Illiteracy is a problem. It prevents social and economic mobility and makes many aspects of life more difficult for many individuals. Illiteracy, at a shocking 15% (CBC, 2006) also has a profound impact on our country’s economic and social well-being. Every province in Canada has its own version of the Federal Literacy and Learning Network – a public service group that works to increase literacy in Canada. The problem with basic literacy is known, it’s talked about and it’s taken seriously. But there is another kind of illiteracy which, I am convinced, is most likely equally as crippling to our economic and social well-being: technological illiteracy. While not as fundamental as basic literacy, technological literacy is an absolute requirement in a service-based economy, which unarguably defines modern Canada.
Technological Illiteracy
Death by Torts (class)
I am drowning in torts reading – well in reading in general. The first couple weeks of law school have been intense, but not in the expected ways. The law, simply put, is much less pragmatic than I had anticipated – or to be more specific, its study is not.
What I’m enjoying significantly more than expected are the cases we’re reading. Some are hilarious; like the guy whose doctor convinced him to choose an experimental new skin grafting surgery by guaranteeing that his burnt hand would be “100% perfect” afterward. The hand wasn’t and the skin grafted from his chest to his palm began to grow hair…..on the palm of his hand! Not surprisingly, the court ruled that the doctor’s words, as a professional, expert and with a duty of care to his patient constituted a legally binding contractual promise. The rest was, well, remedy.
More to come, it’s about to get way more tort-y up in here.
Lawns are worse than useless
At the age of eight I mowed my first lawn and even then I realized what an absolute, despicable waste lawns are. For the last several years I have been living in apartments in the middle of a city, so the small amount of lawn care that was required was taken care of by the landlords/ladies. This year, however, I moved into a house where I was responsible for the mowing of the not-insignificant lawn. I was immediately reminded of how utterly irritating, wasteful and self-defeating lawn-care is.
Onwards
Today was my last day working in student recruitment at the University of New Brunswick. Bittersweet to be sure. During my year and a half in recruitment, I encountered some challenges, mostly with the organizational structures of a university environment and those working in leadership positions. I also had the opportunity to work with some wonderful people and learn from some very intelligent and caring leaders. After some reflection I think the most important lesson I’ve learned over the last year has been in diplomacy. The ability to convince or sway people has never been a strong suit for me – I tended to see things in stark contrasts, rather than choose to see the places where ideas, concepts and objectives overlapped. It is from this place of overlap where the best compromises and, ultimately, the best decisions can be made. I know this lesson will serve me well in the future – in whatever legal profession I choose to pursue, the ability to stubbornly argue a perspective will never be as important as the ability to convince, cajole and otherwise move a discussion in a particular direction through common interest and objective.
