Zen and the Art of Reading (Week)
By Dhiraj Nainani
Ah, Week 6. An exciting time for some of us at the LSE. We undergraduate Law students have the distinct recognition of being awarded an entire week for the sole purpose of ŌreadingÕ. ItÕs quite common in other universities but for some reason LSE is adamant on only allowing for LLB students. As Econ students scratch their heads and IR students howl at the injustice of it all, us Law students Š ever the models of professionalism Š never cease to remind all we meet that yes, we do have a week off. The Rumours are True. Sorry.
I wonÕt attempt to go in to Union politics and propose a Reading Week for everyone (although that would be quite fun!). Instead, I would like to tell you about how the Reading Week is a unique opportunity to take a moment to reflect.
Law students are always varied in terms of the way they work. There are the eager beavers, always doing the class reading and brimming with questions/answers/comments/trivia. Then there are the slackers, who do the bare minimum. Of course there are also the career specialists, who are diligent in class but are simply biding their time before their Magic Circle job begins. Most of us, though, are just regular students: somewhere in the middle, giving it our best shot.
The beauty of the LSE Reading Week perhaps lies in the fact that you only get one. So my appeal to you is simple. No matter what type of student you are, use the week wisely. DonÕt use it to draw panicked parallels with how close the upcoming exams are. On the other hand, donÕt use it as an excuse to slack off either. The key to a good Reading Week lies in an able balancing act.
The reason I insist on this balancing act is because doing Law at LSE is a unique experience. On the one hand you have an intense 20-week learning bombardment, which can leave many reeling at the end of it. On the other hand you have the usual academic pressure to ensure youÕre on top of your game. And of course, there is always the talk of the internship. With all these tensions the mental pressure can be quite high by the time Week 15 ends.
If it sounds very Zen, please forgive me. This is the best time to comprehensively look back at the first fifteen weeks and try to close any gaps in your knowledge. It is also useful to catch up on essays, and maybe even think about summer opportunities in case they havenÕt fully resolved themselves yet. So by all means please plan as much as you can and get a good amount of work done Š after all, to do so otherwise would ruin the academic purpose of Reading Week.
On the other hand, please remember to have fun. The 9 days that you get off are rare, and itÕs essential that you are well-rested and well-motivated to tackle the final 4 weeks of learning. So please, do travel. Or party. Or catch up with some lost friends. Or maybe even just explore the many things London has to offer. Whatever you do, try to make sure that it doesnÕt tire you out further.
Whatever you do land up doing, if it lands up being a less than wholesome experience, donÕt panic. You not only have four weeks of learning, but an additional five of studying, not to mention the time before your exams begin. The Reading Week is not the only opportunity of finding your balance again. And remember, if youÕre a fresher you have two more chances available to you Š so donÕt be afraid of trial and error.
Oh God, I just realised what a bad legal pun the line before this one had.