How using gamification helped me graduate from law school.

Quest: Law School. [Completed]

I graduate from law school on Saturday, May 11th. My graduation cap and gown sit on a shelf, my dress and heels for the commencement ceremony are laid out on a cart in my bedroom, and all of my law books are in a tote ready for me to sell them (a side quest for a different day).

I truly do not believe that I would have completed law school without the skills, tools, and mindset that I have gained while developing my Questify Your Life system.

My first semester of law school was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I was surrounded by brilliant peers who were motivated and kind. They knew nothing of my backstory and I could attempt to blend in and fit in—something I tried to do for a little while, but soon learned that my backstory and all of the obstacles that I have overcome were seen as valuable to this group of people.

My first-semester boss battles (finals) paired terribly with the obstacle of being extremely sick. The doctor at the urgent care that I went to said it was just “some virus crud.”

I survived, but my chronic pain (fibromyalgia) flared for months after. I went to a doctor to assess if I could do anything about it and they determined that that “virus crud” was actually mono and it would take a while for my body to heal. My chronic pain never went fully back into remission after getting sick with mono.

My second semester and first summer as a law clerk were filled with learning so many new skills that I thought I would never be able to keep up, but I did it. Consequently, I started to develop unhealthy tools to get through the stress and social fatigue (disordered eating). Thankfully, one of the main principles of Questify Your Life is “do not go at it alone.” So I reached out to my support systems and medical team to discuss this. I was put on some medication to help, which then prompted a further medical evaluation—a new quest.

That new quest led me to do a comprehensive neuroevolution where I ultimately got the diagnosis of autism and ADHD, which made sense to me. It felt like I finally had a diagnostic map that made sense to me, a helpful tool for my adventures.

I was medicated for my second year of law school, which was helpful. Yet, the stress and social fatigue did not go away, I just had new tools to deal with it. But, unfortunately, a new obstacle arose.

Wedding planning.

I went into law school engaged to a man that I love. But, as the stress of the wedding came to a head, we realized that we did not have the skills to complete that quest together.

So after 6.5 years together, we called the wedding and the relationship off about 50 days before the wedding.

We kept the wedding venue (missed the cancellation deadline) and had a party with just our friends. This odd special event quest included a presentation party, a photoshoot, and a relationship roast.

Then I jumped right back into my final semester of my second year of law school. In hindsight, that semester brought me so close to burnout that I was barely holding myself together (very much an “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” semester). I was giving way too much of myself to quests with the objective of being appreciated—costume director of a musical, law school food shelf organizer, student government—while also trying to navigate being single and reanalyzing stories I had been telling myself about my neurotype.

A quest opportunity to study abroad while getting a free master’s degree in Comparative and International Tax Law on top of my JD appeared and I gladly took it.

I spent my second summer working at the same lovely midsized law firm that I spent my time at the summer before while living in my friend’s basement to save money to leave the country for a semester.

My mom, at 53 years old, was also diagnosed with a fast-moving cancer that summer. Something I told very few people. She felt very strongly that I should still leave to study abroad.

The first semester of my last year of law school started with me jumping on a plane to go move to Sweden from the end of August to the beginning of January. I traveled, I partied, I dated, and I made lifelong friends. I would not trade that semester away for almost anything.

I came back to the States four days before my final semester started.

During my first week, I moved into an apartment, worked to deal with the culture shock of coming back, visited family, turned 29, and started my final semester of law school.

My second week back, my car broke down and I was told that my mom could no longer undergo chemotherapy.

My third week back was one of the longest weeks of my life. My mom went into the ICU and went into a ventilator-induced coma, one that she ultimately was unable to get out of (very much a “Soon You’ll Get Better” week). I spent the week borrowing different cars and going between the hospital, my parent’s house, and school. Attempting with everything I had to keep my life together without getting too far behind in my school, work, and community responsibilities.

I was unsuccessful and spent the rest of the semester trying to claw my way back to getting caught up.

Yet, again I embraced “do not go at it alone.” I got closer to my family and friends. I reconnected with my ex-fiance and recognized that we both had leveled up our skills to try the relationship again in a new and healthy way.

I finished the semester.

I received the class of 2024 “Mondale Hall Engagement Award” for all of my quests to help my fellow law students.

One of my friends reminds me regularly that I am blessed and cursed with an interesting life. Another friend comforts me with the joke that I live my life like a Freeform drama. Both are true.

Law school had some of the highest highs and lowest lows of my life. The boss battles, the obstacles, and the skill development felt never-ending. The rewards, opportunities, and celebrations made it all worth it.

Whether it is a chosen quest like law school or a time-sensitive quest like battling symptoms related to disabilities or coping with grief, it has been incredibly helpful to have quests as a meaning-making skill.

Using gamification tools like reward points, skill trees, boss battles, story building, and calling everything a quest was incredibly helpful and allowed me to embrace the journey—both the difficult parts and the amazing celebrations of success.

I am incredibly proud of myself and my peers for completing the life-changing quest of law school.

Sierra

If you liked this post please consider subscribing:

Have a quest opportunity for me? Reach out at Sierra@QuestifyYourLife.com