...Exams then...SUMMER!!!

I keep reminding myself as we head into exams that even though there is a lot going on, and frankly I would rather be sitting outside on a patio sharing drinks and conversation with good friends than sitting in the library or my apartment making outlines and note cards trying to study for my exams that are a week away, at least i am an adult who gets SUMMER VACATION!!

  I know exams stink no matter if you are in high school or taking the Bar exam, but spring exams are awful!! It is just starting to get warm so you want to go outside but you can’t read your computer screen, or the wind blows your papers, or you internet doesn’t reach, or (like in my case) the only options to go outside around my apartment are, for lack of a better word, creepy.  

I live downtown and 99.99999% of the time LOVE it. But when the weather gets nice and I want to do my homework on a porch I can’t.  What I would give to go back to high school studying for exams where my friend Kim and I would sprawl out by the pool or on a raft carefully holding the textbook that was school property (back then we didn’t have to buy the books so a few were splashed and one French book died when Kim moved on the raft and both went under water).

I am getting prepared to start my finals preparations and realize I am nowhere near where I need to be but I look around and think that most my class is in the same boat. So tonight with my MBA finals done I am giving myself a break and taking the night to enjoy some weather and some friends! I hope everyone is getting ready for a great summer! I personally am so excited about my summer internship I am ready for warm weather and friends and new experiences!

Tips for Exams!

Exams are stressful. At this point, with exams so close, students are probably biting their nails down to stubs, having the "oh-no-i-missed-my-final-" nightmare, or tracking down their professors like hound dogs for last minute questions. Here are a few little tips to ease the pressures of the upcoming weeks.

• 1. Study everyday! This is really not the time to watch a Friends marathon guys. It is down to the wire, and every minute counts.
• 2. Create a study group. Study groups do not have to be large ensembles of people. Even just one other person is enough to bounce ideas off of and review key concepts.
• 3. Review some commercial outlines. However, do this one with some caution because sometimes a commercial outline can be wrong, broad, or cover excessive material. I recommend to use it for term grouping strategies (ex. to understand under what heading should a particular concept go) and clarification on black letter law. 
• 4. Take five minute breaks after every hour of study.
• 5. Meet with professors. Even though they may be swamped around this time, hang in there and get an appointment. It always help to converse with the person that is actually going to be making your exam!

Happy Studying!

The end is in sight!

It is almost surreal that my first year of law school is coming to an end. The memory of the first day of school is so fresh in my mind that it feels as though it occurred just yesterday. I can still remember inhaling a deep breath of late summer morning air before I opened the glass doors to the school building; or the both the excitement and uneasiness that slowly crept over me as I waited for my first class began. Fast forward through crying through legal memos, long, tedious hours in the library, and lots of social events, and boom, there's only two weeks left in the semester! Now I am looking forward to a summer vacation. I want to kick back, relax, take a few road trips, and . . . of course take summer classes.

Exams..

As exams are fast approaching I am realizing that I have had an exam on the last or second to last day of exam week every semester! As I am figuring out my final fall semester of school ever (hopefully) I am realizing that in undergrad I did a way better job of making my schedule the way i wanted it.

In undergrad my junior and senior year I worked my schedule that I had no Monday or Friday classes (aka 4 day weekend every weekend!) and I only had fun night classes on Wednesday so that I was able to make my classes straight through and as manageable as possible. I am looking at the options to create an awesome schedule for this upcoming semester and it is not looking even close to well planned. My options are slim because I have limited classes to take as well as blocked up times for my other degree that I am looking at a few 2+ hour breaks and at least one class a day again.

I think that even though I can't get a schedule I love this semester the knowledge that I am registering for my last year of school ever will make it worthwhile. I am so excited that all this hard work and time put into school will pay off with a graduation in sight. Even though I am not looking forward to the bar exam I recognize that that is part of it and cannot wait to get home on Friday and not have homework that could overtake my entire weekend if i let it.

for now I need to focus on exams and since I only have to do that three more times I think I can manage :-)