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Pep Talk for Day 2: Keep Calm and Carry On

July 24, 2012 By Lee Burgess Leave a Comment

I wanted to make sure we posted something on the blog today for those students who are finishing up Day 1 of the bar exam.  This is typically the writing day (or the first of the writing days if your test is three days).  I have gotten a few phone calls and emails from students feeling good and bad about what happened.

But no matter how you felt about today, it is important to keep on going and get pumped up for your next exam day.

Try to put what happened today behind you.

If you felt good about today, then congratulations! Enjoy the moment. But don’t get overly confident. The MBE (for most jurisdictions) is tomorrow and it is a formidable foe indeed.

If you feel disappointed about how things went today, that is okay too. You are entitled to be frustrated and disappointed, for a moment. But the test is not over yet! There is much work left to be done! If things didn’t go as well as you had hoped, that is just all the more reason to get pumped for tomorrow. And how do you do that?

Turn your thoughts to tomorrow.

You want to re-group and remember how you are going to attack the MBEs. What is your plan of attack for reading each question? When are you planning to take breaks, if any? Can you visualize what it is going to be like taking six hours of multiple choice questions?

And check in with yourself about how you felt today. Were you rested? Did you get hungry or have a sugar crash? Not have enough to eat for lunch? Did you like where you ate lunch? Was it relaxing? Were you able to avoid other test takers (who might be talking about the test)?

Relax and get some rest!

And once you have thought through tomorrow, try to relax and get some rest. Treat yourself to a nice dinner and a distracting movie. Tomorrow is another testing day. And I will share with you what my father told me before the MBE, “At least you know the answer is on the page!” (This didn’t really make me feel all that better, but it did make me laugh.)

Need more of a pep talk? Check out this post!

Good luck everyone!

—-—

If you enjoyed this post, you might want to check out these:

  • Bar Study Tips: Food Is Fuel
  • Bar Study Tips: Getting Mentally Ready for the Bar Exam 
  • Bar Study Tips: Sleep, Sleep and More Sleep

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About Lee Burgess

Lee Burgess, Esq. is the co-founder of the Law School Toolbox, a resource for law students that demystifies the law school experience, and the Bar Exam Toolbox, a resource for students getting ready for the bar exam. Lee has been adjunct faculty at two Bay Area law schools, teaching classes on law school and bar exam preparation. You can find Lee on Twitter at @LeeFBurgess, @lawschooltools, or @barexamtools.

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