"At one point in that class we had to do a moot court and were instructed to wear a suit. My family wasn't poor but we certainly didn't have the money lying around to head to the shops and buy me one for the occasion. My mother had the idea that we could look for a suit in an op shop, where we successfully picked one up."
"I was feeling self-conscious and shy when I arrived wearing it that day at university. There was a woman in my class who must have only been in her mid-20s but to me was incredibly cool and mature. We walked past each other on the way in and she said: Oh Brian, you look really smart. It meant so much to me coming from her, because I saw her as this worldly, wise woman."
I started law school in 1976. Gough Whitlam had abolished university fees, bringing many older women into study. I was 17 and felt othered among peers from private schools; in a class of thirty I was the only state-school student. For a moot court I needed a suit but family funds were limited, so my mother found one at an op shop. The suit did not fit perfectly and I felt self-conscious. A woman classmate complimented me—Oh Brian, you look really smart—which transformed my mood. I entered the moot court with confidence, performed well, and later built a successful legal career while honoring that kindness. I never saw her again.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]