Here I am in Virginia. I've found a place to move into in mid-September (if all goes according to plan) and had orientation and one class this week. I'm feeling good about this entire venture, though scared and anxious as expected. Just a few weeks ago I wrote about my 20th high school reunion. Most of my "peers" here at school were about 2 years old when I graduated. It's depressing but also interesting since I went to law school as a young twenty-something. The thirty- somethings at the school are all well aware of our minority status.At our orientation, all of the professors introduced themselves. Most of them didn't speak loudly enough. This surprised me given that we are in a program where presentation is important. I suppose public speaking isn't. One professor said as long as we don't wear a Red Sox hat in his class, we'll be fine. "Good," I thought, "a Yankees fan."
After the professor intros, the 99 of us were asked to get up and say a few things about where we are from, what school we went to and so forth. Within the first 30 student introductions, there were about 5 kids from Bombay, India. After that, a really white-looking guy got up, said his name and told us he was from Bombay. Everyone laughed really hard. One girl explained that she just graduated from William & Mary's law school. Another guy said he just got married 4 months ago. Everyone clapped. The next guy said he's getting married on Saturday. Everyone clapped. A young woman told us she was "totally single" and everyone laughed. A man got up, looking to be in his 50s, and told us he has a daughter in grad school. By the time it was my turn, about 80% of my class had already spoken. I was determined to get applause.
I went to the back of the room so everyone could see me. I did the Italian thing and gestured while I spoke. I said I was glad that I got to speak near the end, since I realized I had things in common with so many people in the room. I am also a lawyer, I said as I gestured towards the recent law school graduate. I went to BC, and am from Rhode Island, but I'm a Yankees fan, I said, gesturing towards the anti-Red Sox professor. He sort of pumped his fist in approval. I gestured to the 50-something student and said I was glad I am not the oldest one here.
Then I said, "For my closing statement, I expect to get the greatest amount of applause. You see, I can relate to these married folks, and the single ones, too, since . . . I'm divorced."
I got laughs AND applause. A few of the students later told me, "You and the white guy who said he was from Bombay both brought the house down." Fun first day.
