Last year for my birthday, I asked my friends to send me stories related to our friendship. I spent my birthday taking a trip down memory lane, reading through all of them. This year, I asked some of my friends if I could share their memories with you.
Today’s memory is from Stefi Green, one of my classmates from ASU Law School. She was a year behind me – a brilliant, young pixie of law student who made me laugh. I love her childlike wonder and enthusiasm.
Here’s what Stefi had to share:
The saga of Ruth and Stefi has many chapters, from the flash mob during finals to the No Regrets Thanksgiving Day Hike, not to mention the infamous couch incident. (The law school learned the hard way that Stefi will throw a fit if the school moves the “Cool Kids’ Couch†and solicit me to help her move it back to its rightful place outsider Room 116.) But among the memories, including inflatable gladiator dueling (she won), gymnastics meets, trampoline rooms, and countless rejected marriage proposals (from her), one stands out as a favorite. I’ll never forget how much fun I had with you when we put on dresses and made snooty people squirm. (Hee hee hee.)
Ruth, one of the things I admired about you from the start was the way you rose above the pomp and nonsense that hung around the law school like a noxious cloud. One particular example engendered shock and awe in this 21-year-old 1L . . . while sowing the seeds for future (and quite gleeful) subversion. I’m referring of course to your disregard for the then-Dean of the law school. I loved the fact that you could see through his puffery and was practically giddy every time you called him out on it.
You had many brilliant moments in your ongoing feud with the Dean Who Must Not Be Named. But my all-time favorite was at Justice For All Night (law school fundraiser) your 3L year. First and foremost, every time I got to hear you sing was a treat in and of itself. The fact that you were singing words that I had written was, well, an honor. (Stefi dealt with the stress of law school by re-writing the lyrics to Disney songs to make them about law and law school. She’s really good at it!) I was so proud that you got to showcase your talent as the main entertainment. And we looked DAMN good that night.
The icing on the cake, though, was the fact that we got to stick it to the Dean. It was obvious that the school knew what we were doing – why else did they seat us at a table with Assistant Dean Tom Williams and other faculty members? (Yeah, we had chaperones.) The fact that they couldn’t do anything about it was nothing short of hilarious. And of course, the piece de resistance was when the Dean, visibly squirming, had to say nice things about you . . . and then spend the rest of the evening hearing about how fantastic you were! (Stefi was so proud of herself for that. She had the cheesiest grin on her face all night.)
Another reason I love this memory of us is because it illustrates many reasons our friendship has been so special to me. Your energy, wit, and irreverence (and a million other qualities!) always make you a blast to hang out with. I absolutely LOVED that you would let me be your partner in crime for the harmless stunts we pulled. But most of all, your attitude and approach to law school and life – and your kindness in sharing them with a kid still figuring things out – played a big role in who I am now.
You taught me not to take life too seriously. Even more, you taught me how to rise above the ridiculous airs that people put on and shine on my own terms.
Awh shucks, Stefi!
I love you, you know.