Life by Zach: Thrown to the Wolves

“Have a great day!” I smiled as I read Lauren’s text and quickly typed back, “You too, see you tonight.”

We had been texting each other every day since our date, but haven’t had a chance to get together again because of both of our busy schedules. With the holidays rapidly approaching and break coming up, I wasn’t totally sure if I would get a chance to see her again before school started again in January. I told myself not to sweat it though, because Lauren seemed worth the wait and I definitely think she likes me too.

Today was my first day as Professor Henke’s teaching assistant and I wasn’t totally sure what to expect. I arrived in his office 10 minutes before I was supposed to, because I remember him always telling us in class that being on time meant being 10 minutes early.

“Zachary, just on time, come on in!” he shook my hand vigorously.

“Good morning Professor. Thank you for this amazing opportunity.”

“Well don’t thank me yet. This isn’t the first time that you’re going to hear this, but this is going to be a lot of hard work for you. I have a lot planned. “

“I understand. And I am willing to work hard.”

“That’s good. This semester is almost over but I already have some work for you to do. I have 235 essays that need grading before the end of the week. I need to you pre-sort them for me.”

“What does pre-sort mean sir?”

“It means you need to read each essay and cross check them with the answer guide. Those essays that hit on all of the required elements in the answer guide go in one pile. Those essays that meet none of the elements go in another and those that only meet some go in a third pile. I also need you to flag anything that looks strange. This makes my grading procedure a lot quicker.”

I must have paled at the stack of papers in front of me; this seemed like a daunting task.

“Seems like a lot doesn’t it?” He asked with a knowing smile.

“Uhm, it does sir.” I stammered.

“Well Zach, this is nothing. Let me tell you about my first job after I passed the bar. I was working for the District Attorney in Arizona, and was excited about my first day at work. I got to the office bright and early, and was expecting a nice tour of the building, maybe some HR paperwork and then some training. Instead, my boss tells me he needs me over in Navajo County Superior Court immediately because the prosecutor there called in sick and I was going to take over his cases. Now, I didn’t even know where the Navajo County Superior Court was at that time, and don’t forget, we didn’t have GPS or those smart phones or any kind of fancy gadget that was going to tell me where to go. On top of that, I hadn’t set foot in a courtroom yet and had no idea what to do!! Anyhow, I was able to find the Court and upon my arrival, the clerk of the court handed me about 250 files. She told me that these were my clients for the day, and all I had to do was set a trial date for each. I thought, how hard can this be right? About 10 minutes into me being there, the judge takes the bench and calls out a name. After a moment of silence, he peers at me over the bench and says, ‘that’s your cue counselor.’ I thought to myself ‘my cue for what??’ So I rifle through the files and finally, after what seems like an eternity, find the right one. I open it up and remember what the clerk told me. ‘We need a court date your honor.’ He writes something on the paper in front of him and then looks up at me. ‘What about bail?’ he asks. At this point I am starting to panic. Bail? What am I supposed to say here?? I am breaking into a sweat and glance around the courtroom, when I see the bailiff standing off to the right of the judge’s bench. We lock eyes and suddenly I see him nod ever so slightly. ‘Uhm, yes, please, we want bail’ I manage to stammer. ‘Very well. What would you like to set it at?’ More questions?? I am full blown drenched in sweat now. Once again I glance at the bailiff and I see he is casually flashing five finger. ‘5 million’ I shout excitedly! The judge looks amused and I look at the bailiff, who is also stifling a smile and shaking his head slightly. ‘I’m sorry your honor I meant five thousand.’ No response from the judge and the bailiff is still shaking his head. ‘Five hundred?’ Head shaking. ‘Fifty?’ A slight nod from the bailiff. ‘Granted, trial is set for next Thursday at 9:00 a.m.’ The rest of the morning flew by the same way and before I knew it, all 250 files were dealt with. I had never felt so much anxiety before in my life, but I survived. That bailiff and I became pretty good buddies, and that first experience of mine became a running joke in that courtroom. Life will throw all kinds of experiences at you Zach, and the key is to make the best of them, work hard, and learn.”

“That’s a great story Professor, and I absolutely see what you mean. I will get started on these essays right away.”

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading essays, which I can’t tell you was very exciting but I managed to get through about 32 of them before my time was done. It was pretty hard to stay focused, so as I walked out of the Professor’s office, I decided to go grab a coffee before hitting the library to study for finals. As I walked through the quad over to Starbucks, I passed a group of girls who were laughing hysterically at something I couldn’t see.

“What’s the matter tree hugger?”

“Why are you trying to save that rat?”

“Maybe because she looks like one!!”

High pitched laughter ensued as I walked over to see what this was all about. In the middle of the circle stood Beth, laughing and pointing at something on the ground. I looked down and saw Lauren hunched over a very small squirrel, who was laying on the ground motionless.

“Lauren are you ok?” I asked her.

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. “He fell out of his nest and I think he’s hurt. The mother won’t take him back now because he is injured and I don’t know how to help him!”

“Eew Zach why are you talking to this hippy?” Beth asked.

Fury raged through me as I stood up and faced Beth.

“You know Beth, Lauren has more heart, brains and beauty than you ever will. She is a kind person, you are just a bully. I feel sorry for you, you’re never going to be anything other than a shallow sorority girl; whose biggest concern is when her pumpkin spice lattes will be ready or whether her Uggs fit right. Why don’t you leave Lauren alone?”

Beth’s mouth dropped open and she stared at me for a second. Then she flicked her blond braid over her shoulder and looked back at Lauren. “Enjoy my leftovers, come on girls, we have better things to do than waste our time with these nobodies.” With that, she spun on her heels and walked away quickly, but not before I saw the hurt in her eyes.

I felt bad immediately because it is never my intent to hurt anyone, but what she was doing to Lauren was just plain mean and I hate bullies.

“Thank you Zach. I know he’s a squirrel and people consider them to be pests but he’s a helpless baby and I want to help him.”

“I know, it's ok. Come on, let’s figure out what to do.”

We ended up wrapping the little guy up in my sweater and after Googling (thank God for Google) a solution, we took him to an animal clinic that took in hurt stray and feral animals. The clinic was willing to take him and fix his leg, which was broken, but told us we would have to cover the payment. I took one look at Lauren’s distraught face and offered to pay for it.

“I can’t thank you enough Zach.”

“It’s ok. I am glad I could help you. And I am sorry about Beth. She’s an insecure person.”

“I know, it’s fine. I know that people like that are just being mean because they are unhappy with themselves. It’s not about me. But I am still grateful you came along.”

The little squirrel, who by this point Lauren had named Albie, was going to have to stay at the clinic overnight so we headed back to campus.

“I have to get going Lauren, I have a lot of studying to do before finals.”

“Me too, thank you Zach.”

“We can pick Albie up tomorrow. And maybe we can hang out one more time before break?”

“I would love that,” she smiled and reached up for a hug. I squeezed her tight and then kissed her softly.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”