This is perhaps the most valuable law "course" you could ever take.

Was this a law graduate, only a few months ago living in the East Village, with a life paid for by college loans? (which, by the way, are all outstanding and gaining interest).

Maybe the law schools are starting to get it.  Maybe they are preparing us for life after law school.  I got this e-mail from a friend who goes to a decently ranked school in the area and thought I should share.  I wonder if other schools are doing something similar.

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Could you survive a month in poverty? Find out at:

A Month in Your Clients’ Shoes: A Poverty Simulation

Friday, November 2

Experience the daily life of a low-income New Yorker, by playing the role of a single parent trying to care for their children or a senior citizen trying to maintain their self-sufficiency on Social Security. The task of each family is to provide food, shelter and other basic necessities during the simulation while interacting with various community resources. Attendance is strongly encouraged for anyone interested in a nonprofit or government internship, and those participating in pro bono projects!

This event is co-sponsored by the Office of Public Service Programs and the NYS Courts Access to Justice Program.

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The truth is, a course like this may help some people who will be graduating soon.  In fact, almost every student is going to find themselves eating out a lot less, not hanging out in Starbucks that much, and unable to shop for $100 curtains for their dorms during class.  Many are going to have to pawn those Gucci sunglasses and purses that federally backed loans bought when rent comes due.  Some will have to get used to not being able to purchase every gadget when it comes out, whether it is the new Samsung phone, iPad 4, or that $1200 Macbook Air.  Others are going to have to make a serious shift in their lifestyles, moving away from the hip college neighborhoods like the East Village, Brooklyn Heights, The Upper West Side, and moving to cheaper areas such as New Jersey, Far Rockaway, the Bronx, or back into their parent's houses. 

So, yes, this is the kind of course that should almost be REQUIRED in every college.  Learning to live on a strict budget wouldn't hurt anyone who is about to graduate, because I honestly believe that there is going to be a lot of depression from some students who got used to living the college "fantasy life" and forgot what the real world is like -- a world where one has to scrimp by for a while, perhaps a LONG while.