Top 10 Influential Reads

The Leadership Academy is a gap year program designed for students to gain real world experience and to grow their faith as they take a break from academics. Among other things, the program brings in speakers to talk about different areas of career development and life to their students. I was invited to speak about the legal field. As part of it, I decided to present the students with a list of the top 10 most influential (and lesser known) books I had read that shaped my thoughts on law, politics, or economics.

As a disclaimer, there are several titles or authors that would normally be on here that I left off because I knew the students were already reading them for class. For example, G.K. Chesterton, Thomas Sowell, and C.S. Lewis would absolutely be on here if I was making this list for any other group.

1. My Grandfather’s Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas

2. Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching that Launched a Hundred Years of Federalism by Mark Curriden and Leroy Philips

3. Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and a Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

4. Scalia Speaks: Reflections on Law, Faith, and Life Well Lived by Antonin Scalia

5. Justice on Trial: The Kavanaugh Confirmation and the Future of the Supreme Court by Mollie Ziegler Hemingway and Carrie Severino

6. Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals

7. Surprised by Oxford: A Memoir by Carolyn Weber

8. Life at the Bottom: The Worldview That Makes the Underclass by Theodore Dalrymple

9. How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge: Leveraging Influence When You Lack Authority by Clay Scroggins

10. Facing Leviathan: Leadership, Influence, and Creating in a Cultural Storm by Mark Sayers

Dress Code

My job shares the campus of a small liberal arts school and the students are back on campus. The school is known for its rather rigorous dress code; all students must wear business professional. I ate lunch with an alumna on Monday and as we drove back to campus, made a comment about the reckless student who walked in front of my car.

“Freshman,” she replied.

I asked how she could tell.

“Oh,” she said. “Easy, he’s wearing a two-piece suit. You can tell each grade level by what they are wearing. Freshman look like they could attend a ball at any moment. Sophomores are marginally dressed down, but mostly stand out because they look like they would rather be anywhere else. And seniors don’t pay any attention to dress code.”

“And jeans?” I asked, looking at my outfit.

“Oh, that means they’re HSLDA attorneys.”

College Cafeterias

“And here we have the college students in their natural habitat,” I murmured in awe as I looked around the school cafeteria. “It is like…seeing zoo animals.”

The co-worker who suggested we eat in the cafeteria for lunch gave me a strange look.

But it’s true. I’ve never seen college students so prone to avoiding the outdoors.

Where I work, we share office space with a college. And coming here, I expected to regularly see (perhaps even interact) with the students. But I never do. Whole days can go by where I don’t even see them.

It was astonishing to see a cafeteria full of them!

Also I forgot the trick of college cafeterias: if you can’t do quality, do quantity. Want a burger, pizza, fish, and a sub all at the same time? You’re in the right place.

I walked out of there with a banana and bag of chips in my bag for later. Just like old times.

An Unexpected Surprise

Today I got an e-mail informing me a student nominated me as an Honored Instructor! I guess University Housing sends out a survey mid-semester asking who the best instructors are and students get to submit their votes. 

And I got nominated for Integrated Liberal Studies! https://www.housing.wisc.edu/residence-halls/academics/honored-instructors/

The letter notifying me included the student’s basis for the nomination: 

“Amy rocks! She is an admirable instructor. Thank you, Amy !”

 

Feeling super touched and motivated to end this semester well for my students. But don’t worry, it won’t go to my head. I told my sister Bethany about the nomination and she replied, 

“But I feel like you don’t actually have a good relationship with your students.” 

So, you know. Nothing like family to keep you humble. 

Group Projects (and the slacker in the mirror)

Like most students, I consider group projects one of the cruelest things a professor can do to a student. When do you ever hear positive stories about group projects? They’re basically synonymous with slackers. 

I had two group projects today and I was definitely the weak link in the chain. With the funeral this weekend and travel to and from Iowa, I did not give homework my best attention. Or any attention. 

