It's a Wonderful Life

• Published date: 01 March 2014
• Date: 01 March 2014
• Author: John M. Norwood
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jlse.12012

Journal of Legal Studies Education

Volume 31, Issue 1, 171–178, Winter 2014

Perspectives on Teaching

It’s a Wonderful Life

John M. Norwood*

It was the spring of my senior year at Tulane Law School when I saw the

job announcement. A university in Monroe, Louisiana, was looking to hire

someone to teach business law. “Wanted: recent law school graduate to teach

business law” the announcement read. “Jackpot!” is what I said to myself.

The previous two summers I had clerked for two different law firms in New

Orleans, just long enough to realize that this was not for me. In the fall I

had written letters to numerous colleges asking if they needed me to teach

business law for them. I guess they did not, since none even replied. Now it

was March, and I had not even bothered to sign up for an interview with any

of the employers who had come to campus to interview Tulane students. I

guess I was like Benjamin in “The Graduate,”1except that for some reason

I really was not worried about my future (although I am sure my parents

were). I had thought maybe I would move to Aspen and work at a ski resort

for a year, then get a real job. But now—a miracle! I immediately called the

number listed on the job announcement and talked to the department chair

who was the contact person. I told him I was very interested in the job, and

would like to come see him the next day just to introduce myself. It was a

ten-hour round trip drive from New Orleans to Monroe. He said OK. So I

made the drive, walked into his office, and visited with him for about five

minutes. Then I drove back. I am sure his thought was “this guy really wants

this job!” And he was right.

That was forty years ago, and early on I learned an important life lesson

that comes to my mind nearly every day: if you love your job, it is not really

work. This is the most important perspective that I have to share. In the movie

*Professor, Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas.

1For you younger readers, The Graduate was a 1960s classic. Benjamin (played by Dustin Hoff-

man) was a little worried about his future but was temporarily consoled by Mrs. Robinson (played

by Anne Bancroft).

C2014 The Author

Journal of Legal Studies Education C2014Academy of Legal Studies in Business

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