As final exams loom ever closer, the need to study has completely engulfed the 1L class at W&M. Study groups are rampant. I've never heard or seen the word "outline" so much in my entire life. One of my friends posted this away message on Instant Messenger today: "Outlining ... ugh." That about sums it up.
Yet a surprising number of my classmates are hungry to do exceptionally well on these exams. It's as if we all truly believe that we are bound to be in that Top 10%. Of course, by the time we're done, we'll be in some Top 10% — as in, perhaps, the Top 10% of most educated people in the United States, or maybe the Top 10% of wage-earning potential, or some other ridiculous statistic that doesn't really mean anything. But of course — and this is what seems so impossible now — 90% of us won't be in the Top 10% of our class!
I had a good little chat tonight on this subject with a female classmate of mine who, like me, took several years off from school before deciding to embark on the law school journey. We compared the difference between those of us who came here straight out of college and those of us who worked for a while. I said that while one would think that we older folk would have a competitive advantage, the opposite seems to be true: the younger ones are still in school mode, and they're thriving. Meanwhile, I'm still trying to figure out how to study 10 hours a day. So far, no luck.
But my friend made an excellent point, which I need to do a better job of remembering. She said that while those of us who came here straight out of college may make for better students, the rest of us know who we are as people. We have perspective on all of this. A lot of people are going to get wrapped up in this competition, they're going to obsess about grades and pushing to the top. Yet, when it's all over, will they be that much better off than those of us who got B's? Maybe, but I tend to think not.
Of course that's no reason for me not to study. After all, I'm bound to make it into that Top 10% — just like everyone else.
Writers, Writers, Everywhere
4 hours ago
1 comment:
The non-trads are a little more grounded, but don't let the ambient insanity take that away from you. You know when you've reached the point of diminishing returns on studying. I was a lot more grounded, but I also probably studied less and spent more time on "mental health" taking breaks and eating real food and stuff. Anyone who's spent time in the real world has another problem however, and that is self-censoring on an exam. In the real world, you don't tell the boss about problems that don't exist, just for pointing out that they could be there and knocking it down. You should do that on an exam. I have a hard time even spotting some issues, because I dismiss it as a non-issue. But I should raise it, then explain why it is a non-issue.
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