After reading Abony's piece yesterday about the disease Law-School-Attendus, I started to think about how I coped with the psychological distress symptoms that accompanied my 1L year.
One of the ways I dealt with pressure was to set incremental goals and give myself small rewards. That's basically a nice way of saying that I've literally become obsessed with silly flash based internet games on Kongregate. I can't count the times I told myself "finish this case and then you can test your reaction skills." Games are fun, but they are not the only way to take your mind off law school and I've noticed a few recent news articles that detailed with how some students used unique ways to deal with law school stress:
The Storytelling Juggler: Brigham Young University's class of 2001 graduate Drew Briney used juggling to take his mind of law school and he became obsessed with the skill. Juggling is not often mentioned in the same sentence as law school stress, but to each their own. The best part is that our jester friend even has a website dedicated to his craft: http://www.jugglingtricksunlimited.com/. You can become a member and learn about the craft while contributing any new tricks you create. The website features such tricks as the 5 Ball Jig and Firework Slaps (video), which both have a Difficulty Rating of 5. Clearly this is something you shouldn't try at home. Err, wait, maybe it's something that you should only try at home...
The Painter: Recent Harvard Law graduate José Klein tapped his artistic side and painted scenes from memorable court cases. His medium? Dishes and magic markers. Who knew those all important kindergarten skills would someday rescue you from law school anxiety.
Both articles mention that the students obsessed over their respective distraction, and I can see the same obsessive behavior in my flash game addiction (I've racked up 1,870 meaningless points this semester). One of my friends obsesses over fantasy baseball while another is addicted to trashy reality TV shows. Another run marathons. Even though the distractions take time away from studying, it's the obsessive behavior that removes you from the daily grind and permits you to focus on your work with fresh eyes (and bragging rights about being on level 16 of Kongregate).
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