Fordham Law’s second annual Wellness Week—extended to a two-week series of events this year—took place between October 4 and 15 and was organized by the Office of Professionalism. This new tradition at the Law School expands upon Fordham Law’s annual Mental Health Day and continues to spark conversations about holistic approaches to well-being within the Fordham Law community.
Events included a combination of virtual and in-person presentations and activities that were designed to spread awareness of mental health and wellness. Students of all years had the opportunity to attend seven different events centered around mindfulness, nutrition, meditation, and other topics.
Last year’s Wellness Week, created in response to the pandemic, was completely virtual, but this year, students had the added benefit of coming together in person with their peers and professors, both on and off campus.
“This year’s event was both a celebration of wellness and a celebration of community-building now that we could finally be back together doing it in person,” said Jordana Confino, senior director of professionalism and special projects.
“Nurturing social relationships and community is an essential element of Fordham’s culture,” explained Confino, “so a lot of our wellness activities are focused not just on the individual, but also on bringing people together and promoting the collective well-being of our community in that way.”
Students Connect to Help Battle Law School-Related Stress
Among the events offered were several “Wellness Walks” that were divided by house number and took students on an hour-long stroll through Central Park.
“I’m really grateful for this Wellness Week” said Professionalism Fellow Brandon Small ’23 who attended a walk on October 12. “I think it’s a nice break, but also a good networking opportunity for the 1Ls to get to know not only their professors, but also administrators, 2Ls and 3Ls, and their BSAs on a more personal level than they were able to in the past.”
Because his first year of law school was marred by the added stress of pandemic-related isolation, Small believes a healthy balance of work and socializing is needed. “The social component holds up the academic component,” he explained, “because if other areas in your life are being neglected, academics can easily fall.”
Miles Patton ’23, who was partially remote for his first year of law school last year, agrees that forming these in-person connections has been helpful after more than a year of isolation. “Right now wellness, for me, is about sort of making up for the lack of social contact we had last year with COVID,” he said. “Being on campus and getting to know all the people that we didn’t get to know has been really exciting.”
Still the stress of studying and the pressures of securing internships was intense, said Patton. “The 1L year was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done, which, maybe, is a privileged position because I know there are harder things in life that other people have to go through. But emotionally, on the anxiety spectrum, it’s definitely hard,“ he added.
Anxiety Solutions from a Mindfulness Expert
Another one of the Wellness Week events, titled “Unwinding Anxiety & Other Harmful Habits” sought to tackle the issues of stress and anxiety using the latest research on mindfulness.
Dr. Judson Brewer, a psychiatrist, neuroscientist and director of research and innovation at the Mindfulness Center at Brown University, led a Zoom presentation on how students can better understand and counteract anxiety.
Brewer described the process he uses to help patients map out their mental habits, from first identifying the behaviors we use to avoid unpleasant feelings to later using mindfulness practices to break unhelpful “habit loops.”
“The idea is to bring awareness into our experience so that we can change our relationship to feelings of anxiety … and not get caught in them,” said Brewer.
Students can view this webinar and other Wellness Week offerings, along with other resources provided by Fordham Law, online via LawNET.
Though Wellness Week has concluded, Confino reiterated that mental health and wellness remains a priority. “Our students already study and work really hard, but what we are trying to show them is that self-care is an essential element of their legal training that will enable them to do their very best work and to become the most effective lawyers they can be.”