priority

Yesterday, a classmate collapsed while she was being grilled by the professor during recitation.

It must have been caused by anxiety and fatigue. I’ve already heard of students fading while in recitation, and I thought it was a joke. Now I know it’s not.

During our freshmen orientation, a speaker told us that nervous breakdown isn’t uncommon in law school. However, as far as I know the student who collapsed, the incident wasn’t solely caused by anxiety of not knowing the answers or faiiling. She is a good student.

She has also been working since we started our first year. I can always relate to her, knowing fully well the double effort a working student should exert to pass law school. Studying law full time as it is is hard enough. She doesn’t necessarily have to work, but she likes doing things all at the same time.

When I saw her suddenly kneeling on the floor, holding on to the back of a chair, initially, I do not know what to make of it. What’s happening? Then when I saw the face of the professor, I realized that she collapsed. Panic mode. It’s a good thing she’s conscious;  my nervousness subsided a little when I rushed to her.

A few months ago, we talked about resigning. School and work everyday is becoming more and more difficult, especially that our school isn’t really appropriate or welcoming to working students. We know where we want to go (and we do not need a compass or a top 10 golf gps for that) and where we’re heading, so the idea now is to prioritize. In two weeks, she would be resigned. I wish it had been earlier, though. The event could have been prevented.