Canadian Lawyer 4Students

alone and guilty for struggling, and they believe they're the only one feeling this way. "[Law students] start with this sense of needing to be perfect, and the profession doesn't discourage them from thinking that way because everybody wants a law- yer who can be perfect — even though there's no such thing. But as a result, they're afraid to ask for help, they're afraid to let anyone know that they're struggling, and they're ashamed of themselves for feeling like they're struggling, associate. At the time, she talked to lawyers at the fi rm with whom she had developed close relationships and also sought professional help to eff ectively manage the really stressful times. "I think what young lawyers need to appreciate is that we've all been through all kinds of things," she says. "At any given fi rm, there' Wahbi admits she experienced her own hardships as a young " says Gold. s going to be a handful of people who have been through whatever that young lawyer's going through or something simi- lar, so they will get a sympathetic ear." Eric Marques, a recent Osgoode graduate and former presi- dent of the law school's Mental Health Law Society, says the law school culture can oſt en be stressful and discouraging. "Th e competitive nature of the curve grading scale leads to adversarial perspectives and isolation," he explains. "For many, law school can be the fi rst serious introduction to rejection and shortcom- ings in extracurricular and academic areas that were once con- sidered strengths." Students studying away from home or living on campus may also feel isolated. He says law schools should move in a direction that better humanizes legal education. Gold agrees: "Law school in itself is adversarial and competi- tive. People don't want to show any vulnerabilities because vul- nerability is viewed as weakness instead of humanity, ria Nunez is doing her part to reduce the stigma associated with mental health. Earlier this year, she founded the Disability and Mental Health Law Club to help raise awareness about law stu- dents and lawyers dealing with these issues. "Disabilities and mental-health issues are more common than people are led to believe. Whether they're obvious or not, they don't need to be barriers for success. Hopefully that message will help reduce the stigma and make it OK for people to say, 'Hey, maybe I need a break right now because I'm a little stressed, Second-year Queen's University Faculty of Law student Ma- " he says. says she noticed the lack of awareness as soon as she embarked on her legal career. "When I came to law school, it dawned on me that it' '" she says. Nunez education. Helen Connop has been the manager of Education and Equity Services at Queen' years. She acts as a guidance counsellor, providing counselling and referral services, implementing disability accommodations for students, and co-ordinating the academic assistance program by matching fi rst-year students with high-achieving upper-year students. "I think that seeking out assistance is very much des- tigmatized in the law school because the program is for anybody and people are encouraged to use it as part of the resources that are available to them," she says. "So it' Some say Queen's has been at the forefront of mental-health s law school for more than 10 s not something that people talk about." do if you're struggling or you're a weak student. Although you may feel initially overwhelmed, so is everybody else. ich School of Law, teaches two courses on mental disability law. He argues that despite the law school's eff orts to accommodate those with disabilities and mental illnesses, the stigma still ex- ists. "I'm well aware that some of my students do experience mental-health diffi culties and do not report them to their pro- fessors and to the studies committee as readily as they should in order to receive accommodations," he says. "So there still is a fairly strong pressure not to face these issues as soon as would be best for people. Archie Kaiser, a professor at the Dalhousie University Schul- s not seen as something you " the vast majority relate to anxiety and depression, she says. Part of that anxiety can certainly be attributed to the pressures that law students face. One way to reduce those pressures is to reassess the way students are evaluated, says Osgoode dean Lorne Sossin. An example could be to consider if a course should have an exam worth 100 per cent or whether other components, like group as- signments, can be incorporated. "Every time you set up a course or set up a program, you're sending messages about the values underlying it. So I' Connop deals with all kinds of concerns from students, but " grade, to how we structure exams and assessments, to the library, these kinds of student services — all of it to me are pieces of the puzzle, d say everything from our pedagogy, to how we discussing their problems. "We also need to ensure that all students feel that they can come forward no matter what their Another solution is making students feel comfortable about " he says. 22 F A L L 2012 C ANADIAN Lawy er 4STUDENTS ntitled-3 1 12-07-18 10:04 AM

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