Book Review: Testing Kate, by Whitney Gaskell

After reading this, all I can say is I'm glad I didn't go to law school. I did consider going into law at one point, but opted to go to graduate school in psychology instead. I don't think that was necessarily the best choice either, but enough about me.

Kate is about to turn 30 when she decides to change her life. She quits her job, breaks up with her boyfriend of four years, and moves from New York to New Orleans (pre-Katrina) to enroll in law school at Tulane University.

Kate makes some friends quite quickly, including one guy who likes her as more than a friend. And she hasn't been in New Orleans long when her ex-boyfriend comes to visit, wanting to get back together. But her lifelong tendency to run into bad luck has followed her to New Orleans. Car trouble strands her in Pennsylvania, causing her to miss orientation and the fact that she had a reading assignment to do before the first day of class. She then shows up in class unprepared and is the first one called upon. Things like this happen to her all the time.

What blows me away is the amount of verbal abuse the law professors were allowed to heap on the students. I mean, the story is fiction, but I am thinking this part is based on reality. When Kate tries to complain to the dean about one professor, the dean says that some students have a hard time getting used to the Socratic Method, where the professors call on students at random and use guided questioning to help the students develop critical thinking skills. The thing is, what she was experiencing from this one professor was far more than that. Guided questioning is one thing, but mocking students and humiliating them in front of everyone is quite another. And when the students try to stand up for themselves because they don't like being treated like crap, they get in trouble. Why anyone would subject themselves to such abuse is beyond me.

It's a year of self-discovery for Kate. She has a tendency to play it safe. She's the type who always has to have a boyfriend. She decided to go to law school not out of any passion for the law but rather so she could get a safe and secure job.

This book is an interesting, fun read. Many of Kate's experiences will really resonate with readers. I mean, who doesn't wonder from time to time whether it's better to play it safe or whether to take a chance on something you really want.