So, I'm basically terrified at the thought of the Socratic Method of teaching that I will most likely encounter in some form or another in law school. See, when I have to talk in class, whether voluntarily or not, I get reeeeaaallly red. And I don't mean like a cute little pink blush in my cheeks. I'm talking about all the way to the tips of my ears vivid red that has been described variously as "tomato-red," "fire-engine red," and "oh-my-god-I-didn't-know-a-face could-get-that-red red." And my face just radiates heat. And I get sweaty and shaky. So that's before I've even answered any questions. That's just at the thought of all of the people in class staring at me.
Of course, at this point I'd love to just disappear. But no, I have to answer a question first. Even though I'm dying with soul-crushing embarrasment. Even if I know the subject backwards and forwards my brain is so addled by the flood of adrenaline that I can only manage to say something semi-coherent. And the teacher may keep asking me questions for a long time. But the red doesn't fade, oh no. No matter how much I chant "Cool as a cucumber, lilpogo, cool as a cucumber" to myself, my face just gets redder and hotter, if that's even possible. It can take me hours after a class to calm down. And everytime I see the people in that class again I'll get red just thinking about what happened. And I don't tend to learn very well under those conditions, see?
Now, most people probably don't have such severe social anxiety. But I'd love to hear from other people who are worried about this as well. Or people who have advice. Or people who are currently in law school and have words of comfort. Or people who have heard various things about specific law schools and their teaching methods (for example, if I hear even a few more things about UChicago, my withdrawal may be in the mail soon *cough Katkins cough*).
= 1/1000th of me

Sometimes this kind of thing can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe law school will be a good time to tackle it, you know?

This may not be a great comparison, but I used to be a real klutz, I broke everything -- glasses, bowls, etc -- got to the point where I really didn't believe I could carry a stack of plates from point A to point B. Then one day I got sick of it and resolved to be done breaking stuff . . . and it worked. I think that if you can convince yourself to change, you can work past it.

Good luck!

Wouldn't this prove to be a huge obstacle in your eventual career as a lawyer. You'll have to speak in court, presentations, etc.

I also have problems when I'm called on in class. I kind of black out - if a professor calls my name when I'm not ready my mind goes blank and seems to stop working. Sometimes I don't even hear the question. I'm nervous about how this anxiety will play out in law school, but I'm hoping that class will be a good venue to "face the fear" and hopefully overcome such problems. One thing that helped me in undergrad was that I would volunteer to answer questions I knew and that way my participation was on my terms and not at the whim of the professor - if I answered enough, I could sit out the hard questions with the confidence that I wouldn't be called on

Thanks for the responses so far guys, please keep them coming!



Well, I don't plan on being the kind of lawyer who is actually in court a lot. Yes, it will be a challenge for those times when I do have to give presentations, as it has been in my past. I may pick up some beta-blockers for just such an event.



Heh, yep, I learned that method early. I still wasn't comfortable even when I volunteered though, and occassionally that made it worse b/c the anticipation of speaking.

Uzu, that's a good suggestion, and I'm going to look into it. I checked out the website and thought this was funny:



Catch-22? hehehe.

I think that's the nature of the beast. Sometimes the only way to get over something is to confront it. I think public speaking is a problem for most people, and those that don't have that problem usually have a lot of experiences that involved public speaking. For me, I started college not that much better than anyone else, but throughout the course of my college career, I think I've became a stronger speaker because my extracurricular involvements forced me to speak in public.

Taking a relaxant of some sort may help, even if its placebic...

Glass of wine, shot of yak, tug of reefer. Not kidding, these things work. Obviously I am not talking about the whole of anything of this, just a quick drink or tug to get you through the class coherently.

I think the way that the Socratic Method is used in CBT is very different than in a law school setting though. It seems that it's more gentle and self-exploratory than a drill or a test for knowledge.

I used to have horrible social anxiety. When I got to college, I decided that I was going to major in Comm, just so I was forced to give a lot of presentations.

That, along with working retail, has pretty much "cured" any social anxiety I had.

I really do think the best way to deal with it is just to confront it. Can you maybe take a public speaking class at a community college over the summer before you start school?

lilpogo, I have a very similar problem. One time after I gave a class presentation a classmate came over to me and said "your neck was so red!" Really helpful, right?

Two suggestions:

You could try joining a Toastmasters group. These groups form all over the place, and they're aimed at giving people a chance to practice public speaking in a supportive environment. I know two people who've tried Toastmasters, and both had very positive things to say about it.

You could check with a dermatologist and see if there's anything physiological going on that can be treated to lessen the flushing. Ask about rosacea, which is associated with flushing.

Feel free to pm me if you want to commiserate more.

This is definitely a concern of mine....one of the reasons I prefer to stay in Canada for law school....they're not so heavy on the Socratic Method.....

CBT would definitely help, but it's a lot of work (I've done it)....group therapy is best for social anxiety....

I had a friend in LS who had something similar, they talked to their professors before each course and some professors would keep it in mind and not call on them (though others either forgot or didn't care).

One thing you could do is get good outlines for your classes, some older professors ask the same questions about the same cases and you can basically just read off of your outline like a script.

my method for curing s.a.d. was to always be well prepared for "any" situation.. having to call a customer service line, speaking to a sales person, presentations...

and then... for speaking, etc. always feel like you really don't have that much to lose... even when you do.

edit: and by feel i mean tell yourself over and over, and even make a personal joke with yourself about it

Bring it!

I was actually thinking about that as an option. But then I figured the teachers would just say "well, too bad, you're in law school, get over it" or something to that effect. And then I'd feel even worse for having brought it up. They'd think I was trying to get out of something (which I would be sort of - but not from laziness or anything) or was spoiled and thought I deserved special treatment, or something bad. Could totally backfire.



I try to do that, but even though the reaction is surely started somewhere in my brain, it seems completely physical when it happens. I mean, totally out of my control. No matter what I tell myself it doesn't stop it from happening.

At least I'm not the only one

Confront it if you want to be rid of it

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Well, I did take a job sophomore year of UG that required running dorm meetings (anywhere from 20 to over 100 people). Never got better, no matter how many times I had to get up in front of everybody.
I don't think confronting this is the best way to deal with it. It's not like a normal fear, like a fear of spiders or something. It's just an uncontrollable reaction to something. It's not like I shut myself up in a room all day. I am basically forced to confront this all the time. With no change.

I would suggest talking to a professional about your phobia. It can't hurt and it might help. Good luck twin!