Sue~
It's been a few years since I had one of those "two question finals," but I think the lessons from taking engineering finals is applicable. There were a few things that kept me sane through school. First, stop studying relatively early the night before, have a good dinner, get a good nights sleep. You're not going to learn much in those last few hours, it's much better for you to sleep. Next, leave early! There's no sense arriving at the final stressed out because of traffic or whatever. Next, I always had my headphones in walking from home/car to my test location. I listened to music that kept me somewhat calm and tried not to think/obsess about what would be on the test. Take in the sights and sounds of campus, breathe a little, relax.

For during the test: have water available, but don't drink too much for obvious reasons. Read through the test first and get a feel for it. For essay type tests, take a few minutes and sketch out your arguments and an outline. I know a lot of time I got carried away in the middle of an answer and completely missed out on a critical point I wanted to make. Having an outline is a great way to keep yourself on track. If you like, allot a certain amount of time for each section and for rereading and reviewing your papers. This also helps you keep on track.

When you get stuck, feel like you've lost your train of thought or just can't do it, do exactly what you did. If you can, leave the room for a minute. If not, take a sip of your water and breathe for a minute. Just keep going. It'll be ok. The thing that kept me from freaking out too much was preparing and knowing that no matter what happened, I'd done my best. Keep your chin up, you're doing an amazing thing!

Bri

Booze...
Remember college?? Remember exam week??
I repeat...booze!
Or Yoga or what I call mind over matter.....
Just figure a way to "chill"...
AND...Remember....you're a smart girl....you have studied and know your stuff....
So pour the wine and don't let the "uptights" get you.
Linda C

Preparation. Keep on top during the semester. Cramming at final time leads to stress. I have suffered from panic attacks for nearly 20 years. They can be debilitating & once they start there's little to be done 'sides letting them run their course. Once that adrenaline starts to drop you're toast. So, good & early preparation always helps me to avoid that last minute rush of anticipation & self-doubt. I also take Snythroid & you're right...stress is a major contributor to thyroid inconsistencies that can set off symptoms mimicing panic attacks.

I also found it helpful to really listen to the buzz words each professor used repeatedly & note them as the semester progressed. Apply those words in your essays. In other words, feed the monster what it wants. Whenever I did that my scores were higher.

DH is an attorney & taught law for years. When he graded essays he's always told me that it wasn't so much the conclusion the student reached as it was the student's ability to quote applicable case law & use it to support their argument.

There's a terrific audio class available from The Teaching Company. We have over a dozen of this company's classes & can't say enough good things about them. DH has listened to 'Argumentation: The Study of Effective Reasoning' several times because he gets something new each time through. As an attorney & negotiator, argumentation is a major part of his job. They also offer a few constitutional law classes that both of us have spent hours with...I imagine you would enjoy them as augmentation to your studies. Oh, they've also got some great business law courses (contracts, negligence, & torts). DH made these lectures mandatory in his Business Law classes. Anyway, you might want to take a look at them to augment your studies.

I've just completed a 36-lecture course entitled, 'A History of Russia: From Peter the Great to Gorbachev'...it's wonderful. These are not 'dumbed down' courses...they are taught by published award winning leading professors within their given fields. Check your library.

I'm sure you've done very well...probably much better than those younger students. Your life experiences are invaluable. I also imagine you're far better prepared than you believe.

Good Luck!

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Arguementation: The Study Of Effective Reasoning

I'd echo what Bri said and add this: Don't drink the Kool-Aid. Your younger classmates probably stress grades a lot. You are 46. You have years of experience that they do not. You need good enough grades to graduate. You do not need to be valedictorian.

Try to shift your focus in the week leading up to the exam. Remember that it is important to master this stuff because you need it to do a job. Not to take an exam.

Try to stop thinking of grades as the most important thing. The difference between an A+ and an A- is not likely to be a difference that will affect you at work.

I really don't stress about grades and often get better grades than classmates who do stress--probably b/c I am less stressed. I'm not smarter or better prepared. Just less stressed. (Less stressed partly b/c I am older and don't think I'll need to rely solely on my GPA to get a job, since I have experience and "transferable skills.")

Hang in there. I have a Con Law final on Thursday. I feel your pain.

I also de-stress in the week leading up to the exam by baking once that week. That was last week, for last week's final. This week I think I'm gonna live on soup.

~Amanda

Good points, Amanda....
remember the old adage...
"what do they call the person who graduated last in his class at med school?"
The answer is "Doctor".
Linda C

Everyone has made very good points. I'll add one thing. Here's the best method I found: make up a few exam questions yourself, and outline the answers. The professor's questions won't be exactly the ones you make up, but chances are good that writing your outlines will have given you a running start. I was doing it for history and literature courses, but I'd think the same tactic would be useful in law school. It's active versus passive studying, and it really works. It's a good thing to do one or two days before the exam.
I know you were asking less about preparing and more about reducing anxiety, but that has to be reduced if you have marshalled the arguments before.

One test, one class, one ANYTHING, doesn't make or break an endeavor. One foot in front of the other. Don't get discouraged, stay in the game, keep on playing, don't give up no matter what, that's what counts in the long run.

Thank you, everyone! I woke up today with a pretty bad UTI and ended up in the emergency room. I've been feeling so run down that I'm wondering if an underlying infection may have contributed to my issues on Saturday.

I was very prepared (including doing practice tests) for the exam so that wasn't an issue.

However, I am putting a lot of pressure on myself regarding grades. Guess I'm feeling like I'll already be at a disadvantage finding a job because I'll be almost 50 when I graduate (and I'm not in a field that would lend itself to law so it's not like my past work experience will be relevant) and the one way I can counteract that is with high grades.

The members of my study group, who range from the 30s to 60s in age, keep telling me grades just aren't as important for those of us not looking to work at huge firms where the competition is so high. One said she thinks I'm holding myself up to an almost unobtainable standard.

I do feel more relaxed about this week's exam and I'm trying to adjust my attitude a little.

Sue

Meditation. Learn to breath and focus your concentration. Being able to block out the world and let it be just you and the question is most of the game.

I make it a point to drink cranberry juice every couple weeks just to keep the uti bug away.

Best of luck!

: )
lyra

As everyone else has pointed out, try to do whatever will destress you.

Ashley has exams this week too. She called me in tears yesterday, certain she had failed a crucial exam. I told her to stop crying, if she had failed it was too late to do anything and if she hadn't, there was no reason to cry. She's always on the Dean's List and has much higher standards for herself than anyone else does.

At any rate, I just got a call from Ashley and she passed the exam just fine, so the moral of the story is "don't obsess". As Linda pointed out, even if you finish at the bottom, you still passed!

Now, take care of that UTI and get ready for your next step!

Annie

OK; I just acquired my doctorate--I'm 76. That required a dissertation to be written, which I did. Was it absolutely my best work? No. But as a wise professor told me, "The best dissertation is a DONE dissertation." In other words, don't obsess, just do it.

Hypnosis. Seriously. I had a student who was smart, and studious, but would suffer test anxiety and not do very well. Well, every year I had a friend who is a hypnotist come do demonstrations for my Psychology class. She convinced this girl, in hypnosis, that she would not get anxious, but be able to recall everything she knew. It doesn't mean you don't have to study or know your subject, but it helps you focus. She went from D's in her Algebra class to A's. It was cool. A good hypnotist focuses on the positive aspects and not the silly stuff.