And I’m really grateful for how kind everyone was about it. My group-mates were wonderfully understanding. They managed basically everything and all but handed me the script to read once we got up to present. And they didn’t make me feel like a bum for it. I survived today because of them. 

But we shall see if I survive the week! We’ve reached the part of the semester where I cannot think farther ahead than an hour at a time. So much to do! Isn’t it spring break yet? 

Family Grading

I don’t know who decided that college students should hand-write their exams, but I’m not a fan of that person. As the TA for an undergrad class, I spent 90% of my grading time trying to read illegible handwriting. 

Thankfully, my Mom and siblings are better at deciphering messy handwriting than I am. And also thankfully, I’m home this weekend, so I get the benefit of their hand-writing interpretations. And opinions. They are very opinionated about which students deserve what grade. 

It brings lots of welcome laughter. 

“I think he means ‘talk’ but that word looks like ‘fulk’ which is uncomfortably close to another four letter f word.” 

“Is there any reason this essay should be about…spiders? Am I reading that right?” 

“That is not the definition of a republic. Geesh, I’m not even in this class and I know that.”

“Give that kid a B+.” “No, dock points for how illegible that handwriting was! B-!” “It was FINE. We were able to piece it together. But actually, this other essay is way better so give him a B- anyway.”

“She was doing SO WELL and then she just abruptly ended. What happened?!” 

If only these students knew. 

Snitches Get Stitches

On the half a block walk to class this morning, the professor I TA for asked how discussion groups went on Monday. I answered him honestly: I had the hardest time keeping the students focused. At least one told me that as an atheist, he didn’t believe in what Luther wrote, so why bother reading it? Others tried to distract me by sparking debates about the authenticity of Scripture or the meaning of separation of church and state. I hoped he would say something about the relevance of Luther in class.

And oh, did he ever. 

Professor: “My TA* informs me that some of you godless atheists think you don’t need to read Luther and can get away with ignoring what he has to say. Well, you can’t. Get out of your bubble and read something you disagree with. It will do you good.”

And at that moment the student who made the atheist comment turned and locked eyes with me. The message was clear. 

 

*Actually, he didn’t just call me his TA. He referred to me by my last name–which I don’t share on this blog. But basically, “Miss Amy says…” Which sounds even more like I went and tattled on them. 

Another Broken Streak

134 days in a row. And then my blogging streak was no more. Arg.

Last semester, the class I TAed for covered “the Bible in a day.” Yesterday we simply had “Reformation in a day.” But many of my students didn’t take Part I last semester, so few actually knew what was going on. 

Thus it became: the Bible plus the Reformation in a day. (Or more precisely, 50 minutes.) It did not go super well. I was exhausted by the time I left, exhausted going to Bible study afterwards, exhausted because I forgot to do homework due Sunday so I rushed to do that before going to bed, and simply exhausted from how thrown off my schedule was  driving back to Madison in the morning. 

And so I forgot to blog. Arg. 

Successful Teacher of Evil

We’re still on Machiavelli for the class I TA in and I think it is finally starting to sink in for my students. I had the most triumphant moment today. I broke them out in small groups and said, “You now know Machiavelli’s methods. Pick a Democratic candidate and only using Machiavelli, plot his or her way to the nominee.” 

One group in particular struggled with the challenge since their chosen candidate did not appeal to a particular voting demographic. 

“What if we just killed everyone in that demographic?” suggested one. “Violence could work.” 

Another student looked thoughtful. “No, we just need to disenfranchise them. Then they will no longer pose a problem.” 

And in that moment I swear I could see the light bulbs turning on.  It was utterly beautiful. 

And kind of diabolical. I am officially a successful teacher of evil. 

Discussion Groups, Take 2

Me: “So we just established Machiavelli is about looking good while doing evil. But what about this passage I just read? How does picking allies and enemies and publicly sticking to them fit in with his philosophy?” 

* crickets *

Me: “…do any of you know what I’m talking about?”

* crickets *

Me: “Did any of you get this far in the readings?”

* all 15 students shake their heads no *

Day 1 of discussion group, y’all. This is going to be a very, very long semester.