So I begin this post with about 8 hours until my last final of the semester in Contracts. The past four finals have all been relatively easy, and I felt I spent the appropriate time to prepare for each test. I have actually developed a simple formula to determine the total time needed to study for each test.
Study time = Time length of test x 2, all performed the night before.
Pretty simple. 6 hours of total prep the night before a 3 hour test. Of course, this prep time includes everything: reading, review, outlining anything, and practice questions. Once I've passed the prescribed prep time, I'm done. No exceptions. It may not seem like a lot of time to study, but truthfully, it's plenty. The tests are not hard, and I've witnessed people get worked into a frenzy over them. I still don't get it.
So what do I do for the rest of the finals period? Given that we have about 2-3 days between each final, I go to sleep around midnight every night and wake up at noon or 1 the next day. I then eat breakfast and proceed to go back to sleep for a few more hours. Then I'll go play golf and maybe go to the gym or run. Follow that with some TV for the rest of the night. Lather, rinse, repeat. I actually enjoyed the finals period. It was very relaxing.
And I suppose this brings me to my topic of the evening: people who take things way too seriously. I suppose it's natural to see the majority of students at a law school obsess over finals. It's an entire semester's worth of work crammed into a single exam lasting only a few hours. Law schools are full of the "elite" (I hesitate to use that word...) and uber-competitive students who are clawing and scratching for the top grades to impress potential employers.
I admit that I read a few books before coming here that detailed the law school experience, and they all said how students should completely isolate themselves from the outside world during finals, and even during the last month of the semester. Come on, seriously? That's ridiculous. We're "supposed to" concentrate solely on studying for exams? Perhaps. Luckily, I think I've discovered
my secret to law school success. I suppose it can be summed in three words: I don't care. Now I don't mean that I don't want do well. Of course I'd like to do well, but I want to do well with the minimum effort (hence the 2:1 rule). Some people call it lazy, I call it efficient!
Here is one thing I discovered about class preparation. All the work done during the semester is for the sole purpose of being "prepared" for class. This includes reading and briefing cases and perhaps a little outlining. If you fail to prepare, then you generally can't participate in any class discussion. But here's the secret: don't participate. In contracts, I was recently called on by the professor. When asked a question, I responded with a blank stare. Several seconds passed. Still producing the blank stare. No words. He's still looking up at me. Maybe I should have smiled and waved to him. Eventually, the professor moved on to another student. I never got called on again in that class. Brilliant. That saved me a ton of work, which consequently increased my overall sleep time. I will definitely be continuing that proud tradition of excellence.
People waste so much time doing things that they think will help them, but in actuality, they could have learned the same thing by doing a half or quarter of the work. Yet they feel that by "putting in the time", they deserve better grades. That's just silly. Umm yea, you let me know how that textbook was...I'm going to play golf. Then, there are others who openly pride themselves on how much they study, thinking it will intimidate their "competition." Who are you kidding? I'm sleeping 10 hours a day, watching TV, and playing golf,
and I'm going to do better than you on finals.
I'm kidding. My daily sleep has actually been approaching 12 to 14 hours a day.
Well, back to the topic; people that take things way too seriously. This doesn't just happen in school, but also in work, sports, and even day-to-day living. It kind of pisses me off. Maybe this is another reason why I have a general preference to be alone. People irritate me. I understand people wanting to succeed in something, but come on, relax a little. Take some time off. Get some sleep. Working yourself to death is only going to hurt you. Unfortunately, they're too daft to figure it out. (Heh, daft is such a great word. A wonderful phrase commonly used back in the day: 'What are you, daft?!')
So this post may have reflected a bit of conceitedness on my part, perhaps implying that I'm "smart" and don't need to do any work. I admit, school isn't particularly hard for me, but learning isn't just about the material. It's also about figuring out what works and ignoring everything that doesn't work. Luckily, I try to find as much stuff to ignore as possible, which makes school "easy" for me.
Well, enough talk about school for a little while. Summer is nearly here, and unfortunately, I only have a few weeks to enjoy it. I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the rest of the month. I'm kind of tired of the sleep-all-day-and-do-nothing "vacation", which I've been doing the past few weeks. Oh well, we'll see. I'd like a visit a beach before my time is up.
I hope the old readers are satisfied with the content so far, and hopefully some new readers have joined the ranks. I know it's not quite as entertaining as the old stuff, but I'm working on it. I don't see other people that often, so nothing worth mentioning really ever happens.
Good day.
Your subtleties
They strangle me
I can't explain myself at all.
And all the wants
And all the needs
All I don't want to need at all.
The walls start breathing
My mind's unweaving
Maybe it's best you leave me alone.
A weight is lifted
On this evening
I give the final blow.
When darkness turns to light,
It ends tonight
It ends tonight.
A falling star
Least I fall alone.
I can't explain what you can't explain.
You're finding things that you didn't know
I look at you with such disdain...
