Black and White. Up and Down. Creation and Destruction. Chocolate and Vanilla. Nature always reverts to balance. If there is a force on one side, it must be either resisted or counteracted by an equal and opposite force. From Newton’s Third Law to the Preservation of Matter and Energy, there must be another side to the coin. And with the Gunner’s Yang, we have the Sandbagger’s Ying.
Characteristics: Only answers when called on; Intentionally answers poorly or incompletely in class; Constantly swinging between “law school is so easy or pointless” to “law school is to0 hard to be worth it”; Rarely seen studying in or around the law school; Seen often at bars, clubs and parties, especially during the week; Periods of intense social interaction punctuated by long absences; Only speaks about grades in the broadest, vaguest sense.
Self-Identification: You dislike the Gunners in your class more than anyone else; You feel a superficial but still very real sense of satisfaction when you haven’t done your reading; Your schedule is always as compact in the day and week as possible; The best compliments you hear are “Jim doesn’t get stressed about law school.”
Dealing with a Sandbagger: The Sandbagger is tough to deal with because of the constant inner struggle. Openly challenge them and they have the perfect weapon: accuse you of being a narrow-minded Gunner (“Jane says I don’t work hard enough”). Unlike the Gunner, who presents opportunities to be knocked down a peg or two, the Sandbagger is a reclusive, almost nocturnal creature. Any frontal assault is going to send them scurrying back to their home office.
The best strategy is to corner them. While a cornered Gunner is a dangerous animal, surrounding a Sandbagger mostly causes them to play possum. At some point, the charade that they aren’t trying is going to become impossible to keep up. Maybe they got a great clerkship, or the professor mentioned their performance on an exam or paper, or they got nominated for some academic honor. If this happens to someone who seemingly doesn’t try, one of two things has happened: you’ve discovered the Sandbagger, or you’ve discovered a legal genius. Which do you think is more likely?
Living as a Sandbagger: As stated above, your carefully crafted facade hides a ticking time bomb. The only Sandbagger who will get through law school without being found out is someone who is actually a genius and truly doesn’t care about law school. If you’re reading this blog, that’s probably not you. So you’re left with two choices: keep up the act as long as possible, before it comes crashing down, or prepare for the inevitable now.
The Sandbagger who knows they’re going to get caught has to release some of the pressure. Magically turn your strongest classes into “the subjects you really care about.” Interact extensively with a select few professors and talk about how much they inspire you. But ask yourself why you insist on appearing like law school doesn’t matter to you when it clearly does. Maybe you’ll find that there’s really only one good way to avoid the character of the lovable screw-up from being exposed for his alter-ego: admit you care about law school.
Wrap-Up: The Sandbagger is the opposing side of the coin to the Gunner, but he’s not an exact opposing match-up. Most of the time, the Gunner accepts what he or she is. The Sandbagger is the exact opposite: someone who fails to acknowledge their interest and passion for law school and the effort they put behind that. The actual drunk screw-up is not sandbagging, they are actually screwing up.
The greatest similarity though is that both the Gunner and the Sandbagger are characters people think they need to be in law school. The Gunner plays the character of “intense law student.” The Sandbagger plays best described with the phrase “the cool kids sit at the back of the bus.” By downplaying his or her nerdy interest in the law, the Sandbagger hopes to gain some credibility and status.1 In a world of super smart nerds, the one who cares just a little less can be king. Except when deep down the king is just like everyone else.
- Or potentially fight off debilitating doubts about law school. Or sometimes even both ↩
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“While a cornered Gunner is a dangerous animal, surrounding a Sandbagger mostly causes them to play possum.” Why does it feel like Law School is going to be one giant episode of The Crocodile Hunter? Ahem: “Crikey! It seems we have spotted the elusive Sandbagger and the colorful Gunner. Notice the calls of the Gunner as it displays its legal plumage. Oh! It seems the Sandbagger has slipped off!” Oh boy; fun times are ahead indeed.
You might think you’re kidding. That’s closer to reality than fiction. If you ever just own a gunner in a class, you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Good points, but I found your spelling mistakes distracting.
“law school is to hard to be worth it” – should be “too hard”
and “So your left with two choices” should be “you’re”. Feel free to fix and delete my comment.
I subscribe to the Merlin Mann theory of typos: I’m happy when someone finds a typo; that means they actually read it.
fun read – thanks.