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had no idea, it was all a blur. So I started all over again from page one. I still had 200 pages to read for the other four classes. While struggling against “heavy eye disease,” (for some reason my eyes wanted to close), I finished my first night’s reading assignment. Then the terror of law school really began the next morning. I sat in the stadium classroom early the next morning, somewhere in the middle row to the left aisle. Professor Vestal came in with his readers on and said, “Good morning,” in his booming voice. Then it began. He told us he believed in the Socratic method of teaching, and he would call on one student per class to answer questions for most of the hour, while standing. Now I must admit, my heart skipped a beat when I heard that. It wasn’t as bad as my drill sergeant screaming at us, but it was a close second.

Everyone’s eyes were down until Professor Vestal called out the name of the student he would select. If your name wasn’t called out, what a relief it was. Then one cold morning in late fall, I sat down feeling relaxed and pretty good, when I heard Professor Vestal say what I did not want to hear: “Good morning, Mr. Sanchez.” Oh no, not me. Did I hear that right? Did he say Mr. Sanchez? Wait a minute, I was the only Sanchez at Iowa Law, so it was me. I stood up and said, “Good morning, Professor Vestal.” He then proceeded to grill me. “Mr. Sanchez, did you read the case last night?” Then I felt like I was back in boot camp and responding to my drill sergeant when I firmly said, “Yes sir, I did read the case.” In Part Three, I will share more on my experiences at Iowa Law.

University of Iowa, College of Law building , Courtesy of The University of Iowa, Office of Strategic Communication

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