Law Students: How to de-stress during/after Final Exams

Photo Courtesy Shawn Rossi

Hello TJSL Law Students,

As you wrap up your final Exams, here are some tips on how to de-stress in San Diego.

1. Use that FIT membership and get some exercise, or at the very least, sit in the sauna or hot tub for a little while.
2. Stay hydrated, especially with all the caffeine that many of you are no doubt consuming.
3. Don’t talk to anyone about how stressed out they are or you will start internalizing it.
4. Eat something! Preferably something healthy, your body will thank you for eating stress reducing foods.
5. Play with your pet, or your friend’s pet, heck go to the zoo and pet a non-human animalof some kind:
   1. “The popular Petting Paddock in the Children’s Zoo allows kids (and kids at heart) a chance to feel the wooly coat of a sheep or comb a gentle goat’s hair.” (http://www.sandiegozoo.org/zoo/faq/faq_general )
   2. Video of the Zoo from Youtube – although I recommend that you do NOT try to pet a Meerkat.
6. And a personal tip, when I was studying for exams, I would keep a stack of comic books under my bed, and when I was ready to take a break, I’d read an ancient comic book about a duck that wore clothes and could talk and had three nephews. No doubt you have much better comics than I had.

Articles on coping with Law School Stress (Don’t read them all just pick one or two that appeal to you).

• Thriving in Law School: Stress and What to Do About It – Northeastern University School of Law
• The Hidden Sources of Law School Stress – Florida State University College of Law
• Several Blog Posts on Stress  – Law School Academic Support Blog
• Dealing with Law School Stress – Alex Ruskell’s Blog
• A Request for Stress – Scoplaw
• Help with Law School Induced Stress and Depression  –  The CM Law Library Blog
• Law School and Stress – Professor Barbara Glesner Fines, University of Missouri – Kansas City School of Law
• Exam Time! Manage law student stress – Out of the Jungle
• A Breathing Relaxation Exercise – Suffolk University Law School
• Law School Stress: List of Articles – Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers
• Two Rules For Less Stress and Worry in Your First Year of Law School – Law Vibe