Fiction is generally far more interesting than fact.  But in law school hallways, fact and fiction alike are both fodder for the law school gossip mill.  Reminiscent of high school, the gossip spreads like wildfire and unsuspecting students soon learn that "private" conversations they had in the soft lounge are posted on the Overheard at GW Law Facebook page within mere moments of being uttered.  Other students may find that one night's drunken indiscretions become hallway news overnight.  So how do you keep your name out of law school gossip?  This may seem like an impossible task, and in some ways it is, but with the right tools you can make your life significantly easier and less stressful.  You can minimize some of the drama if you heed to following tips.

Exercise discretion.  In law school the desire to have friends can be so incredibly strong that you feel compelled to tell everyone your secrets.  But that friendly classmate you met at orientation is not always destined to be your best friend.  As the adage goes "If you have a friend treat him well, but never to him your secrets tell.  For one day your friend may be your foe and out into the world your secrets will go." [sic]  While your friend may not turn into a foe, you might find that your friend "accidently" passes along your information to fellow classmates.  So exercise caution which choosing those people with whom you share things.  Not every friend needs to be privy to all of your information.  Sometimes your whole posse doesn't need to know you and your skills board partner "knocked boots" the previous night.  But there are people in law school that you can trust and once you figure out who they are you can be friends for life.  Select your friends carefully and share your secrets even more so.  Use discretion when choosing who will receive what information.

Remember that the ears have walls.  Yes, there are often 50 or more students sitting in the soft and hard lounge at any given time, but that doesn't mean they aren't listening to what you're saying. The soft and hard lounge should not be used to engage in break-ups, private phone calls about your hypochondria or otherwise strange addictions and behaviors.  Consider the guy who once claimed he wasn't loved enough as a child thus explaining his current addiction to sex.  You don't want to be that guy. Or girl.  Fortunately for him, he was a virtual unknown and his name wasn't attached, but you might not be so lucky.  So, choose your conversations carefully. Step outside or speak more quietly. We are in law school and as law students we often have discussions about the craziest and strangest things especially if you are taking professional ethics and responsibility or some other sarcasm inducing course.  However, if have information you wouldn't want anyone else to know, save that for another location.  You never know when one of the Deans might walk through.

Consider your behavior.  If you're okay being known as "that" guy or girl, then you probably don't care about how you act.  It may be okay to step on the little man on your way up, but please try to avoid beating anyone up or deliberately engaging in behavior solely meant to berate your classmates, engage in cheating or some similarly unacceptable act. While academic integrity violation are supposed to be confidential, rumor spreads fast when it happens.  Even if you're cleared, you might find your fellow students are privy to details that you didn't even know existed.

Finally, indulge, but don't overindulge. Stress and law school go hand in hand often leading law students to turn to their local bar for some stress relief.  However, this stress relief can have greater implications if you don't watch your alcohol intake.  You might find yourself dancing on the top of a bar and trying to lick your own nipple.  If that's your thing, then great, but be warned that news as entertaining as this can and has been major news at the law school overnight.  So while it is acceptable to indulge yourself, too much indulgence can have undesirable consequences.  That undergrad might look quite attractive after 3 or 4 beers, but please stay away lest you should find yourself on juicycampus.com.

It is possible to keep it classy and have fun.  You just need to be discerning about the people with whom you share your information, the locations in which you share it and the behaviors you exhibit as a law student.  As the school reminded us over and over in orientation, our classmates are our future colleagues and you don't necessarily want the last memory that they have to be of you in a compromised position.