What law students may do this summer?

Law students—the really serious ones—are such a stressed lot. They study hard. They lack sleep. They are poked and pressured everywhere by everyone: professors surprise them by giving surprise recitations; friends keep on inviting them for a drinking spree; bosses keep on asking for that assignment way before the deadline.

But summer is here. It’s time to drop that thick, hard-bound, incomprehensible law book. And if you’re a law student, you may want to do these things this summer:

1. CATCH UP SOME SLEEP. Scientists say that an adult brain needs at least six hours of sleep. But you only get to sleep for an average of four to five hours a day. It’s ironic because your brain is supposed to function well all the time, and yet the lack of sleep precisely disables your brain from functioning well. If you have nothing else to do this summer, you might as well get a six or eight hours of sleep.

2. JOIN AN INTERNSHIP PROGRAM. Supplement your classroom experiences with real-world experiences by joining an internship program. Some organizations enlist law students as interns in which they are given tasks where their legal education is of great help. Last year, the Alternative Law Groups conducted a month-long internship program. This year, the Asia Foundation is inviting law students to participate in its Hustisyeah! Program, a case decongestion initiative whose aim is to, well, decongest the congested court dockets.

3. ENROLL IN A COURSE NOT RELATED TO LAW. They say working on something you’re not familiar with enhances your creativity. I don’t know how that works. But if there’s no harm in trying, why not enroll in, say, a two-month culinary course?

4. READ YOUR UNREAD CLASS MATERIALS. I know, you’re supposed to enjoy your summer time. So how can you enjoy if you read your class materials? You cannot. But if you derive joy from learning, you actually can. And summer is the best time to catch up on your readings because there’s no pressure. When you read either the textbook or the cases minus the pressure, haven’t you noticed that you retain more information; you learn better?

5. TAKE SUMMER CLASSES. But if you don’t want to break your momentum, enroll in a subject or two. It’s true that a long summer break can make the students sink into sloth. So by the time they go back to school, they need to find again their rhythm, which takes some time. And for busy law students, they cannot afford to waste their time finding their rhythm.

These are just suggestions. Hence, the use of the word “may.” In Statutory Construction, the use of the word “may” denotes discretion, and cannot be construed as having mandatory effect. If you have a better idea, go for it. Share it with others.