Sustainability
sustainable
- able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed
- involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources
- able to last or continue for a long time[1]
“Remember you are not a sustainable resource.” A mentor told me that several years ago at an AALS clinical conference as we were in the midst of adding our fourth in-house clinic in as many years. It stayed with me, but unfortunately I did not heed his warning. Now, as the semester is ending, and I am closing my 8th year in clinical teaching, it seems like a perfect time to be more reflective and consider personal sustainability.
As clinicians, we play a different role than our doctrinal colleagues, and it takes a dissimilar toll. Often times it also involves a different schedule. The 24/7 unpredictability of lawyering and client representation, during the academic year and, for many of us, the summer, and student supervision that goes far beyond the physical and emotional boundaries of the classroom, can be as much of a strain as it can be a source of energy. Clinical teaching is the very definition of multi-tasking – juggling the needs of clients, students, the community, and the institution, while seeking to maintain some sort of work-life balance. It is both incredibly rewarding, and exceptionally demanding, work, becoming even more so as legal education is being challenged to produce lawyers with more practice-readiness and professional responsibility.
When classes end and we celebrate our graduating students, we not only revel in their success and wish them well, we also roll up our sleeves and turn back to the task of representing the clients our clinic graduates leave behind. The pace is slower in the summer, but the client needs remain, and it can be a challenge for clinicians to recharge and help ensure their sustainability unless they have assistance in the summer. Between client needs and academic preparation for the coming year, and scholarship or other professional endeavors, the summer can pass with lightning speed, with eager new students knocking at the door before we know it.
This year, unlike year’s past, I am going to try something new to ensure my long-term sustainability. Following a particularly demanding year, internally and externally, I have seen warning signs of the destruction of my own natural resources, and it worries me not for myself, but for those who rely on me, at work and at home. Just like the flight attendant who tells us to put on our own oxygen mask before we put on the mask for a small child, we must take care of ourselves before we can take care of others. I have started to delegate a little more, said no a few times (this one is particularly difficult for me!), and taken some time out of the office. It turns out I have started to relax a bit, enjoyed my students more, been reminded how lucky I am to have a career that I love, and even started to laugh again.
I challenge each of you to take this summer to reflect, on what you need to do, and what you want to do, and what you can jettison from your already full plate in an effort to ensure your sustainability. If you find it difficult to do this for yourself, do it for your students, your clients, and those who love you. That’s going to be the top priority on my summer to-do list; but first, I’m going to go listen to the ocean waves . . . which always makes everything better!
[1] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sustainable