learning the trade

Ernie recently posted an excellent quote from Gerry Spence, a famous trial attorney in Wyoming, about how little he learned about the actual practice of law in law school.

I believe him. I suspect law school does not teach us much about the actual practice of law. Law school, however, is not alone in that respect.

In my prior incarnation, I studied engineering at both the undergraduate and graduate level. I learned a lot about computer science. I took abstract number theory classes, database design classes, computer architecture classes, and a bunch of math classes. I wrote a compiler, built a music synthesizer, and coded endless numbers of little programs which contained linked lists, hash tables, and other data structures that we were expected to know.

What I didn't learn was how to pull a stack trace out of a core dump after being paged in the middle of the night because three servers died. I didn't learn how to write informative log statements so that other programmers could fix bugs. I didn't learn how to code in a team, how to do useful code reviews, how to write highly scalable software.

I did learn all that, eventually. More senior engineers taught me at work. I learned by doing, by trial and error.

I think this is a natural progression, however, and not an implicit criticism of schooling. School is an excellent mechanism for acquiring a mental framework. It's not the only way to acquire that framework, but it's one of the best methods. Engineering school taught me fundamental engineering concepts, a shared vocabulary, an analytical approach to problem solving, and a healthy and needed dose of self-discipline. It didn't teach me much about engineering in the commercial world, but I'm not sure it could have or even should have.

Where school left off, my job began. I couldn't have effectively learned as much at my job without the background I had from school.

One of the best parts about law school is just how much I'm learning. My head is crammed full of new ideas and concepts. I look at the world differently now.

Isn't this departure from one's prior self the best part of education? I know I'm not learning what the practice of law is like. That will come eventually. For now, though, I relish this fundamental shaping of my mind.