Hush

There is something strange that happens to law students near the end of the semester. People are stressed out, panicky even. They realize they're unprepared, or underprepared. It happens when your whole grade hinges on one arbitrarily graded exam. So it's no surprise that on the last day of classes for the semester, the sudden urge to make up for being a shitty student all semester is even more intense. People start asking the darndest questions...at the worst moments. I'm speaking of the end of class, the two minutes or so before we're all about to be released for the semester. The professor winds up, prepares to bask in the expected applause of a group of students who are either impressed with his teaching or just gloriously happy to leave, and suddenly, inevitably, a hand goes up. Now, what is so important that it can't wait? Generally, end of class questions are asked by gunners and thus have no real bearing on the class for the rest of us. They are better left to email, and are annoying under the best of circumstances. But when it's the last day of class, and he's about to let us leave early, DO NOT raise your hand. Leave it down. Resist the urge to show off how smart you are. The class will thank you. If you don't in fact resist, people will stare disbelievingly at the back of your head while you ramble on about the minutiae of the last four months. They will curse you under their breath. They might even be forced to sit on their hands so that they don't chuck a book at the back of your head. Really, it's better to just keep quiet and let it ride. You can always get to it later (as a serious procrastinator, I know this to be true). So mind your mothers and remember: if you don't have anything to nice (or helpful, productive, or worthy of attention) to say, just don't say anything at all.