Law school, believe it or not, is a cesspit of germs and disease. Okay, so the law library isn’t going to turn into a scene from the 1995 classic film Outbreak, but it’s pretty easy to acquire an ailment in the university environment.
There are thousands of people on campus each day, including people who defiantly refuse to wash their dirty mitts and touch use shared computers, people who cough into the open air, etc. To eliminate the impression that I’m some kind of neurotic mess, I give you this piece of evidence: I have been sick since the beginning of the semester.
Being sick in law school is the ultimate handicap. Attempts to do readings end in lengthy naps, journeys to campus involve feverish sweats on public transport, and assignment deadlines are impossible to meet.
In such a high-pressure environment there are always academic staff willing to help you, free doctors on campus to prescribe cures, friends nice enough to explain principles and share notes and (most importantly) ways to avoid the dreaded law school lurgy…
1. Clean Your Surroundings
Ensure your regular ‘zones’ are clean as a whistle; sanitise your laptop regularly, wipe down tables in the law library, wash your hands before and after using university computers.
2. Ask for Help
Believe it or not most academic staff are human and have experienced a bout or two of the flu before so they can be extremely empathetic and helpful. To cover yourself, it’s best to let them know in advance how you are feeling, acquire medical certificates and make legitimate attempts to consult with them in order to catch up on any information you may have missed in the process of near-death.
3. Get Plenty of Sleep
Whether you’re suffering from an ailment or not it’s always my policy to get an early night. Come exam time you’ll regret the endless nights you spent shoveling coffee beans down your throat attempting to watch marathons of Seinfeld or possibly studying.
Treat yourself like a 5 year old and allocate a specific time you need to be in bed each night – regardless of a new season of Underbelly or an assignment deadline. Zzzzzs get degrees.
4. Monitor Your Diet
I admit it. My exam time diet consists of Mountain Dew and crispy M&Ms but of late I’ve come to the realisation that despite the range of colours on M&Ms shells, they are not classified as separate food groups and I should therefore attempt to eat things that replenish and energise my body for long hours of study.
Another thing I’ve learnt is that before a big day on campus it’s best to eat a big, nutritional breakfast rather than succumbing to the habit of a jumbo coffee. Try carrying small snacks in your bag at uni to avoid food court guilt – that is, buying a kebab after starving yourself during lectures.
Hope you beat that law school flu soon!
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