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I met a student named Danielle Powell on the train back to Hyde Park tonight. I was sitting alone when she came onto the train and took the seat immediately to my right. Danielle was carrying one of those massive Tort Law tomes that you find on dusty bookshelves and she looked fairly young. I thought it safe to categorize her as a law student or a young lawyer fresh out of law school. I asked her about her class year (she’s a first-year Loyola Law student), and the conversation went from there.

As it turns out, Danielle had just finished her first day (and her first class) of law school (Loyola starts on 20 August and operates on the semester system). Danielle just moved to Chicago from Tallahassee, Florida where she attended Florida State University and graduated in three years with a degree in creative writing and minors in business and communication. She graduated at the top of her class at FSU, and she hopes to do the same at Loyola, since starting salaries at big law firms are closely tied to law school GPA.

Final note: I hate to point out the obvious, but as you’ll see from the picture (coming shortly), Danielle is very, very, VERY tall for a lady. She says she measures 5′ 9 1/2”, so with heels she’s even a slight bit taller than I. I’m afraid that when I asked her about her height, I may have triggered defense mechanisms, since after that point the frequency of references to the boyfriend increased. This was the first time in a long time I’ve felt uncomfortable continuing a conversation with someone I’ve just met, but I simply shared my own relationship status with her and I feel that solved the problem.