1L Reflections

So I am another new member of the blog .... I apparently passed the "write-on." And Calculating said the waterboarding er... initiation is scheduled for next week. So there is that.

Normally, I blog at A little fish in law school.

Over the summer, I posted some commentary on the end of 1L and the ambivalence I felt over it and exams.

Thought I'd share. Maybe you can learn from this.

I am trying to be "over it," you know? I can't do anymore than I did... I can't change what happened exam week... I can't change what happened this semester. I can't change that I didn't work as hard as maybe I could have. I know I didn't do what I know I am capable of, and it makes me angry at myself, and alternatively, at "the system."

A little piece of me is Hermione Granger, who got top marks in all but one subject, and was disappointed. She defined herself in part by her ability to succeed academically. I thought I had gotten all of that adolescent bullshit out of my system -- I'm over 30 years old. I've got a child who is thriving and a husband who loves me. I've survived more in the last ten years than the scared, geeky, desperate for approval adolescent I was could ever have contemplated.

And yet when I got my Property and Civ Pro grades, I felt a stab of disappointment, and my first thought, unbidden and shameful, was "my parents are not going to be proud of me." So, post-adolescent angst is part of the reason I am not quite over it. But only part.

So... to avoid post-exam angst:

1. Start writing practice exams sooner rather than later.

2. Use supplements sooner rather than later. The E&Es in most subjects are good.

3. Understand that despite your best efforts, you may not get the grades you think you deserve. Or you may get exactly the grades you deserved, but you may be disappointed anyway.

Alright, 1Ls and Pre-Ls, I'll check in with you soon. Feel free to leave a comment about a burning question or desire and I or one of the blogging cohorts will do our level best to answer it.