Wednesday, January 05, 2005
The Big Guns
There's a character at law school known as the Gunner. This is the student who loves to hear himself (it's usually a he) talk, and thinks he's smarter than he really is, so he constantly raises his hand to make commentary on every little piece of information the professor is giving us. My 1L year I sat next to a gunner in one class, and started timing how long it would take for him to raise his hand. Usually we didn't make it 15 minutes into the class before he would pull the trigger.
Well, in my current class, I have seen the Gunner to End All Gunners. We've only had three class periods (granted, they're three hours a piece, so that's nine hours of class), and he has to have raised his hand 15-20 times already. Today, after the break halfway through the class period, the professor literally only was able to say, and I quote, "So, um..." and this dude's hand was in the air and he was already talking. Not only that, but he has the terrible Gunner trait of not just talking too much, but showing off while he does it. He cites philosophers and thinkers I've never heard of and talks about what "the literature" says about a certain topic, just to show us all that he knows. It's actually kind of fun now to look around the classroom at the groans, eye-rolls, and whispers that abound every ten minutes when he takes aim.
Last year, I had a class with a particularly tangential Gunner (another bad trait). I will never forget the glorious day when he raised his hand and the professor looked him straight in the eye, called him by name, and said firmly, "No." I cheered inside. As if in reward, that professor achieved tenured status this week.
Well, in my current class, I have seen the Gunner to End All Gunners. We've only had three class periods (granted, they're three hours a piece, so that's nine hours of class), and he has to have raised his hand 15-20 times already. Today, after the break halfway through the class period, the professor literally only was able to say, and I quote, "So, um..." and this dude's hand was in the air and he was already talking. Not only that, but he has the terrible Gunner trait of not just talking too much, but showing off while he does it. He cites philosophers and thinkers I've never heard of and talks about what "the literature" says about a certain topic, just to show us all that he knows. It's actually kind of fun now to look around the classroom at the groans, eye-rolls, and whispers that abound every ten minutes when he takes aim.
Last year, I had a class with a particularly tangential Gunner (another bad trait). I will never forget the glorious day when he raised his hand and the professor looked him straight in the eye, called him by name, and said firmly, "No." I cheered inside. As if in reward, that professor achieved tenured status this week.
Comments: Post a Comment
