Directions as Rules

I have one full day of exclusively studying under my belt, and not surprisingly, also my first headache. After reading and listening to a guy lecture on the same subject for about six hours straight, I am struck by how much lawyers love and cling to rules. I can vividly remember being in high school and putting together a large metal trailer for my dad’s riding mower as a birthday present for him. I remember laying the directions aside and spending the better part of an afternoon just looking at the picture and slowly assembling the trailer through trial and error. While perhaps not the most efficient way to set about the task, I nevertheless completed it.

After law school, this type of behavior is unthinkable to me. Now, I always carefully and rigidly follow enclosed directions. Rather than a guide, I view the directions as a set of rules that must be followed in order to complete the task correctly. It is not uncommon for me to spend 10-15 minutes laying things out and carefully grouping like components for easier identification.

I guess the point is that I have become so accustomed to learning and applying rules in law school, that I fear I may lack the creative problem solving that I once possessed at a younger age. I am not saying that one method is better or worse than the other, just that the study of law has probably forever impacted how I will interpret and attempt to solve problems.