His plan!
… He guards the course of the just and protects
the way of his faithful ones.
Proverbs 2:8.
