Shackled to the ivory tower

There is a guy sitting two tables over from me in the library. I know him because he sat at my table during first year orientation and encouraged me to join the Runner's Club at Willamette. He seemed like a nice enough guy. I was surprised to see him in my Civil Procedure class the following week when school started. He was a 2L, and while 2Ls are not entirely uncommon in 1L classes here because of the merciless retake policy for students who get below a C+ in their required first year courses, it was still a little jarring. That guy went on to take that very same Civil Procedure class again as a 3L. There are few things in this world as mind numbing and painful as civil procedure, but it is one of the few classes here that is not graded on the curve, which means no one HAS to fail it. People still manage to do so. And evidently people manage to miss the minimum grade requirements for graduation. He should have been long gone with the rest of his class following graduation last May, but I still see him. Everyday. On this very campus. Willamette has a pretty unforgiving "kick out policy" which basically means if you manage to fall into the very bottom of your class, they thank you for your tuition donation to that point, and kindly show you the door. This weeding out happens after each grading period, but in the case of graduating 3L students, if you slip into the netherworld between pass and fail (the 2.3 cumulative), you are required to come back for an extra semester to get your act together. For those poor souls trapped in 3.5L purgatory, all I can say is, perhaps law really isn't for you. But thanks for hanging in there, because you serve as a constant reminder to me that I can't check out entirely just yet.