I Want to Hold Your Hand

Overheard comment while waiting for class:

1L in legal writing section: "So can I get extra credit if I come by your office hours?"


Umm....I am sorry, did we just hope in our time machines back to 10th grade?! This is law school. Professors do not want you trying to crawl up their ass and for the most part they don't really give a damn about whether or not you take advantage of office hours. Office hours are held because they are required as a condition of employment for professors, not because they have some deep-seated need to hold your hand. Most professors are not crying themselves to sleep at night because no one comes to his/her office hours (notable exceptions to this rule include Prof. S). Professors have their own research and professional agendas and you coming to visit them in office hours only interrupts that process. Now most professors are more than happy to help you once you get there because they do want you to succeed especially when you are willing to make the extra effort, but they certainly don't want to provide an incentive so every student will roll into their office with no specific question or plan but instead just wanting the face time to get the extra credit. Seriously, how have you made it this far in law school and still be this clueless?