I enjoy taking tests. I’ve never been shy about that fact. I’ve probably thought about taking tests more than just about anyone that doesn’t have a postgraduate degree in education. I will admit, without shame, that I enjoyed finals in law school better than the classes.
As we get ready for another finals period, here are some of the rituals I had when I took tests. Some of these stretch back as far as undergrad and the LSAT, but I’m just focusing on law school.
- I wore the same shirt to every exam I took in law school. It was a basic black Adidas shirt. I thought it looked mildly intimidating. It was also very breathable, so I was never too hot during an exam. If anything, I was cold during December exams, which kept me sharp. I also never wore that shirt during law school for anything but exams.
- I wore the same basic outfit: jeans and white sneakers. I could never take a test wearing sweatpants or pajama pants. They were just too comfortable. If it was a little cool, I would wear an IU Adidas jacket I got in college. If it was really cold, I would wear a black Under Armour mock turtleneck that I would strip off in a bathroom at school.
- I always wore one of two accessories: an Under Armour fleece cap (if it was cold) or Oakley sunglasses (anytime it was warm enough to ditch the cap). The sunglasses were rain or shine, because nothing says “Don’t fuck with me” like sunglasses and white earbuds.
- About two hours prior to the test, I would start a mix of music. The mix changed a lot throughout law school. I would occasionally change it during a finals period, but generally I tried to keep it the same. There were a lot of songs that were in every iteration of the mix, but only one song that had to be in the mix: Jay-Z’s “My First Song” from The Black Album.
- Staying on the mix of songs, it was more like a basketball warm-up mixtape than soothing or intellectually stimulating. And I always got dressed to the same song: “Get Loose” by the Salads.
- I always walked to exams, even when I lived a mile away from the school and had a parking pass. I didn’t want to have to deal with the hassle of finding a spot and the amount of time I would have to reserve in case it was difficult. This also meant trudging through snow and rain.
- I never arrived really early for a test. I would always try to get there as close as possible to the test. Law students sitting in a room for an exam generates either a lot of nervous chatter or people tossing barbs looking for an edge. I was probably in the “tossing barbs” category, but I did it by rolling in right before the test, not saying a word to anyone, and looking like I would haul off and slug the first person who said anything to me.
- I always brought a bottle of water, and would occasionally drink from it, but often it went untouched. I would always get up and leave to go to the bathroom, get a drink of water, and think for a minute about my answer before I hit “Submit.”
- Like the pregame mix, there was a postgame mix. The postgame mix was sometimes axed or delayed if there was some celebrating going on. One song had to be on the postgame mix just like the pre-game mix: The theme from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
So feel free to take any of that and apply it. But of all the advice I give, this more than anything carries the tag of Your Mileage May Vary, since each of those little quirks was developed to help some little part of me, not anyone else.
