DAVINA FINN
<Contributor>
First semester of first year law school is undoubtedly a difficult transition. In a jam-packed, fast-paced four-month span, students are expected to adapt to a new environment, community, learning style and grading scheme. We are faced with the challenge of balancing new and exciting extracurricular learning opportunities and attempting to establish a new social network, often supplemented by the trials of adjusting to a new city, while at the same time forced to grapple with how to best approach an enormous amount of academic material. Above all else, we are adjusting to the competitive atmosphere that is inherent in the current legal education system, and overcoming the tremendous amount of pressure and anxiety that this competitiveness brings with it. It is no wonder that many first year students report feeling overwhelmed or burnt out, and experience deteriorated mental health over the course of their first semester.
Both the administration and students at Osgoode have shown great leadership and progress in attempting to improve student life by taking mental health seriously. This year we saw the first ever “Mental Health Week” on campus, the implementation of a full time Health and Wellness Counselor, in addition to the recent opening of the Peer Support Centre. These are all great initiatives and will certainly have a positive impact on overall wellness. However, it seems as though we can and should do more.
Student Caucus has launched the investigation as to whether a first-year fall reading week would be beneficial to students and whether or not it would be feasible. In a survey sent out to the student body, there has been an almost unanimous sentiment that a fall reading week would have been beneficial to students in first year in terms of mental health and general wellness, engagement in course material, and exam preparation. It would provide the necessary break to catch up on the initial months of confusion and chaos, step away from the high-pressured environment, and allow students to apply themselves more in the remaining weeks of first semester. When students advocated for an upper-year reading week only a couple of years ago, some of the main arguments in favour of the implementation were on similar lines of student health and wellness, and academic/extracurricular engagement. These features are imperative in advancing the overall educational experience Osgoode can offer. The implementation of the upper-year fall reading week is still fresh, yet already students and faculty can observe a substantial benefit and improvement in many areas of students’ academic, professional and personal lives.
This process stemmed from the feelings and thoughts expressed among members of the current first-year class, indicating there is a demand for greater support and assistance for students at the beginning of their legal education. We are still in the initial stages of this “1L fall reading week investigation” process and no definitive routes of action have been determined. Members of Student Caucus will be reviewing results from the student input survey, meeting with multiple faculty members, in addition to administrative staff and the Student Success and Wellness Counselor at Osgoode. We will then be compiling these thoughts, opinions, and ideas in order to work towards possible changes to enhance the first-year experience.
While nothing is certain, this investigative process has begun an important dialogue of what first years need in order to get the most out of their education. Excellent and diverse ideas have already been raised, and I very much look forward to seeing where this conversation goes. I’m excited to see what we can do collaboratively to help improve the Osgoode experience.