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Hi guys. I finished first semester in the top 5% of my class at a T2. But I had some life-altering events in the past few months, which I don't feel like discussing.

Now, I am completely unmotivated. I am falling behind in school. I don't have the energy I had first semester. I don't have the drive to review my class notes, make an outline, and keep up with the class. Last week, I had to tell my prof. that I am not prepared for class so he won't cold call on me. I never had to do that before. I don't know what is happening to me. I feel sad all the time, and I don't feel like caring about anything. I am exercising, but I don't think it's helping. I've been taking sleeping pills because I have trouble sleeping. But the pills work, and sleeping is the favorite part of my day. First semester, I couldn't wait to get up and study for class. This semester, I Just want to sleep all day.

Do I see a therapist? I don't feel like doing that either. I have never been diagnosed with depression or anything. But I know I need to fix this. Maybe I just need to go through the motions until I feel motivated again? Has anyone else had a similar problem? Any pep talk would be appreciated. Even if you have to yell at me to stop whining and get my shit together. Seriously.

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bro, if it makes you feel better, I similarly performed first semester and I've entered the 2nd semester bellyflopping. I don't have a personal crisis, I just feel a bit unmotivated and got sick for 2 weeks on top of it. All is not lost. Get on your horse!

first- congrats on fall semester!
second- you should consider talking to someone. You say that you had some major life altering things happen to you, and you may now be trying to figure out what to do , wht to prioritize and what not. Its hard to do, and when life throws you a huge curveball, sometimes you automaically reshuffle priorities without knowing it. Especially if you had some down time and got away from LS.

Third: keep up wiht your notes and classwork But for now, dont go as hard- your mind needs some rest, and you need to listen to your body. So taking a day or two off may be a good idea. Just dont get too far behind, or else you will be even more stressed.

Fourth: dont look at the long run, take it day by day. Until you are ready to sprint, jog.

Thanks guys.

Also:

Jsa725 wrote:Feeling like shit while studying > feeling like shit and not studying

Truer words have never been spoken. I will start chugging away.

It sounds as if you should at least get counseling. There's always a way to address these problems.

If the events are truly "life-altering", you should consider asking for a hardship withdrawal/deferral for a year. Your situation is screaming for it, and you can protect that GPA as well as your class standing, depending on the school. At some schools, GPA would just be counted against that of next year's class.

Do you like money and success and accomplishing your goals? Try using those as motivators. That's what kept me going - capitalizing on my potential. If you don't feel that way now, having succeeded and excelled beyond your peers - huh, that's odd, why even bother in the first place then?

It's too early to rook out. Quitters quit. Don't quit, not when you know you can excel. Keep it up. If sometimes it sucks - trust me, it won't when you're done. It is totally worth it to kick ass at what you do.

You say life-altering events so I feel like it's more sadness/grief than depression(of course I don't know the situation). A therapist or counselor or something might not be a bad idea.

Without knowing what the life altering events are, it's hard to say. But talk therapy can be good just to get things off your chest and have someone to listen.

But if your lack of motivation is unrelated to whatever else is going on with your life, maybe you should be asking yourself why?

But also, don't worry about getting behind right now. It's only February. Don't worry about reading the old stuff, just get it from an old outline and start fresh from here. If you think about playing catch up, you'll just get too overwhelmed.

Great resources in this thread for law students in crisis: http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 3&t=184797
And remember to:

Check to see if your school has a mental health counseling center of some sort; i reckon your school likely does.

I felt similar to you my spring semester of 1L. At one point I was almost a month behind most of my readings and I just kinda floated around at school. I went to talk to someone and that helped a lot. My mindset changed after about three weeks of talking to the therapist.

Did I feel crazy? Yea a little bit, but at least I was crazy and feeling good again.

Definitely do talk to someone about what's going on in your life. It will help. You did so well your first semester it would be a shame for that to go to waste because you aren't feeling quite right.

Good luck.

greenchair wrote:Hi guys. I finished first semester in the top 5% of my class at a T2. But I had some life-altering events in the past few months, which I don't feel like discussing.

Now, I am completely unmotivated. I am falling behind in school. I don't have the energy I had first semester. I don't have the drive to review my class notes, make an outline, and keep up with the class. Last week, I had to tell my prof. that I am not prepared for class so he won't cold call on me. I never had to do that before. I don't know what is happening to me. I feel sad all the time, and I don't feel like caring about anything. I am exercising, but I don't think it's helping. I've been taking sleeping pills because I have trouble sleeping. But the pills work, and sleeping is the favorite part of my day. First semester, I couldn't wait to get up and study for class. This semester, I Just want to sleep all day.

Do I see a therapist? I don't feel like doing that either. I have never been diagnosed with depression or anything. But I know I need to fix this. Maybe I just need to go through the motions until I feel motivated again? Has anyone else had a similar problem? Any pep talk would be appreciated. Even if you have to yell at me to stop whining and get my shit together. Seriously.

First of all, congrats on your amazing rank after first semester! Top 5% is quite an accomplishment and you should be proud of yourself.

More importantly, spending a couple minutes talking about what's going on in your personal life with a friend, family member, or, best of all, student health center therapist will save you time in the long run. I recommend you not shy away from seeking the help you need. You may also PM me if you'd like to seek assistance anonymously. Re: schoolwork, a law student can be a complete slob for the first half of the semester and still finish strong--folks on the CSWS thread can help you with strategies for catching up. It's not too late, and spring break will present an opportune time to get the ball rolling.

Full disclosure: in the middle of November last semester, I experienced a personal tragedy--one of my former students was shot to death at 17 (no suspect found), and one of my co-teachers who I loved working with died of prolonged illness. Both events happened within 10 days of each other, and the night I found out, I was just numb with shock. Despite the fact that it was crunch-time, it was very difficult for me to stay motivated for some time. I spoke with folks from the TLS Support Thread as well as an administrator of the school who I'm still close with for solace. Although I didn't do amazingly (though not terribly either), I ended up performing much better than I thought on exams, including booking Ks.

If your life altering event isn't the loss of your spouse or a limb, stop being a pussy.

shepdawg wrote:If your life altering event isn't the loss of your spouse or a limb, stop being a pussy.

shepdawg wrote:If your life altering event isn't the loss of your spouse or a limb, stop being a pussy.

And legs below the knee doesn't count. You don't need that shit anyway.

If you cannot get your good habits back, take the semester off.

ED Chicago transfer??? EA GULC?