March has finally arrived. March has always been my favourite time of the year because of the excitement surrounding the NCAA Basketball March Madness tournament. From a young age, my dad would print out the brackets and we would fill them out by hand. We would then track our success throughout the tournament with red X’s and blue circles. As I grew up, the pen and paper brackets evolved into electronically filled-out brackets, and the two-person competition between my dad and I developed into online bracket tournaments with thousands of people. However, what did not change was my love and obsession for the tournament. Every year, I still print out my electronically filled bracket and as every game concludes, I put a blue circle or red X next to that game.
March Madness is truly a tournament like no other. A one-game elimination tournament filled with game winners and yearly Cinderella stories, culminating in the championship team cutting down the nets. The tournament always promises to be captivating. From watching my first ever March Madness tournament in 2004, when Emeka Okafor led the UCONN Huskies to a National Championship, I was instantly hooked. I would wait all year for the month of March. Selection Sunday would finally arrive, and I would spend the next 4 days filling out my bracket. On the first Thursday of the tournament, I would sit on the couch all day with my eyes glued to the TV. Often, I didn’t leave this position until the first weekend of the tournament ended on Sunday evening.
I worried when I started law school that I may not have time to engage in and follow the tournament as I usually do. I quickly realized how little leisure time I truly have. From a young age, watching and following sports consumed a great deal of my free time. When I started law school, I no longer had time to watch every single football game as I would do every Sunday growing up. However, I realized that without making time for leisure, I would burn out.
I recognized that it was important to carve out time for leisure activity, whether that be watching sports, going on a walk with a friend, playing with my dog, or working out. I couldn’t let the grueling schedule of law school restrict me from watching sports. After all, my love for sports in many ways fueled my desire to pursue a career in law. The analytical thinking, debating, and argumentation skills that I subconsciously developed by being a sports fan fostered my passion for law. I couldn’t leave my first love just because I found someone else.
As we gear up for another exam period, law students must remember how important it is to engage in leisure activity. This leisure time likely looks different for everybody. For me, it’s sports. For you it may be reading a book, working out, or cooking. But we cannot neglect our mental health. Especially given the isolation we have experienced this year due to COVID-19, it is more important than ever to continue to make time for ourselves. We have to split up the many hours a day we spend reading case law with the things that make us laugh and smile.
Of course, I’m not recommending abandoning your studies for leisure time. But allowing yourself breaks from studying has actually been shown to support mental health. You can find several studies which have shown that taking breaks during work can help boost concentration and productivity. The breaks you take will not hinder your success, in fact, they may actually help you. Also, many studies suggest that taking breaks for leisure time can help one’s mental health. Psychiatrist Denyce Hill emphasizes the importance of leisure activity. She maintains that when we are stressed out and busy, often leisure activity is sacrificed. However, she cautions about the danger of abandoning leisure time. Taking breaks is so important for both productive studying as well as maintaining mental health.
So, this March, when I am reading cases, legislation, and articles, and making summaries in preparation for my exams, I will always remember to make time for March Madness. I will sit with my printed bracket, hopefully filling out many blue circles, always remembering to carve out leisure time for myself in these incredibly stressful times.