It's All About Words

 My teaching and directing career started in 1970, lasting until 1980 when I entered the University of Minnesota Law School. I taught English and directed plays at both the junior high and high school level, including directing an uncut full version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and directing Tom Stopperd’s The Real Inspector Hound as a one-act play that won the Minnesota State high school competition in 1976. 

My teaching career was cut short as a result of declining enrollment in the suburban district where I was one of the youngest English teachers, and thus the first to “go.” In an attempt to find a new career, I took a battery of interest tests at a local career center. After anxiously awaiting the results, the evaluator finally sat down with me to deliver his advice, which I quote verbatim: “Well, Ms. Holstein, you appear to be fairly aggressive. We recommend professional hockey player, or lawyer.” The year was 1979; I chose the law option. 

 My first year law class of 200 people was divided into four sections of fifty students each. In my section, there were three of my former high school English students, very good ones. It was disconcerting to be almost ten years older than my classmates, knowing the kind of competition law school fostered and encouraged. I believe that was when I adopted the mantra I still hold: Age doesn’t matter.

One of the most rigorous writing regimens I have ever experienced was on the Minnesota Law Review. During my third year, I was selected as a Note and Comment Editor, which gave me the chance to edit some brilliant law students, two of whom were budding antitrust scholars. Clarifying and simplifying arcane economic jargon so that it “read well” was actually stimulating. It was also a confidence-builder for my future law career, where I successfully tried cases ranging from minority shareholder actions to trademark infringement to employment law defense. “Telling the story” for the jury or the judge was always the goal, no matter how complicated the subject or seemingly boring the dispute. 

 After writing and editing literally hundreds of legal briefs, teaching over fifty continuing legal education courses to lawyers and judges, being interviewed by reporters on cases and legal trends, and now writing a business column for general readership, I continue to hold sacrosanct the ability to write a clear English sentence and deliver it with verve. Good writing, whether on paper, in an email, or yes, a tweet, thrills me, as it has throughout my career. I’m committed to the effort.