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Editorial

Let’s Put Wealth in Mental Health

One cannot really compare the experience that law school brings to the table with other types of stress, regardless of whether the student is working or full time.

Gerard Oliver Wang

06 Nov 2021 • 2 min read

Graphics by: Dioscoro Nuñez III

“One small crack does not mean that you are broken, it means that you were put to the test and you didn't fall apart.” — Linda Poindexter.

“The study of law is a jealous mistress.”

However, with online class, endless readings and the usual law school stress this jealous mistress has turned into the psychotic nagging spouse you would see in those corny romantic comedies. One cannot really compare the experience that law school brings to the table with other types of stress, regardless of whether the student is working or full time.

No, this is not an editorial to discuss the cliché law school experiences most of us have been through. This article aims to forward an advocacy and a bit of a solution. Stress and pressure are the common denominators we can see in the struggle of every law student, from the freshmen to the “fortunate” souls of those who managed to reach the review classes. This same stress has forced many to even drop from law school and pursue other careers. Law school, truly, is not for the faint hearted.

For the rest of us hanging on, we sometimes have to ask ourselves: Until when can I hold on? Is this journey really worth it? Will I be worthy when my time comes? We may ponder on these questions each time we have a bad recitation or occasions when we get sautéed in our own sweat by a terror professor. But we must also look at those who have stayed in the fight despite having faced heavy workloads, marital issues, financial issues and even the loss of a loved one. Most of these people choose to be silent even though deep inside, they really want a person to talk to and a shoulder to cry on.

Mental health awareness and its promotion has gained a lot of significance nowadays, especially with the dawning of online classes due to the pandemic. An isolated room with a laptop or cellphone cannot really compare to the company of your classmates who have been with you through thick and thin and those who you’ve been good friends with. Sometimes such isolation in our rooms or wherever we attend our online classes creates a unique kind of loneliness--that feeling of negative solitude making you feel like no one is there to understand the things you go through day in and day out.

To those who remain silent, know that you have friends and family, no matter how far they may be, that love you so much. Take the time to breathe and to pause for a moment. A pause does not mean you are weak, it just simply means you stopped to look at how far you’ve made it, and you use that thought of progress to inspire you to press on with your journey in the study of law.

They say that law school is a marathon but who says you have to run it all on your own? We have our classmates and friends who also have to run the same marathon so let us learn to help each other along the way until the finish line. Let us find time to spend with our friends and family and learn to close our thick textbooks for a moment to give some time for ourselves (Mental Health Break, bekenemen uwuu). When in doubt, let us always choose to put a premium on our mental health. This one goes out to the struggling law student out there: You can do it and YOU ARE NOT ALONE.