Finding a balance between academics and everyday life as a first-year law student is crucial. Without balancing the two, it’s easy to get overwhelmed with the workload and forget to take time for yourself. The first year of law school is very stressful. Taking time for yourself may seem daunting with so much to do, but if you find the way to take some time out of every day to focus on yourself, you’ll feel better in the long run.
“I wasn’t just someone with an embarrassing first-cold-call in Contracts, I was a woman who could now lift her body weight over her head.”
Prior to law school, I was in the gym two hours a day. Once classes began I had to cut that time down in order to stay on top of my assignments. However, I always made it a point to get into the gym, or “box” as we call it in Crossfit, at least five days a week for an hour. Training helped me release stress, feel good about myself, and achieve goals outside of the academic setting. I’d often be asked, “How do you have time for that? Aren’t you tired?” Yes, I was tired when I walked into the gym. The knowledge that I would have more cases to brief after getting home was daunting. But going to Crossfit every day kept me sane. I was not only a law student but an athlete getting stronger with every lift and every sore muscle. I had more energy leaving the box than I did when I entered, and I was able to focus better on the work I needed to get done when I got home.
Crossfit helped me get through my first year of law school because it enabled me maintain my identity as an individual. I wasn’t just someone with an embarrassing first-cold-call in Contracts, I was a woman who could now lift her body weight over her head. A bad day at school was made better with squats, cleans, and box jumps. I sweated out the bad day and was ready to attack the next with a fresh, positive mindset. Things that seem impossible (back-squatting 215lbs, getting a good grade in Civil Procedure) are within reach if time and effort are put into the equation. No one is perfect and everyone will have at least one “bad day” as a 1L; the important thing is that on those “bad days” you take time to appreciate and take pride in something you’ve accomplished or are working on outside of school.
Ultimately, the best way to maintain self-confidence, morale, and sanity is to focus on something other than law school (in a planned-out and timely fashion). It’s important to maintain your individuality and identify with something outside of an academic setting in order to make sure that you remember that there is more to life than just school. For me, lifting and working out accomplish this goal. That might not do the trick for everyone. However, there are plenty of options to choose from when considering an alternate outlet for the stress that is life as a 1L.
