Everything in Moderation (Especially Moderation)

The great thing about law school is the endless work. I had at least 100 pages of reading last week, which I worked on faithfully. I broke it up by days, so that I only had to do a little bit at a time. Then I watched tv and played solitaire until my day was over. The only way to handle law school is by setting daily goals and reaching them. And then decompressing with a little bit of relaxation. Taking work day by day in moderation is the only way to deal with law school. You’ll be going crazy in a week if you don’t pace yourself.

However, moderation doesn’t always work. Friday eventually rolled around, and legal writing (the bane of any law student’s existence) came to kick us all in the butt. We were given four different assignments, three of them requiring hours worth of research. It wouldn’t be due until the following Friday, of course, but one of my best friend’s (who, for the purpose of this column will be called Baby B) was having his big birthday bash that night. So that’s how excess came into the picture.

I got out of class, went straight to the library, and started researching. I slogged through the first two assignments by 8 pm. I walked the two blocks home, threw my stuff in my room, and got showered and ready in record time. I headed out, even though I was dreading the time that took me away from schoolwork. I had a great time, culminating in dancing at the Hangge Uppe, not known to be Chicago’s classiest establishment, but a fun time with all of my law school friends. I shook off the stress of restarting school, and being in the library for 6 hours straight. I got home at 4 am. I got up at 9 am and went to the library.

Pain was my middle name. Noone should research on four hours of sleep after four hours of dancing. I couldn’t focus and I couldn’t walk. Nevertheless, I finished the third research project by 5 pm, at which point I went home and crashed until the next morning. I got up early on Sunday, went downstairs to Panera, and did my reading for Monday, so that I could reach my real goal for the weekend.

The goal being that Boy came into Chicago Sunday afternoon and because I crammed a week’s worth of work into a weekend, I got to take two days off and relax with him.

Moral of the story: The day-to-day law school life is one of moderation and pacing yourself. But it is possible to have fun, so long as you’re willing to throw moderation out the window and stare exhaustion in the face.

(By the way, it was one of the best weekends I’ve had in a long while, for anyone who wants to know.)