Sympathy for the Devil: The Examiner’s Perspective
As the nightmare of late night study, spent pens and furiously tabbed notes draws to an end, spare a thought, if you will, for the person on the other side of your exam booklet: the examiner.
Sure, they may very well be the Devil Incarnate or the Absolute Jerk of Exam Marking. Truth is, us examiners now have 2, maybe 3 weeks to wade through hundreds of exam papers in the grand Aristotelian search for meaning in the madness…or just a correct case citation. Or any citation.
Zombie pirates in space. And exams.
The high-pitched screech of the alarm pierced straight through the heart of my dinosaur adventure-laden dreams.
The gravity of my situation came flooding into my mind. I was about to embark on a task that many before me had undertaken, and many before me had failed. It was a task that had turned brave men into sniveling cowards.
The Slippery Slope of Class Attendance
Law students are very focused, hardworking people. So, naturally, when the time comes to knuckle-down and hit the books, they’ll do just about any and every other thing they can.
The self-sabotage begins with the timetable. “If I have fewer days on campus I can maximise my study time in the days off.” Has that ever actually worked?
Confessions of a Bad Law Student
If every conversation I heard in the law library about how much study everyone does is true, then I am in serious trouble.
If I read more than 40% of my reading list all semester I would be truly gob smacked. My notes will be printed off the night before the exam, and the term ‘my notes’ only applies to the extent that I paid for the paper they are printed on.
Soundtrack for Exam Study
The problem with being locked away with all those textbooks and exam notes for days on end is that it gets too quiet. So quiet that the silence is almost creepy. If you’re at the point where you’re writing a ballad about your evidence textbook and your highlighters, you probably need a study soundtrack.
Preparing for a Law Exam in 24 Hours or Less
I’ve seen this scenario coming for a few days, but I’ve been busy: other exams, bad television repeats, etc. It’s the day before the exam when I finally clear my desk, pull out all my textbooks, notes and highlighters. ‘I am a great law student,’ I tell myself. ‘I can totally do this.’