Just days ago the entire law school student body received an email from Career Services titled, "How To Survive Your Law Firm Summer With Your Liver Intact and a Warm Fuzzy Offer." At first I, like most others, just found the titled amusing. But after reading this article, I realized how disturbing it truly is. We are being taught in law school not only how to "sell our degrees," but also that it is expected that we use substances such as alcohol to help along the way. We are being desensitized to the idea that lawyers, at least lawyers in the private sector, use substances such as alcohol to be able to work in their professional field. Lawyerland, furthermore, shows how alcohol is also used as a means to disassociate from harsh realities, such as "realizing at 2AM that you are on the wrong side of the case." I do not believe CLS is endorsing us to go down that path, but it sure is not helping us avoid it.

When I tell other law students that I do not drink coffee (due to the fact that I dislike the taste, not because I do not need the extra boost), they often look at me as though I am a mythological creature. A law student who dislikes coffee and absolutely refuses to drink energy drinks? Usually the next thing I hear is, "How do you survive?" Easy. I am too tired too much of the time. By overwhelming us with volumes of reading, which we barely have time to read much less comprehend, law students are being trained to rely on any energy boost they can find (except for actual sleep). Worst of all, this behavior is seen as training for our future demanding careers. I agree with Meagan, Prashant, Agnes and Harry that at this point, as law students, the "morning cup of coffee or evening cocktail" have been socially engrained in us as simply being part of a hard day's work.