May 24, 2006

Dear Professor Property

In case you were wondering, I've finally gotten your joke.

Despite the time and effort studying "property" and the fact that I got an acceptable grade, I didn't actually learn anything that is traditionally referred to as "property." Good one!

I commend you on the effort it must have taken to prepare a syllabus of 1 week on rights to your body, 4 weeks on takings, 4 weeks on the lost/mislaid doctrine, and 6 weeks on other things, all of which *looked* like property. You had us all fooled for at least a year.

It was only when I took wills & trusts and community property that I began to understand your humor. While everyone around me was using terms like Rule Against Perpetuities, quitclaim deed, and Joint Tenancy, I looked to my 1L section mates and we shrugged our shoulders in confusion.

How funny you are. And how fun it's going to be to learn all about mortgages, liens, title documents, ways of holding property, rights of owners, and whatever else I couldn't pick up from context while taking the PMBR practice exam.

So, in case you were wondering, yes, the joke is on me, and I get it. I would have done better on the practice exam had I just selected bubbles at random. The required course of property for 1Ls, that's not *really* a requirement. It's merely there to encourage creative professors to teach us what they find interesting.

Again, Good One!

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