C A N A D I A N L a w y e r 4 s t u d e n t s F a l l 2 0 1 4 9
SWITCH OFF
YOUR DEVICES
ASK STUPID
QUESTIONS
The quickest way to negate the value of turn-
ing up for class is to spend your time there
distracted by Facebook, e-mails, LOLcats,
texts or some combination thereof. MacKinnon
says her laptop was invaluable for note-taking,
but wishes she had disabled the Wi-Fi. "It's
so tempting to start answering e-mails and
deal with other things in your life during class,
but you can't engage with the materials in the
same way. I'd try to promise myself I wouldn't
use the Internet, even if I thought I knew what
the prof was talking about," she says.
9
10
Nobody wants to look like an idiot, but MacKinnon
says if you're brave enough to risk it, it never really
happens. "Law school can be pressure-fi lled, but
once you learn not to concern yourself with how your
learning looks to others, it becomes much easier,"
she says. In fact, MacKinnon says her classmates
benefi ted just as much from her thick skin as she did:
"There were many occasions when I asked a question
that I thought was going to have an obvious answer,
and it turned out half the class were wondering the
same thing but were just afraid to ask."
■
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