how to stop my own private post mortem?

[nico]

Two exams down, one to go. After Friday's I made the mistake of talking it over with others, and, as expected, felt like crap after. Today I booked it out of there and came home...talked to no one....and feel even worse. I mean, I have another exam to study for, but somehow it is not enough to take my mind of what went down today....

What can I really do? I have too much to do to just let go and call or hang out with non law school people. I try to focus on the next exam but keep having recurring flashes of what I wrote, or didn't write, and how that last paragraph was just one big disaster...

Anyway. Nice to find this place and see I am not alone. I am realizing Sections, with a capital S, are the worst part of law school. They lock you into this group so you don't really meet anyone else, and just when you need a friend or a person to vent to, someone who at least knows what you are talking about when you say accomplice liability, you've got like 60 plus people telling you all the great things they spotted on the test that you missed.

Augh. Anyway. I need somewhere to vent. 

[nico]

Oh, another thing. Do some people really feel great after an exam, or is it just posturing? I am generally the over analtyical, worrying type, but even if I felt like I did awesome on a test, I don't think I'd be beaming after an exam and saying things like, that felt really good.

maybe it's just me. but the post-exam happiness is making me sick.

[juliemccoy]

you're going to keep feeling that way. Avoid your classmates the rest of this week and focus on yourself. Suck it up and put the exam out of your head because you still have others that demand a clear head and your full attention.

It's normal to be stressing, and in time you will be able to put the test out of your mind when you leave the exam room.

Just focus on the big picture and make a deal with yourself to stop obsessing. In fact, set up a Post-Mortem piggy bank in your kitchen. Every time you have a post-exam thought, you owe yourself a dollar. When exams are over, break the bank and enjoy a few drinks with your friends! At least something positive will come from all the unnecessary stressing.

Honey, if I was able to make it through finals, you can, too!

PS: The people in my section claiming that such and such exam were a piece of cake are the same full-of-themselves a-holes that think they're going to be on law review and working for BigLaw this summer... but who didn't crack a book until finals week. They were too busy partying and backstabbing all semester (not to mention back-talking professors) to be bothered with reading and outlining... they're way too good for that, you see. Either those people are some kind of genius savant or they're precisely the bragging feminine hygiene product bags who will be knocked off their high horses when grades come out. I don't wish anything bad on anyone, but I do think there are certain people in this world who sometimes need a dose of reality... any of your classmates claiming to have "aced" the final without seeing their grade are a wee bit overconfident at this phase of law school, don't you think? Just put in some ear plugs and ignore them.

[nico]

thank you! it is what i needed to hear, exactly. only that i am too broke to even put a dollar in a bank!! when does that next financial aid come? you at least think that on the day after the last final, voila!! more loan money in the bank.

i just have always been the post mortem type. after the LSAT...both times...

but yeah, it's just not worth it. now my civ pro books are open...here i go.

[1Lchica]

Oh, another thing. Do some people really feel great after an exam, or is it just posturing? I am generally the over analtyical, worrying type, but even if I felt like I did awesome on a test, I don't think I'd be beaming after an exam and saying things like, that felt really good.

maybe it's just me. but the post-exam happiness is making me sick.

I really think we go to the same school, LOL

[nico]

just looked at some of your other posts...and yeah, it seems likely! let me guess, civ pro thursday? but we are not in the same section, if we are at the same school. you could not  use your notes on one of your tests, and I could.

so is it every law school that has all these people who think they did so awesome on the tests?? or just ours? in my head, i know it's probbly not true...i remind myself that even if i get a C, so will some of them. I guess I just wish I could also smile afterwards and say, that was fun....

[thorc954]

ehh... I walked out of some exams knowing i did great... that being said, grades have nothing to do with how you actually did on the exam.  So, while the people in your class may feel like they have done great, the only thing that effects their grade is how well everyone else in the class did. 

Just forget about the exams you have already taken.  Trust me, I know it is hard.  I am still kicking myself for finishing an hour early last spring on an essay exam, trust me, I knew how I did when I left that exam and so does every other 2L+ on this website, lol. 

The thing to realize, which will make you so much happier after leaving exams, is how little your actual performance really matters with respect to the grades you get in the class.  You have to try hard and do your best, but the forced curve is the deciding factor.  once you realize its a crap shoot, it becomes less stressful when you leave the exam.

[nico]

Point well taken. It's just so hard--and you are right, why bother? I think about all the things I missed or messed up...but what really matters is how I did relaitve to others. That being said, I'd love to just once walk out and feel I did the best I could do.

Thorc, did you do well on the exams you felt you'd done great on? Or are you one of those people who did well on the ones they thought they f-ed up?

[thorc954]

Point well taken. It's just so hard--and you are right, why bother? I think about all the things I missed or messed up...but what really matters is how I did relaitve to others. That being said, I'd love to just once walk out and feel I did the best I could do.

Thorc, did you do well on the exams you felt you'd done great on? Or are you one of those people who did well on the ones they thought they f-ed up?

The ones I thought I did well on all ended up in the A range (except one).  The ones I thought could go either way ended up in the A range too.  The only one I thought I f-ed up on, I did mess up on, lol, and didnt score so well.  That one it was really apparent I wouldnt do well. 

That being said, I was slightly less sure about how I did as far as grades went first semester.  I thought I did well, but I really was not sure how that "well" gaged with the rest of the class.  Now, I am a little more sure of what results my work ethic will yield me.

Unfortunately, the exams i had this semester had missing issues and some questions I am positive I got wrong (MC exam), so grades are kinda up in the air for me.

[flyaway]

I took a shot yesterday after my exam!

Even when I feel good about how I did, the not knowing for sure drives me insane.  For whatever reason, the idea of waiting two months for grades makes me more anxious than taking the exams actually does.

At my school, I haven't seen anyone seem especially cocky.  But people have seemed relatively happy after both our exams.  For Contracts, I think our test was truly easier than the practice tests we've seen, so people felt relieved about that, even though we know there's still a curve to reckon with.  And then for Torts, I think tons of people feel like they might have gotten As.  But I've heard that Torts in particular is a crap shoot because everyone gets it conceptually.